3/12/08 Can a combat roll be planned? My kayak date for the night jilted me. The only thing to do in such a case is put on your corsage and head out alone! I hit the water at about 4pm without much thought of where I was heading. I spent yesterday whittling down my GP some more so I took that with me. I was able to shave off another 5 oz and flatten the blades a bit which I hoped would help my rolling. I figured just hitting the water was a plus today, so I thought I'd just do an easy BAR paddle, but when I got to Pirate's Cove, there were some nice swells hitting the sea wall. It looked like I might sneak a ride next to the point. I was impressed to see a man swimming right by, but my awe turned to ire when I realized he was swimming back and forth right in my surf zone! We got into a good rhythm though, where I'd catch a wave while he was away and by the time I got back for the next one he'd be gone again. I was surprised on my second ride; I really had to lean back to keep my bow from plowing under. Most of the rides weren't that great, but they made me forget about my other destination. Things calmed a bit, so I started working on some bracing and rolling practice. I've had luck lately rolling with my Onno, but not so much with my GP, but the new sleeker model seemed to do the trick. My rolls felt sharp and with the confidence of success, I was able to take some time under water to notice the effect of my hip snap on the boat. While rolling though, I missed a nice set of waves that came in that would have given me a great ride. I was hanging out a while and I could hear some nice sized waves pounding on the Wedge and figured my long range set was coming in again. I got a couple small rides, but was hoping for at least one big one. I figured if I caught a big one, I'd let it knock me over to see how I'd roll in more realistic conditions. It took a while, but I finally got a ride big enough to take you whether you wanted it or not. I got a good ride, but before it died out I did a quick capsize. No goggles or nose plugs, just that lovely feeling of salt water being injected into your sinuses. A bit discombobulated, my first roll only got me up enough for a quick breath, but I took my time on the second try and popped right up. Well, it wasn't a real big wave and I knew it was coming, but it stilled seemed more realistic that the usual rolling practice. So it ended after a couple hours of fun where I never even left the harbor. Mark Sanders www.sandmarks.net # *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:48 PDT