If you live on a lake/ocean, how many months out of the year can you comfortably go in the water?

[raccoon]

Without a wetsuit, that is.

Please specify your location, at least your state. :hi:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Florida, at least South Florida, probably 10-11 months.

North Florida's probably at about 8-10 months.

By that, I mean the water temp is 70 or above.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. Texas, near the Gulf. 12 months pretty much.

But I grew up around the Great Lakes. To me, the Gulf is never cold.

[Crystal Clarity]

3. It depends on how well you can tolerate cold (obviously)

For me, usually not until after Memorial Day and no later then the end of August or VERY early Sept. for a lake here in Central Maine...

As for the ocean in this State, Brrr... there's only about a 2 week window (mid/late July to early August) where I'd be willing to actually take a dip.

[grace0418]

4. Well, I never go into Lake Michigan. Not just because it's cold.

God knows what's in that water off the Chicago beaches. Yuck.

I think some folks start swimming in June and depending on the summer it can continue into October, but July and August are the best bets.

[TroglodyteScholar]

14. I live on Lake Michigan too, but in Wisconsin..

There's a month or so that the water might be comfortable in the shallow areas...

But I don't dare go in if there's been any heavy rain recently, because Milwaukee is always dumping huge amounts of untreated turdmud into it. Fix your fucking sewage system, assholes!

[surrealAmerican]

16. I go in that lake frequently.

Remember it's not just for swimming, you're drinking it too.

That said it's usually too cold for me except in July, August, and September, and in Evanston, you're not supposed to swim in September (no lifeguards).

[grace0418]

17. Presumably the sludge gets filtered out before I drink it (and I filter it again at home).

But at the beaches, it's a free-for-all. Some of the things I've seen people do at the beach and in the water, you'd think they were positively feral.

[PassingFair]

22. Was in Lake Michigan last month...but on the Michigan side...

like swimming in cold liquid glass.

This is just south of Traverse City.

PERFECT!

I think about bobbing around, swimming underwater
with my eyes open and seeing clearly.

Deep and cold.

I go there in my mind when I'm stressed.

[LeftinOH]

5. Cleveland OH; two blocks from Lake Erie. During the summer the lake is often warm as bathwater-

but- the bottom is covered with zebra mussel shells, which feel like broken glass.

[greendog]

6. 6 weeks or so depending on what you're calling "comfortable".

NW Montana. The lakes up here are fed by snowmelt.

[whistler162]

7. ZERO - live close to Onondaga lake in Central New York

[HereSince1628]

8. In the water...oh, that swimming thing... how about ON the water as in ICE fishing????

I mean just where are your priorities?

[Maine-ah]

9. Midcoast Maine.

I NEVER go in the ocean.

I watch all the people from away do it, and I think they're friggin nuts! Even in the summer if I put my head under the water, I get the equivalent of an ice cream headache.

As for the lakes, this summer started early and the lakes were swimable (is that even a real word?) by the end of May, beginning of June. Usually by the end of September, it's too cold...but this year may be different.

[Crystal Clarity]

11. Good Description

Ice cream headache part- so true. Much better then mine upthread...

On the upside, maybe the cold is why our lobster is so good? :shrug:

[Kat45]

31. Ice Cream Headache is the name of a friend's band. n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. San Francisco, CA

Months? heck, how many DAYS can we comfortable go in the water! :D In a good year maybe 5-7 days when you can go in and fully submerge without a wetsuit. I haven't gone in the water here since I was a little kid and could handle stone-cold water.

[foxfeet]

12. Seattle,

We are between Puget Sound and Lake Washington and I don't go in either one, although other people do. I freeze my nipples off just wading. "Shrinkage" is hardly a problem when heart-stoppage is the real issue. Our "summer" doesn't really get underway until July and none of the bodies of water have warmed up by then. Even most of the rivers are fed by glacial melt. On the other hand, it rarely gets cold enough for ice to form and there is a local Polar Bears club that do an annual plunge into Lake Washington in December.

[petronius]

13. CA Central Coast, and I wear a wetsuit year round.

I could go in without a suit, but our surface temps range from the mid-50s in winter to the low 60s in late summer and bottom temps are always colder...

[CreekDog]

15. Several days per decade

I live about a mile from the ocean south of SF.

The ocean occasionally nudges into the low 60's around September.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. SF get together happening Labor Day weekend!

We have lots of fun --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9461608&mesg_id=9470187

[CreekDog]

20. thank you for the invite, but is there a meetup in Portland?

that's where I'll be on Labor Day Weekend. :D

[Hell Hath No Fury]

21. Nice! Lucky you!

Hopefully we'll catch you at the next one. :hi:

[Ineeda]

18. 11-12 months on SW Florida Gulf coast

Funny -- I grew up in New England, where the warmest water temp there compares to the coldest it gets here. Didn't stop me as a kid, though -- blue lips, shivers and all.

[yankeepants]

23. Beautiful Lake Ontario

45 mins. north of Syracuse, New York.

This year since May. Usually June. Right up until mid-October.

[struggle4progress]

24. When I lived in California's high desert, we went swimming year round.

The coldest swimming experience I remember from those depraved youthful days was 16 below. None of us stayed in the water very long. I suppose we should be glad we didn't have any heart attacks. As I recall, the air at 16 below feels much warmer than water about to freeze: we all stood around and chatted for a while and then walked back a half mile or so to our dwelling, still naked

Nobody complained. But I don't remember going swimming again that month

[SoxFan]

25. New Hampshire: August 12 and 13

[applegrove]

26. 3 months only. About a hour north of Ottawa in Quebec. Beautiful and so worth it.

[pitohui]

27. prob all of them but i won't do it

i live on lake pontchartrain, i know it's all safe and shit now, but after 30 years of it being a "no swim" zone old habits are hard to break

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. So. Cal. 6700 ft altitude. We can go in the lake without a wetsuit starting in May/June...

and the water's pretty warm until late October or so.

[Melissa G]

29. 12 months in the hill country of Austin, Texas!

I don't go very long in the winter months, but there are those that do and they swim everyday at Barton Springs!

[Odin2005]

30. In the Fargo area it's about 3 or 4 months.

Depending on how hot the spring is and (for lakes) how big the lake is.

[denbot]

32. Southern California (Los Angeles area) = 4 months.

July through October is comfortable to me without a wetsuit, but I always see tourists in the ocean in the spring and early summer.

[csziggy]

33. Zero - even though I live in Florida

The alligator would get me if I went in the water! OK maybe it's BECAUSE I live in Florida.