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Yesterday I was fooling around trying to find the elusive offside roll and decided late to play with the paddlefloat stuff we were talking about. I ended up spending about two hours in the water trying various things that I had never given thought to. Please don't try this at home. Hehehe, try it in the water with a drysuit on! What I found is that I can get in a boat quicker and more consistently if I enter from the rear, facing down and using the blind-butt forward-braille method followed by a half twist to get in the boat. I just couldn't seem to bring the other way together....am I missing something? But wait there's more! WELL, the beauty of the day was trying a Reentry-Paddlefloat Roll! This seems like an extremely easy self rescue with a minimum of time, strength, balance needed. I have never seen anyone teach this, is there a reason why? To do it: Set up the paddlefloat. Get to the cockpit of the boat and put the boat on its side. It will be full of water and seems to stay stable. Put the paddle on the upper edge of the boat with the float perpencicular to give you the outrigger. Stay aft of the outrigger, it being midway on the cockpit. You can keep it there with the appropriate hand gripping the paddle shaft and combing of the boat. Slide a leg into the cockpit as if you were going to sit into the boat sideways. At this point you can grip the paddleshaft like a chinup bar. The hands on the paddle and leg in the boat make a very solid platform. You will not be able to get all the way into the cockpit but you should now try to get the second leg in. Because of how you are oriented, you will find your legs jam up and you just cant get your butt into the seat. This is where you have to make an investment, let go of the outboard hand on the paddle and reach underwater to grab the outside edge (the one under water) of the cockpit combing. Your head will go under for a second so dont forget to breath first. Pull the boat toward you with your lower hand and you will "pop" into the paddling position (boat still sideways), legs and all. Now simply reach up and re-grip the paddle shaft and pull up (like a high brace). There is very little effort involved in the pullup because the water in the cockpit has really lowered the CG of the boat. You will be in the paddling position in a second. In short, this is just a re-entry and roll using a paddlefloat. GOOD features: very quick, very little effort, no climbing, stable in a chop. BAD features: you have to dip your head (for those that cant stand being under), the boat will have a lot of water so you gotta pump. Thoughts? I have never been shown this in clinics or classes, nor have I seen it in the few books I have read. While doing this I noticed how much easier it is to roll with the boat full of water! I ended up practicing the offside roll with no skirt on. I was really able to concentrate on the setup, sweep, snap and get it. Well, so much for tradition. It worked for me. Tom *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Tom; The paddle float re-enter and roll is very effective. It's only drawback is that it requires some practice and, as you know, self rescue practice is something that very few paddlers actually do. John Winskill WILAX_at_aol.com wrote: > > Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Paddlefloat Reentry: yet another way > Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 10:19:56 EDT > From: WILAX_at_aol.com > To: heritage_at_europa.com > snip > WELL, the beauty of the day was trying a Reentry-Paddlefloat Roll! This seems > like an extremely easy self rescue with a minimum of time, strength, balance > needed. I have never seen anyone teach this, is there a reason why? snip > Tom *************************************************************************** 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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