Michael Daly wrote: "One thing I thought of but haven't tested yet is to tuck your head into the kayak while underwater so you can breath while attaching the back of the skirt. Then you only have to drop your head under water long enough to finish the skirt attachment" You either have a very large cockpit or you are extremely flexible . Or more likely, I have been trying to re-enter and roll the wrong way. I'd be interested to hear how it works when you give it a try. Andrew Jones _______________________________________________ Kingfisher Wilderness Adventures Ltd. Suite 211 - 1641 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, BC, Canada V7M 2J5 Ph. 604-831-6180 e-mail: kingfshr_at_idmail.com www.kingfisher-adventures.com ________________________________________________ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Now, this is something I do in my ww canoe. --But that's a very useful and safe thing to do under those circumstances. A kayaker must roll or wet exit soon because he is liable to hit something and he is mostly out of the boat. In an open canoe I'm held in by thighstraps so if I stick my head into the body of the boat I'm protected; my pfd protects my back. I can even hang around for a while until I'm clear of things before I attempt a roll. And yes, with the rocker of my boat I can actually see where I am between the gunwale and the water.... But in a kayak in open water, what does it buy you to stick your head in the cockpit as opposed to coming up alongside? >"One thing I thought of but haven't tested yet is to tuck your head into the >kayak >while underwater so you can breath while attaching the back of the skirt. >Then >you only have to drop your head under water long enough to finish the skirt >attachment" *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Kingfisher Wilderness Adventures Ltd wrote: > Michael Daly wrote: > > "One thing I thought of but haven't tested yet is to tuck your head into the kayak > while underwater so you can breath while attaching the back of the skirt. Then > you only have to drop your head under water long enough to finish the skirt > attachment" > > You either have a very large cockpit or you are extremely flexible . Or > more likely, I have been trying to re-enter and roll the wrong way. I'd be > interested to hear how it works when you give it a try. > I tried this last Thursday and had interesting results... Situation: Pool session, Perception Pirouette WW kayak, sea kayak spray skirt (looser fit to the cockpit coaming than the WW skirt, hence easier to put on). The Pirouette has a standard keyhole cockpit that's the same size as my sea kayak's. The deck on this boat is lower than the SK and has a pillar in the middle, hence I must bend at the waist more to get my head inside. I tried this a couple of weeks ago, playing a trick on my SO to let her see how long I could hold my breath underwater. After inverting, I pulled off the front of the skirt, wrapped my arms around the hull and pushed my head inside and breathed comfortably for a couple of minutes before rolling back up. She figured it out right away and wasn't impressed. So this time I try a full re-entry, re-attach and roll. I invert and wet exit. Holding the boat and paddle, I duck under, face the rear of the boat and hang on, breathing the air inside hull. I do a somersault and enter the kayak (like putting on tight pants). Then I bend forward at the waist and try to breath. Problem: when I do this, I can't bend enough without pulling my upper body closer to the boat by using my arms. If I do that, my arms aren't free to attach the skirt. I'm not as flexible as I thought. Now will this work with the SK? It gives me another two inches or so of headroom to work with. This week, if the maintenance worker's strike that started today doesn't prevent us from getting into the pool (unlikely :-( ), I'll borrow a sea kayak similar to mine (I'm too lazy to bring mine and the WW) and try again. Meanwhile, back to stretching exercises. Conclusion so far - even if it works for me, most paddlers aren't likely to be as flexible as me (I'm more so than my SO and women are generally more flexible than men) so it's not an option. I was concerned about the skirt being stretchy enough to reach the rear of the coaming with me leaning all the way forward - this I was able to check and it does fit. Mike PS: don't try this with a small Greenland style cockpit. If you get stuck it'll be a really embarrasing funeral. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:56 PDT