Re: [Paddlewise] [NOT] Learning to roll from a book

At 08:51 AM 5/19/98 -0400, Steve wrote:
>Ron Johnson wrote:
[snipped complaint about falling out of capsized boat]
>> 
>The latter is not a bad idea :), but I wonder if your footpegs were
>tight enough. Before I outfitted my Sea Lion at all, I could flip over
>and stay in, just with the force of my feet, knees, and butt. I added
>some thigh braces (not knee braces) to give me a better purchase on the
>boat so more of my hip snap actually rotates the hull. I don't have any
>hip pads in it.

The footpegs are a problem for me, but I hadn't considered whether they
were "tight" enough.  The problem I have with them is that they hurt my
feet.  Even with shoes on, they press uncomfortably against the balls of my
feet.  The surface my foot contacts is just a rectangle of aluminum, and I
have to shift my feet on them from time to time because the part of my foot
in most contact gets sore.   I have considered adding a bulkhead (a task I
know is considerably outside my present mechanical/technical/skill range)
just so that I could get rid of the footpegs and put in blocks.

Of course, my failed roll and consequent wet exit pointed up another reason
for a bulkhead:  enough water went into the front of the boat that it was
noticably nose-down as I paddled wet and chagrined for the shore.  I will
have to add the bulkhead or buy better flotation (the small drybag I had in
there did not help as much as I had hoped) before I try rolling again.

I could use some advice here:  the only access to the bow area, if I glass
in a bulkhead, will be the small round hatch up front -- too small to put
much of anything through.  I don't plan to do any long trips with this
boat, so I'm not sure how much function I would lose to balance the comfort
improvment (blocks for my feet) and the increased floatation.  Any opinions?

Ron
--------------------------------
Ron Johnson		|The Tao is nowhere to be found.
rfred_at_mindspring.com	|Yet it nourishes and completes all things.
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