RE: [Paddlewise] Paddle floats

Oh,  this is fun.  I just love our rolling discussions.

John made a comment in his last post I just have to respond to...

    Why do you learn to roll? Because you will be able to get right side up
    after a capsize. Why do you capsize? Because you might get caught in
    conditions you can't handle. Why did you get caught in conditions you
can't
    handle? Duhhhhhhhh

I learn to roll because its fun.  I would still roll even if all I paddled
in was perfectly flat, calm water.

I dispute your claim that the roll is needed because you find yourself  in
conditions you can't handle.  A capsize doesn't mean the general conditions
are beyond your ability to control the boat.  If this is what you belive,
John, then you are seriously mistaken about the role of rolling. 

The roll lets me play with conditions that I would otherwise have to paddle
in survival mode.  A capsize doesn't always mean you can't handle the
conditions .  It means an isolated event caught you off gaurd.  It means you
tried to put the kayak into a weird position that didn't quite work (eg. an
ender or a flat spin).  As long as the conditions don't prevent you from
rolling and you're in control, you can handle the conditions --- even if
they regularly cause you to capsize.

The best example of this is the surf zone.  If I didn't have the roll, the
surf zone would be a place to avoid.  If I had to spend time in the surf, it
would be to launch and land as quickly as possible.  But because of the
roll, I can go out and play in the surf.  Sure it flips me quite a bit (I
never said I was any good at surfing), but I just pop back up and go out for
more.  Just because I flip when I surf doesn't mean I can't handle the surf
conditions.  

By having a roll, I lean that much harder when I carve turns.  I can head
into a  tide rip  and play 'cause I know if I make a mistake and flip, I can
pop right back up.  I can aggressively use sculling and draw strokes and not
worry about the consequences of a mistake.  Rolling lets me more fully
experience paddling.  Its a liberating skill that opens up huge
opportunities for more fulfilling paddling.  

--Tim





> -----Original Message-----
> From:	John Winters [SMTP:735769_at_ican.net]
> Sent:	Wednesday, May 12, 1999 8:42 AM
> To:	PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> Subject:	Re: [Paddlewise] Paddle floats
> 
> Dave wrote;
> 
> 
> 
> (SNIP)
> 
> 
> >I agree, in rough conditions, the paddle float is questionable.  The
> >reality is that only a small percentage of the paddlers I see on the
> water
> >engage the sea in conditions where a paddle float will not work.  The
> float
> >is a good choice for them.  It does not "... entice them into conditions
> >where it won't work," (paraphrasing) because most of them are
> **terrified**
> >of rough water and won't paddle in it.  They stay on the beach, or get
> the
> >hell off the water when it gets rough.
> 
> I have a  bit of trouble with this. How can a safety device that purports
> to make paddling safer not entice people to take additional risks?  In my
> survey of paddlers many said that the presence of a safety device would
> not
> entice them to increase their risk but then only a couple of questions
> later would tell how they would never take a particular risk without a
> particular safety device. Sounds a bit contradictory to me.
> 
> The purveyors of most safety equipment advertise how much safer using
> their
> wares will make us. If they don't make us safer, why do people insist on
> using them in conditions where they would not paddle without them?
> 
> Why do you learn to roll? Because you will be able to get right side up
> after a capsize. Why do you capsize? Because you might get caught in
> conditions you can't handle. Why did you get caught in conditions you
> can't
> handle? Duhhhhhhhh
> 
> Sounds like a circular and illogical argument to me.
> 
> "I use all this gear and learn all these skills so I can paddle in
> conditions where I might have to use them but no, I would never take any
> additional risks just because I had a piece of gear or a skill."
> 
> Meanwhile back at the beach the wimps won't go out because they fear the
> rough water which explains why they have their paddle floats because you
> never can tell when you will trip over a bottle of Montepulciano Abruzzo
> and need to claw your way back to the surface. ;-)
> 
> Cheers,
> John Winters
> Redwing Designs
> Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
> http://home.ican.net/~735769/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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