Peter Treby <ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au> wrote: > >Now, how do you rationally decide which side to roll up on, in this >situation. You want to come up on the side the weather is coming from, so >as >to get any wind assistance coming up, and to brace into waves... >Rules of thumb for rolling up: >1. When surfing to the left on a wave, set up on the right and roll up on >the left. Conversely, >2. When surfing to the right on a wave, set up on the left and roll up on >the right. >3. When dumped unexpectedly, look up hanging upside down. Waves from the >left, set up on the right. Waves from the right, set up on the left. Or, >set >up on the side away from the wave direction. >4. Aaaah, I'm running out of air fast, roll up desperately on the strong >side as quickly as possible! >Upside down, down under, I've rolled a lot in surf and also while whitewater kayaking. Spatial ability is the ability to manipulate objects in ones mind, keeping track of the twists and turns and rotations. In a pre-college test years ago I could have missed several more answers on the spatial abilities test and still been in the 99th percentile. Many years later my wife to be (a PhD. candidate in Experimental Psychology) who studied such things, gave me another spatial abilities test and said I had the highest score she had ever seen. Apparently it is the thing I do best. I tell you all this as a preface to opting for choice #4. I have read several times that one should roll up one particular way or another on the river or in surf depending on particular factors. I may be off base here or totally blind (because I keep my eyes closed) but I question whether this is something that the authors actually do or is it something they have theorized about and/or just repeated from another source so as not to seem as incompetent as I apparently am in this situation. When caught by surprise and given a tumble in the surf or a river souse hole I can't tell which way is upstream, or up wind, or up wave. I get disoriented and don't want to sit around thinking about it too long under the circumstances (while my sinuses fill up). Maybe if I opened my eyes and looked around on the river I could figure it out first but why wait. I have heard that the swirling sand in a near shore breaker can sear your eyeballs, and have prudently decided I wouldn't test out that possibility (#3)for myself so I keep my eyes closed. I roll up on whatever side I can and if that fails I'll try whatever side looks best from the position I next find myself in. If the wind pushed me back down the way I came up I would try the other side next time (but I have never rolled in that extreme of wind). Since one is quickly moving at the speed of the current once capsized in current I don't see how it makes any difference which side I roll up on then. When in surf there is a big advantage to rolling up "as quickly as possible" as in option #4. I'm usually back upright and sorted out in relatively calm water well before the next breaker has reached me. The more time I have to get pointed in the right direction (and maybe find and reach the lowest pass in the next breaker--if going out) the better. Unrelated topic. Can someone tell me what royalty rate a kayak designer is likely to be paid by a kayak manufacturer these days? Back channel answers gladly accepted. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jan 02 2001 - 22:58:51 PST
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