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How far can an inexperienced kayaker paddle in a day?
My daughter is 13 and is new to kayaking. I'm also something of a novice but understand the risks and safety aspects of the sport. I was planning to take my daughter to lake Windermere in the UK and try and paddle the full length over 2 days if the conditions are good. We will have shortie wetsuits and bouyancy jackets as the water temp is about 9 c that time of year. We'll be using decent sit on top kayaks and will have dry bags with about 20kg of gear each. Am I asking too much of her as the lake is 11 miles long so 5.5 miles paddling per day. She's fairly strong and very healthy.
3 Answers
- c_kayak_funLv 710 years agoFavorite Answer
I'm sorry, but that is a completely inappropriate and unsafe plan. Unless that was a typo, 9 degrees C is far too cold for what gear you are describing! That is 48 degrees Fahrenheit! In a sit on top kayak you are constantly wet and you will be hypothermic within minutes in such conditions. And if you were to capsize (always a possibility with wind gusts and waves on such a large lake) you would be completely unable to perform a self rescue in such cold water. Please read up on cold water immersion before you attempt this.
http://www.wildernessconnection.com/?page_id=18
Personally, I have kayaked for almost 10 years on a variety of waters and I would not attempt such an outing without a completely enclosed sit in kayak with spray skirt and a full drysuit with insulation layer and neoprene gloves. I'm shocked the BCU instructor didn't point that out. With the right gear and clothing (as well as some practice beforehand to assure you can perform a re-enter if you capsize) you could easily paddle an 11 mile lake in one day, in fact -- even a novice in a good touring kayak can easily paddle 2.5 to 3 miles per hour.
Source(s): a great deal of kayaking experience in a variety of waters - 10 years ago
sit on top are not made for distance so i would say a 5mile at most may be three as you are sat in seat that has no support.
get some coaching and use a long hulled kayak and you could do the lake on a perfect day in a day
Source(s): BCU instructer - Anonymous10 years ago
Maybe 3 days would be suitable. For a 13 yo girl, 11miles in 2 days would be quite a tiring matter.
Source(s): experience
