Re: [Paddlewise] R; Re-enter - attach skirt and roll

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.


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