Not sure I want to jump into the middle of this debate, but . . . If anyone wants to try to learn to roll from a book, I recommend Seidman's "The Essential Sea Kayaker" which has an excellent set of instructions, exercises, and illustrations. The book is premised on the idea that you are better of with an instructor, but if you can't find one, here's how to do it. The costs less than $10 from Amazon, and, yes, you can hold it in your hand. For the record . . . I relearned to roll basically using Seidman's book. I say re-learned, because 13 years ago I learned to roll a ww kayak in a pool one day, then never practiced it again (the fellow who was going to lend me his ww kayak decided to lend it to his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend instead). I also got some tips from my spouse who is not a kayaker, but, back in her lifeguarding days, she watched a whole lot of kayak rolling classes. I was rolling the first day of trying, and rolling consistently in the second session. Now I can roll my home-built Guillemot Coastal in flat water fairly reliably. I am not foolish enough to think that I can roll reliably in rough water, and have been practising other self-rescue methods as well. Seidman's book has an excellent discussion of paddle float self rescues and re-enter and roll (with a paddle float) as well. I am sure that I would benefit from some professional advice, but, frankly, its not the money, but the time that keeps me from getting it. In the meantime, I am having great fun and practicing my home-built roll whenever I can. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I put some pads under the deck of my spaciously cockpitted (?) Sea Otter (1986 Wenonah model) so that I could lean it, and thought it was solid enough in outfitting to try a roll. So at the end of a 3-hour paddle on Lake Lanier (just north of Atlanta, GA, USA), when another member of the group (Atlanta Sea Kayakers) was practicing rolls, I ran through what I had learned, put the paddlefloat on my paddle, visualized the movement, screwed my courage to the sticking point, capsized, moved my paddle to what I think was the right beginning place -- and fell out of the boat. Just fell out, taking the skirt with me. Okay, back to Sea Kayaker and a radical refurnishing of the cockpit with foam and glue. And maybe another look at the instructions on rolling. 8^) Ron -------------------------------- Ron Johnson |The Tao is nowhere to be found. rfred_at_mindspring.com |Yet it nourishes and completes all things. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Ron Johnson wrote: > > I put some pads under the deck of my spaciously cockpitted (?) Sea Otter > (1986 Wenonah model) so that I could lean it, and thought it was solid > enough in outfitting to try a roll. So at the end of a 3-hour paddle on > Lake Lanier (just north of Atlanta, GA, USA), when another member of the > group (Atlanta Sea Kayakers) was practicing rolls, I ran through what I had > learned, put the paddlefloat on my paddle, visualized the movement, screwed > my courage to the sticking point, capsized, moved my paddle to what I think > was the right beginning place -- and fell out of the boat. Just fell out, > taking the skirt with me. Okay, back to Sea Kayaker and a radical > refurnishing of the cockpit with foam and glue. > > And maybe another look at the instructions on rolling. 8^) > 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. My roll is still feeble in the Sea Lion--it's OK in a WW boat--but I certainly don't fall out. Another tip: open cell neoprene on the knee braces provides a comfortable, non-slip surface. Steve *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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