In a message dated 10/5/2006 4:06:56 PM Pacific Standard Time, Darryl.Johnson_at_sympatico.ca writes: I'd like to be able to roll. Really. But my attempts to self-teach myself have been miserable failures, and the most easily available courses are both too expensive for my budget and at inconvenient times and places. Having other people who can roll attempt to give pointers hasn't worked either. Due to my geographical location, most of my paddling is on relatively sheltered waters -- lakes and rivers in Eastern Ontario. I get out on the Great Lakes once or twice a year and maybe do a trip on the St. Lawrence or the Atlantic even less frequently. I stop paddling in mid-November and don't start again until the ice is well off the water -- probably April sometime. I have practised self-rescues in all kinds of conditions. I can get back in my boat with relative ease even in two to three foot waves and a wind strong enough to have the flags snapping on the flagpoles. Do I still need a roll? I'm not sure at all. It's a serious question. If I could roll, I might be tempted to go out in conditions that I now avoid. Would that be good? Would I be too cocky about my abilities for my own good? Possibly. Am I too cautious now? Also a possibility. Hard to tell, isn't it? Having a roll, I think, would be a "good thing". Another arrow in the old quiver, so to speak. Is it a "necessary thing"? It better not be, or I have no business being out on the water. Nor the many others like me who can't roll but who can do a reasonable self-rescue, especially if there's another boat to help out. -- Darryl >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Darryl, I have a hard time reading a book and then going out and repeating a skill. By the way, why aren't kayaking technique books printed on waterproof paper? Videos are a bit better for me in watching something and then translating on the water. I am not very good at self teaching, so I have invested quite a bit in paying people to help me out. Some good ones, too. I belong to some formal and informal clubs. The formal ones are fairly cheap, Washington Kayak Club is all of $45 USD per year for my wife and I. The rolling clinics are like $50-80 USD for 3 consecutive weekends, 3 days total. I have taught people to roll at those. We have a few local Yahoo web groups that are completely free. There are instructors that donate their time to teach at these events. If you do not have a local Yahoo group you can start one for nothing, calling it Darryl's Kayak Group. Groups have the advantage of decreasing the cost of an instructor or two if they do charge you because you and your friends can split the cost. The point is, I know people who do both the formal and web group path and many of them demonstrated good rough water rolling skills. A lot of them swam, too, but hey, there is no royal road to rough water rolling. Who would have thought Euclid was a sea kayaker? Quoting Mike, "In other words, if you learned a bit of rolling but not enough to do it reliably, it's not useful. If you don't learn to hold a paddle, paddling's not much of an option either." Everything takes commitment for proficiency: navigation, strokes, equipment, judgement, etc. I 'm just not comfortable in excusing rolling from the list either, because your path to proficiency in those other areas is not learned in a vacuum. All the best, Rob G *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Rob wrote: > I have a hard time reading a book and then going out and > repeating a skill. Darryl, Like Rob, I find it hard to read a book and then know the skill. I also had a difficult time learning to roll. I had friends try to teach me, took some pool sessions in a ww boat, but nothing really worked until I got some first class instruction. Wayne Horodowich took pity on me and taught me to roll my sea kayak in about an hour. After I bought a new boat I found that my roll went south so to speak, and unfortunately, Wayne moved to Seattle. The kayak shop where I bought my new boat, supports our local club by offering classes at a discounted rate and the club chips in a rebate as well. The owner of the shop, Jen Kleck, offered to do a rolling session after one of her classes and I inquired if I could just enroll in the rolling help. I don't get to Aqua-Adventures frequently, because it is about 200 miles away from where I live. Jen told me that the class was full, but that if I would just show up, she would give me 10 minutes after the class ended and I'd have my roll back. She was right. While friends had been telling me slow my sweep down, stop diving the blade, etc, nothing was working. Jen told me to speed up my sweep and corrected a problem I had with my left wrist position. All of a sudden, my roll is back and consistently works now. I can't emphasize enough the need to find a GOOD instructor. You need someone who really knows how to teach. The roll is really easy, once you get the hang of it - but everything seems wrong at first. Good luck, Steve Holtzman Southern Calif. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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