Woody wrote: >I've been reading the paddle float vs. roll discussion with great interest. >Mainly because I'm at the point I want to learn how to roll. But as I sat >here reading these posts I started to think about my "other" kayak - A Necky >Gannet I bought for the kids. This is a very wide recreational kayak with a >cockpit so big and a beam so wide I doubt very seriously I would ever be >able to roll it. > >A couple of inferences to the Klepper being a beast to roll has me thinking: > >In the roll vs paddle float debate, shouldn't the "type" of kayak also be a >(prime) consideration? Or is the width (or any other dimension) not a factor >is rolling? > Somebody good at rolling can roll most anything they can get adequately braced into. I don't see this as a Roll vs. Rescue debate. I don't know of any skilled paddler who would say any rescue is better than an Eskimo roll except for more peripheral reasons such as ease of learning. What is at issue here is if there is any value in a paddle float rescue at all. I say a fixed outrigger paddle float makes a great back-up for the Eskimo roll and is superior to the other back-ups for a solo paddler because the kayak is stabilized for putting on the spraydeck and pumping out. I will concede that a good electric or foot pump puts the reenter and roll and unfixed paddle float rescues at less of a disadvantage because normal bracing can be done during the pumping process. Some kayaks are far easier than others to attach a spraydeck to. The longer it takes and the harder it is to attach a spraydeck on your kayak the more an outrigger firmly affixed to the deck (in some easy to release manner) will benefit you. I started with whitewater kayaking and came to sea kayaking with very good bracing and reasonably good rolling skills. Since then I have helped many sea kayakers learn to Eskimo roll. It has been my experience that unless these paddlers took up whitewater or surf kayaking as well (where they got to refine their rolls under fire) they were more than likely to swim after an inadvertent capsize than to roll. I think rolling is an important skill to master but even the best at it can fail and swim sometimes. I want to have a back-up that I'm reasonably confident will work if for some reason my roll doesn't. What follows is essentially the letter I sent to Sea Kayaker Magazine before it was drastically edited for space. It covers many of the issues we are discussing here. Please note that (contrary to how the edited version in Sea Kayaker reads) the hand pump only needs to be modified if you want to be able to use it with one hand. Re: “Paddle Float Rescue” by Nigel Foster Sorry to be such a pain again Nigel but as the person responsible for paddle float rescues and the widespread use of the hand pump in America, I feel compelled to comment on your (and in the process many others) treatment of my babies. With all the abuse and mistreatment in print, videos and in many lessons I’ve seen it’s no wonder they have developed into such rebellious teenagers. I’m also beginning to wonder if anybody practices more than the first half of any rescue that requires pumping. I think I understand, In practice I also like to skip the pumping step because it is tedious hard work. Foot pumps are slow and tend to give me foot and leg cramps (imagine getting a Charlie horse in a swamped kayak in rough seas). Deck mounted pumps, especially those behind the cockpit are slow and awkward to use solo (more so, if you must also brace with the paddle with one hand while pumping behind your back with the other). The hand held bilge pumps I introduced along with the Mariner outrigger self rescue are faster (see Sea Kayaker magazine Winter 1989 & letters Spring 1990 for test results) but, unless modified with a bar that “T’s” under the legs (as Randy Washburne has done), require both hands. With the rescue methods pictured in the article, once back in the kayak you are left with one forearm and your body to hold the paddle to the cockpit for bracing your swamped and therefore tippy kayak (maybe the other elbow could help here--but this makes for slow awkward pumping). Before pumping you must somehow refasten the spraydeck beneath the paddle shaft you are pressing against the coaming.With a swamped and tippy kayak this two handed job can be difficult in a swimming pool, much more so in wind and waves. These solo rescues are most likely to fail during the time in the rescue that most paddlers have chosen not to practice--pumping out. Unfortunately, many paddlers develop a false confidence in their incomplete rescues because once back in the kayak and upright again they think they have mastered them. What is frustrating to me is that when I developed and refined the Mariner (outrigger paddle float) self rescue back in 1981 I solved most of these problems, but, the same problems keep reappearing because of the ways self-rescue is being widely taught. [Foreign experts have lambasted it repeatedly in paddling magazines and books over the years mostly for reasons (when they actually give any) that only exist when using inferior techniques. These critics have had many different names (but usually have “BCU coach” after their name)]. Back in 1982 I couldn’t even get Derek Hutchinson, author and BCU coach, to look at or try my new self-rescue. He just told me: “It won’t work”. This was frustrating because I knew it worked very well. Later that day I asked him what he would do if he capsized and failed to roll while somehow alone. He said: “Pray”. In spite of this abuse enough Americans and manufacturers have paid attention so that most American built kayaks now come already outfitted to attach the paddle as a fixed outrigger. Nigel is only the latest member of this BCU cult to discovers this strange custom in the colonies and announce to the world (in your pages) that the best use of the floats is to aid in doing the tried and true reenter and roll. Reentering and rolling is harder than rolling and although a paddle float makes it much easier a non-roller is unlikely to succeed without a lot more practice than it takes to master the Mariner Outrigger Self-Rescue. Reentering and rolling with or without a paddle float usually scoops the cockpit totally full of water (unless of course the paddler is skilled enough, cool enough, and has the lung capacity to refasten the spraydeck while upside down with icy water up his nose and an “ice cream” headache). Support from fixed flotation such as a fixed outrigger paddle float (or another paddler) makes a huge difference during the rarely practiced spraydeck replacing and pumping stages of a rescue. Having the paddle firmly fixed (against rocking and scissoring) to the back deck not only makes entering easier (you don’t have to control the paddle and kayak), it also stabilizes the kayak in all conditions short of surf so you can use both hands to fasten the spraydeck, pump the kayak, put on your warmer jacket and pogies, refuel your furnace with some carbohydrates, etc. Done right it is quick and easy to remove the paddle from the outrigger deck lines. When Nigel compares the times of “competent” (at rolling and assisted rescues) paddlers with the time it took for their incompetent attempts at paddle float rescues he is comparing apples to oranges and making a assumption about when to stop the clock. The reenter and rollers (without using a float) were upright in 15 seconds. However, they would have had a totally swamped kayak to put the spraydeck on and bail (without a paddlefloat to help). I’ll bet that part didn’t get timed, most likely it wasn’t even done. Of course since those paddlers were good enough to roll without a float they would have normally rolled up a few seconds after capsizing and not had to refasten the spraydeck and bail at all. Had the reenter and rollers been timed installing and inflating the paddle float before righting themselves it should have taken about the same time to get back upright as the paddle float rescue folks (given equal competence). Both would then have had a float on the paddle to aid their stability a little but the reenter and rollers would have (given the same kayaks) far more water to bail. This would increase their pumping time. Which is the time during which they are most vulnerable to capsizing again. If either group followed the instructions for our (Mariner Kayaks) Rescue Float Plus they would have inflated the float 90% before putting it on the paddle thus avoiding the awkwardness they found trying to put a wet clinging floppy flat bag on the paddle while holding on to the paddle float and kayak. They also would have learned that strapping or tying the float to the paddle throat is not “essential” as the article claims (and then later criticizes for the difficulty of untying it). Envelope style floats (like those pictured in the article) won’t easily come off the blade if tightly inflated. A shock cord clipped to a deck line can prevent loss of the float whether it is on or off the paddle blade (and it stretches to allow the paddle to be slipped out from under the decklines without detaching it). Removing an inflatable float from the blade is simply a matter of twisting the valve open and pulling the float off the blade. It can be done with one hand in a few seconds without any significant increase in vulnerability. Stowage does not have to be as difficult as Nigel implies especially at this point when the kayak has been pumped out and is therefore more stable. With a shock cord tether stowage may not even be necessary. If he leaves the float mostly inflated, should he capsize again, he could stay in the cockpit hold the float in one hand out at arms length and try to pull it into the water while pressing his back against the rear deck. This should roll him upright (The Float Roll). Some paddlers always store their floats tethered, inflated, and under bungees on deck ready to pull free for instant float roll use or to use the float roll as a back-up to their Eskimo roll. Had the testers read the Rescue Float Plus directions they would have righted their kayaks in a manner that would leave much less water in the cockpit. Pumping that water out would be far easier as well because the fixed outrigger allows them to concentrate on pumping rather than bracing. Nigel mentions and dismisses fixing the paddle to the deck in one sentence. He felt it wasn’t as fast to retrieve the paddle after reentry. Done right it’s quick and easy. Even if it was slower, the many minutes of vulnerability it saves during reattaching the spraydeck and pumping would be well worth it. I think Nigel’s statement that the float rescue is a poor substitute for an assisted rescue is because he is assuming (like so many of the rescues promoted by the British Canoe Union) that your buddies are right beside you in the pool waiting to rescue you and that your kayaks are not laden with gear so you can lift them to empty the water. Every time I read about the BCU’s all-in-rescue I want to ask how long it took the three capsized paddlers to swim their swamped kayaks to the meeting place to get started in conditions bad enough to capsize all three. I’m sure in most cases it would be much quicker if one paddler could get back in her kayak alone and paddle over to help the others (or they could avoid the wait, and help themselves). My point is that we should also add the time it takes your partners to get to you in the real world to any assisted rescue time. Assuming of course you can get their attention at all. Once during a race the kayaker just behind me capsized and failed to roll. By the time I could turn around and get back to him he was already about to reenter his cockpit using an (inflatable) outrigger self-rescue. All I could do to help was to add my pump to the pumping process (another advantage of a hand pump). (Strangely this rescue caused me to win the race. It was a predicted log race and I had overestimated the effect of the side current on my speed so a few minutes delay was just what I needed.) If you can’t be back in your kayak in less than 90 seconds using an outrigger paddle float rescue (or 60 seconds with a foam float) you need more practice, better directions, better equipment, or an analysis of the bottlenecks in your system. If you are unprepared for the water temperature lay your torso across your kayak while inflating the float (and imagine putting your head back in the icy water to do a reenter and roll). If Garret was in the surf when his paddle kept scissoring (this was not clear in the article but I think likely given the description) he was probably lucky his system was so flexible nothing broke. In surf the reenter and roll or the unfastened paddle float rescue (as pictured in the article) would be the best way to reenter a kayak since they can be instantly disassembled at any point in the rescue if a breaker is about to hit. Also in the surf there is probably no need to fasten the spraydeck or bail once back in the kayak. Simply paddle and brace the swamped kayak to shore. Outside the breakers the fixed outrigger paddle float is superior to all solo rescues except Eskimo rolls and hand held float rolls (assuming the rolls are both performed without having first exited the kayak). It is not enough to ask that a rescue just get you back in the kayak quickly. It should also get you back to as good as or better situation than you were in before you capsized. When practicing, see each rescue through to completion at least part of the time (upright in a kayak containing very little free water, spraydeck on and ready to paddle). Then analyze the rescue for weaknesses, difficulties, insecure times and imagine conditions, situations and kayaks in which it might fail. Next test it in rough conditions but in a safe place with other paddlers and shelter nearby. Sincerely, Matt C. Broze -----Original Message----- > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ >*************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed May 12 1999 - 19:36:09 PDT
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