Drinking water

In some places, notably saltwater islands where no fresh water is found, bringing your own water is a necessity.

Plan on two liters of water per person per day. Increase that if you are in a particularly hot area or are in for long, tough paddles. Remember that juices, coffee, tea, soup etc contribute to the 2l allowance. While coffee and tea are diuretics, they do make a net contribution to water intake. One liter of coffee is roughly equivalent to a half liter of fresh water after increased urination is taken into account.

Treat drinking water as a precious resource and take care not to contaminate the container. Flexible containers are easier to pack than rigid ones.

[edit] Are you getting enough water?

There is a simple way for you to check on your water consumption. Unless you have a medical condition, this should work for you. Your urine should be relatively clear. If it gets dark, you are not getting enough water. Think lemonade colour, not beer colour.

[edit] Water and salt or electrolytes

In the old days, any job site where workers sweated a great deal supplied salt tablets. In the seventies, the increase in interest in running and sports, as well as healthy nutrition, had lots of folks condemning this idea, pointing out that the modern diet had plenty of salt in it. Who is right?

In the past few decades, several deaths among runners have shown that hydration without salt replacement (or specifically - electrolytes) is a risk. While there is enough salt in the diet of these runners, the problem is that the electrolytes are consumed while eating and pure water is consumed while running. This means that the water and electrolytes are consumed separately and the electrolytes are not immediately available. As a result, the athlete ends up diluting their electrolytes and risking (or causing) death.

So we now know that both groups are right - there is enough salt in the diet, but we have to make sure that we consume electrolytes with water. While salt tablets are not a good idea, electrolyte drinks are useful.

It is important to consider the conditions under which the problem occurs. Elite runners do not suffer from the problem if completing a marathon in under two and a half hours. However, those weekend warriors that spend five or six hours doing a marathon and drink only water during the attempt are at risk. In the latter case, they can consume many liters of water (especially on a hot day).

So what to do while kayaking? If you are on a short paddle and are consuming relatively low amounts of water, you should be fine. However, if you are paddling a long distance on a hot day and are consuming three or more liters of water, it's a good idea to make sure that some of that water is in the form of an electrolyte drink. Alternatively, make sure you are consuming snacks while paddling so that you are adding electrolytes from your food while you are drinking. These snacks can't be just sugar - you need foods that have a variety of salts in them.

Also remember that salt does not mean sodium chloride exclusively. When referring to electrolyte replacement, balancing different kinds of salts is important - potassium salts have to be in the mix too. Don't just dump the salt shaker into your drinking water - look into various brands of electrolyte replacement drinks. Gatorade is probably the granddaddy of the type, but other brands have come on the market. Powdered forms of these drinks are useful for long trips where water is pumped (see Purification) rather than carried. Most taste relatively yucky, but everyone has a favourite.

See also: Purification.