RE: [Paddlewise] rolls and failure

Yes Doug,

You can be considered a failure.   One has to look at the surroundings they are in and way the odds of what might happen.   It is just like mountaineering, you don't just press on ahead regardless of the terrain or weather you have to understand the conditions.    Many a time club outings in Victoria paddlers constantly press forward without a clear understanding of the ramifications.   It is just a matter of time when some so-called "experienced" paddler gets into problem.    It probably won't be you but it could be someone else and I am sure this is the case in many other places in the world too.

Unfortunately many people consider knowing how to roll and the be all, end all of paddling and have the misunderstanding that knowing how to roll their kayak makes them invincible.    They are sadly mistaken.    I/myself came from the school that learning to roll is the last thing you learn so you can better braces and strokes without having to rely on a roll.    

But this is just my opinion such as it is.

K.Stevens




Coastal Waters Recreation
Victoria, B.C.
Website: http://www.coastalwatersrec.com/maps/

-----Original Message-----
From:	Doug Lloyd [SMTP:dlloyd_at_telus.net]
Sent:	Thursday, February 17, 2000 11:21 PM
To:	PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subject:	Re: [Paddlewise] rolls and failure

Someone said:
>RE: "Needing to perform any rescue at all is a result of a failure on your
>part".

So, if I get knocked over by a big mother of a boomer wave while touring
amongst a rock garden (as has happened a few times over the years) but
don't actually go a full 180 degrees due to a well-placed and-timed scull,
does that mean I'm half a failure? Three quarters of a failure if I get my
head wet?

And, if I get caught on the back side of an unexpected boomer (common
enough after rounding a point of land into a wide bay that has an
unexpected reef in the middle of the bay) such that I purposely roll to
arrest sideways momentum and dispell explosive energy, does that mean I'm a
planned failure? If I don't roll back up on the same side, but swith and
roll up on my offside, am I a failure and a half?

Also, if I'm traversing an exposed coast with heavy swell and I need to
land and find a spot that isn't dumping - like just behind a little island,
but get twisted and knocked-over in the convergence and confusion of
reflected swell on the lee side 
(as has happened once)...am I a failure if I swim the rest of the way in,
but have evaded dangerously dumping surf?

Am I a failure? Oh, please tell me it isn't so!   :-) 

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd (who wears a helmet while touring, by the way)

 
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