Just to prove I can be more-or-less serious now and then. Regarding the difference between rolling a whitewater boat and a sea-kayak: I'd say that initiating the roll in a sea-kayak has less room for error in the set-up, and requires a bit more "oomph!" in cranking it. But once it has reached the point of no return on its way back up, it tends to pull itself back over and upright. Proper planning and careful cargo packing can help this "self-righting" tendency tremendously; stow the dense and heavy stuff as close to the keel as possible, wedging it in place with the softer, lighter stuff so the cargo doesn't shift in a capsize. Lest John Winters protest that this is relying on gear rather than technique, and dealing with a problem after the fact, rather than avoiding the emergency in the first place ÷), let me hasten to point out that proper stowage is also a preventative measure; your boat is less likely to capsize to begin with. One Paddlewiser contrasted whitewater paddlers, who frequently roll just for the hell of it, or to cool off, with sea-kayakers, who rarely try their roll under "battle" conditions. I have deliberately flipped several times in a tide rip, with my boat loaded for touring (I had a buddy standing by in his boat to "spot" me). The roll worked every time and it was a great confidence builder. On tour, I often pop rolls on rest days, just in front of camp, to stay fresh. As I've mentioned before, a spinal column problem has made my roll less "fluid" (sorry about that) and efficient than it used to be, and the middle-aged "pregnant male" syndrome has not helped either. I don't get to real open water or pool sessions as often as I'd like. One thing I tried before a tour this summer that I found helped tremendously, was to do sit-ups every second day, working up to the point where I was doing 150: 50 to the left, 50 to the right and 50 toward the centre. It strengthened the abs for the curl wind-up, and as a bonus helped with power sprint paddling too. Cheers, Philip T. **************************************** Mountain Equipment Co-op 1655 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 1K1 Tel: 640-732-1989 Fax: 604-731-6483 email: pid_at_mec.ca Visit our website at: http://www.mec.ca ***************************************** *************************************************************************** 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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