[Paddlewise] Roll practice and trip report.

I was in Veracruz (Gulf of Mexico) for a week with my family. We were in 
the beach called Chachalacas where we plan to have a small kayaking club 
for foreing visitors. (N 19° 25.9'  W 96° 19.5')

Paddled four days. Very calm seas, excellent weather, no rain. Water was 
warm and transparent to 4 - 6 feet depth. Snorkeling amazing in the same 
place where last spring we could see only sand due to choppy conditions. 
There was some wind at about 2 PM and died again by 6 PM.

It reminded me of  Christopher Columbus when first crossed the Atlantic in 
1492, and spent in September several weeks stranded in the Caribbean seas 
with no wind, waterless and with no way to move anywhere. Sailors were 
superstitious and thought it was God punishment, because they dared to 
go  west beyond the accepted limits in the flat earth held by 4 big monsters.

Contrast in the Gulf of  Mexico is amazing in the summertime. Last year 
waves were on the 3-4 feet with winds on the 20-25 mph at noon time. If 
hurricanes are close it can get pretty bad, and it is of course the ideal 
playground  in the wintertime for advanced kayakers because it is very 
windy 2 days out of every four.

Anyway, I was taking it easy. My ten year old boy and I went in two singles 
up river in new streams unexplored by me. I also deviced a new way to 
practice rolls that works pretty well, and wanted to share it with you.

You place your paddelfloat on the offside blade (non rolling blade). You 
set up to make your roll with the normal blade on the roll side. You roll 
and if you are successful you keep on practicing. If you miss a roll, you 
change the paddle side and you roll up with the paddlefloat side. That way 
you don´t have to wet exit to inflate the paddle float and pump water out 
of the cockpit afterwards, or have somebody close by to help you.

I tried it way out and proved that it works. Then I practiced my rolls with 
more confidence and increased my success rate.
As I mentioned before, a roll with a well inflated paddlefloat and an 
extended paddle is very hard to miss, so having that resource at hand 
increases your confidence.

Best Regards,

Rafael Mier-Maza
el cayuco chief. 

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