> However, I have yet to master swimming with the kayak. For some reason, > I have trouble keeping my nostrils above water. > The trick is not to keep you nostrils up all the time, but every two strokes. I push backwards (to move forward) two times, and on the third stroke I push down to get my mouth out of the water and breath. It is important to keep the rythm if you want to cover a long distance. One thing that one has to watch for, though, is that after swimming several yards, your position in the kayak might not be ideal for rolling up. Your hips and knees are very likely to move out of their contact points with the kayak. Some people have swam out of their kayak while attempting this maneuver. For starters, I suggest to try the following before swimming. Extend your arms, and fall on the water with your face down. You should notice that your body does not go under the kayak, bur rather you are just floating face down, and the back of you PFD is actually on the air. Do this with someone close, so that you can grab his/her kayak's bow, and get up again; relax, you do not want this test to be a traumatic experience. :-) Then, do the same thing again, but now try to swim slowly. Pretty soon you will realize that you can do a downward stroke to get your head out of the water for 4 of 5 seconds. - Julio *************************************************************************** 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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