[Paddlewise] Rolling was Re: How do you hold your paddle?

From: ralph diaz <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 10:46:57 -0800
Allan Singleton wrote:

> Matt Broze wrote:
> > But if I was paddling in New Zealand it would be upside down (but so would
> I).
> >
>
> Now you know why I have never bothered learning to roll!

I have never learned how to roll, either.  But I have never tried very hard and
have less of an incentive to do so because of being in folding kayaks.  All of
them actually can be rolled, some easier than others, but it tends to be a
deliberate, calculated act rather than one of necessity, the exception being
something like the Feathercraft Khatsalano (all 3 or 4 versions that have been
made), which, in that respect, acts more like a hardshell than say a Nautiraid
Raid 1 or Klepper single.

Having said that, however, I do dabble in learning how to roll now and then.  I
tried early on about 10 years ago when I thought I would be using single
hardshells but then stopped the effort when I saw the light in the folding
singles.  But of late, I have tried again.  I am now in the process of being
real earnest about it over the winter, thanks to the kind efforts of Gabriel
Romeu, a fellow PaddleWiser and friend, who is going out of his way to get me to
lessons with some of the best rolling instructors in the business, at least on
the East Coast.

I still lack the driving incentive because of what I paddle.  If I had stayed in
hardshells, I would most definitely have learned how to roll.  I would never own
a hardshell unless I was on the road to developing a roll.

Funny how our various schools of thought can co-exist, i.e. those who see this
as a wet sport (one of local great local instructors, Ray Killen, ends his all
his mail with "Stay Wet!) and those, like me, who believe in staying dry and on
top.  While there are some in the "Stay Wet!" school (not at all Ray) tend to
deny the legitimacy of the Stay Dry school (I hear comments, not always in jest,
about when am I going to get into a "real" sea kayak), I suspect a lot more
understanding all around is what prevails these days thanks in great part to
forums such as Paddlewise.

ralph diaz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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Received on Fri Nov 19 1999 - 08:00:11 PST

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