: For me it's time to read the adventure books.

: John

Here in Canada I used to try to expand the paddling season to the full 12 months I felt entitled to. I have managed to get the boat into the water right up to November, and once in January; never quite managed December tho. The geese walking around on the ice seemed a bit confused when I paddled past them in the narrow open channel. So narrow, I couldn't turn the boat, but the one I was using goes equally well in either direction. The paddles skid on ice so I contemplated putting tire studs on the paddle at one so I could follow even narrower channels but common sense prevailed. I did confirm by experiment that a kayak is not suited for use as an icebreaker! It did what all good icebreakers did, slid up on top of the ice so the weight could break it. That is, until I hit a thicker piece of ice; the bow rode up and up until the boat became unstable. I didn't get a ducking fortunately, just a bad scare; a lake with an uninhabited shore is not a good place for a mid-winter dip.