: Seriously, however, I vote that cold water, only technically speaking, and
: not really very significantly, would be less viscous and more dense, and
: therefore even if it caused you to float higher and have less wetted
: surface, you still would have more drag, and would have a miniscule
: reduction in speed. Of course, just to add to the debate, you would also
: have greater dig with your paddle, so therefore more propulsion to
: overcome the added friction???? Hmmmmm....

: -Malcolm

I'm not sure about this but maybe someone else can help.
Wouldn't denser water, while making the boat float higher, also have more friction for every inch of wetted surface area. On a molecular level isn't all friction caused by molecules bouncing against each other, and there would be more molecules bouncing off that square inch. Maybe this isn't right, but I think it makes sense, excluding any other variables.

Chuck