How long do you stay out?

Bros. You're forgetting something. We on the EC. We don't dictate the length of our sessions. The conditions do. If it's staying clean and fair-sized, we're all pushing it far longer than if not.

As for the non-Arctic days that stay solid all day long, it's the elusive 7-hour mark that I chase. 3 sessions, maybe 4. Split up by 30-60 minutes of hydration and some potassium. Maybe a light and healthy meal, but usually I don't like much in the gut during vigorous exercise.

Some good points mentioned - best performance in first couple hours, properly fitting neoprene of good age and repair in cold conditions, feast or famine when you want one more.

Sometimes there are too many kooks out and you just get fed up. Not too often, thankfully.

Good tread!

 

I stay out for 3-5 minutes, because I'm very skittish, like a squirrel or chipmunk.

 

Huge believer in this. Something else that often happens in the "one more wave" scenario is when it's kind of sketchy and you and your bro(s) call for "one more" and everybody gets one in except for that one guy. More often than not that one guy is me, and as soon as everyone else is back on shore the aforementioned 15 minute lull happens. Not wanting to hold everyone up I'll try and rush one in and end up doing something dumber than usual for everyone's amusement.

 

i come in to sleep poop eat drink and talk to chicks... or until the wind switches the swell dies or the tide becomes unfavorable. what really kills me is a week like this, waters cold so I'm not going to put a wetsuite on to swim around and I'm not paddling, due to the lack of swell, thus my paddling endurance dies. time to head to the local y and get some laps in i guess

 

I hear ya. I got back in the pool mid last week.

 

My water time is heavily dependent on family schedules; seems like everything revolves around the kiddo's nap schedule these days. I'm fortunate enough to live 15 minutes from my front door to a decent break, so as someone else said, I can do a fair number of hit and run sessions. When conditions & time allows, I find that I can usually get away with about two hours+ and Mrs. vb doesn't mind. If it's genuinely good, and I have taken off work (and definitely if I have made the drive south to nags head/rodanthe/hatteras), then I will pull an all day session usually 6-7 hours, with breaks to eat and hydrate. I'll readily admit those days are few and far between, and it's a lot easier in the summer. During the winter, I rarely stay out longer than 2 or 3 hours, even if I have the free time, unless it's borderline epic.

 

pre married no kids: 7-8hrs a day, conditions depending
post married with kids: 3-4hrs a day haha

 

Also... wind... hate it. Wind will get me out of the water a lot quicker. When its windy I get cold faster.

When the air temps are horrid I will submerge my body and do bicycle kicks or aquatic hip/leg stretches or something to keep warm.