There are many good opinions on this subject. This is how I teach someone the wet exit. First, standing in the water next to the kayaker, I have them lean forward and tip themselves over. Leaning forward helps instill this as a reflex, which is essential for starting the roll and for safety if they ever find themselves kayaking in surf or whitewater rivers. Tipping themselves over helps conquer fear. Next, they hang out under water and get used to it. As soon as they are ready to come up, they tap the hull and I bring them up. Repeat several times to the point where they are willing to change torso positions (bending forward and back) repeatedly under water. Use your judgement as to when they are comfortable enough under water to perform several successive tasks. It also helps to have them capsize on both sides and bring them up on both sides. Once relative comfort under water is achieved, only then do they actually get to practice a wet exit. Definitely let them wear noseplugs and/or goggles and a diving mask. The goggles and diving mask are only a temporary crutch however, since in kayaking, "your eyes are your enemies". At least as far as learning basic skills such as edging or eskimo rolling are concerned. One more thing... after they have done one wet exit, I sometimes challenge them to do another without letting go of their paddle. This is a very important habit for safety's sake. Cheers, kevin *************************************************************************** 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 Sep 18 2001 - 09:50:58 PDT
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