even the best can miss rolls
One of the most sobering books involving kayaking I’ve read is The Last River, about an expedition to run the Tsangpo in Nepal around 1998. A kayaker named Doug Gordon with the highest possible expertise - 6 years on US Slalom team, all sorts of first descents - died after failing to roll in 3 tries and being swept into an unsurvivable section. The sobering part was the report of his friends that on the last couple of tries, he was lifting his head early, as if panicking. It brought home to me that even the very best professional-level kayaker can get to a psychological point where panic overcomes technique.
Earlier in the trip, one of the other paddlers, also a professional-level kayaker, forgot to check that his spray-skirt was completely attached, and lost all his gear when the boat swamped after he flipped.
The lesson of the whole trip was that sometimes the conditions are just too bad (in that case, more water flow than they expected), and you should just go home or do something less dangerous.
I read "Courting the Diamond Sow"
Different account of the same trip… I have also seen some of the footage the Nat Geo shot on that trip. They never released the documentary, but did show footage. Some of the standing waves must have been 75-125feet high. Foam piles like barns.
It was some kind of nuts, imagine niagra falls shooting horizontal for a quarter mile. That was the speed/volume of some of the “ledges”. Granted they portaged around a lot of stuff.
White water paddling and sea kayaking are not the same animal.
I agree about rolling “in conditions”…
There’s a such a huge difference when rolling during a practice session in a calm bit of water and the first time time you find yourself capsized and trying to get back up in rough conditions or a fast moving river. The first time you find yourself rushing down a river upside down and out of control with lots of pressure to get back upright quickly…it’s very easy to loose your cool and forget everything you know about rolling. Add into that being exhausted from paddling and the fact that your body is using oxygen at a fast pace from the physical activity (holding your breath for a period of time is difficult).
Breathing is important
Last year I was inches away from a wet exit. I got hammered by some surf, but first I was sidesurfing for 20 or 39 seconds where I couldn’t breath because of water in my face. I sculled up and gasped in a breath and executed the worst, weak, crummy roll you ever want to see. I don’t want to do that any more.