@Doggy Paddler said:
(Discounting Alan’s putting on his spray skirt while upside down.)
I can tell you that even that didn’t work. I still ended up with an awful lot of water in the kayak. But it was fun anyway.
Did you notice the other kayak in the background?
Hey Allan, My boats don’t seem to like being on their sides. It’s either right side up or upside down. My preference for starting my entry with the boat somewhat right side up is probably just an orientation thing… it’s simpler and easier. In my head I’m pulling on my pants; something I do every day. If I enter upside down it’s more like a somersault; something I do rarely.
@Allan Olesen said:
Did you notice the other kayak in the background?
Nope, but I did when I watched it again just now. He seemed to stay under a long time!
And I also noticed I spelled your name wrong. Sorry, Allan!
That was a fascinating video. I do like the idea of the snorkel mask for pool practice.
When we tried it in class, I had swim goggles but the instructor wouldn’t let me use them.
@Rookie said:
I do like the idea of the snorkel mask for pool practice.
I actually rarely use it. Some water will always end up in the mask, right below the nose. Feels like mild waterboarding. I prefer using a noseclip (in a string, attached to my PFD) and no goggles.
However, on that particular day, I had been experimenting with using a snorkel for breathing while staying under water in a capsized kayak. I couldn’t make it work, though.
@Rookie said:
When we tried it in class, I had swim goggles but the instructor wouldn’t let me use them.
What did you try?
If you want to use goggles you could try telling the instructor you wear contact lenses and are worried about acanthamoeba. I do wear lenses and am worried about this, which can be present in any fresh water, including highly chlorinated pool water.
My eye doctor told me to either wear goggles or get disposable (daily) lenses that I can discard after a day on the water. Since I get water in my eyes all the time when kayaking, and since the goggles got water into them anyway, I’ve decided to go ahead and get a prescription for the daily lenses, which I’ll wear on kayaking days.
But it’s a valid medical excuse!
when learning to roll. Anything that makes you more comfortable and able to concentrate on learning to roll , is a good thing. Earplugs, nose plugs, mask…doesn’t matter what makes you comfortable. The goal is to learn to roll. A good instructor should know this.
I used a nose plug to practice my first wet exits. It made me less nervous to capsize and I practiced it more freely as a result. Since then I’ve capsized accidentally a number of times without a nose plug and I’ve been fine. And now I’m not as afraid of capsizing. I hope the same will apply for all the other things I want to learn, and eventually rolling.
rolling uses the same body movements used to get out of bed everyday
@roym said:
rolling uses the same movements used to get out of bed everyday
Roll needs completed faster than I get out of bed. I can only hold my breath just so long!
SR, me too! After being still all night, my joints need warm up time.
@Doggy Paddler said:
@Rookie said:
When we tried it in class, I had swim goggles but the instructor wouldn’t let me use them.
What did you try?
Re-enter and roll with paddle float. No idea why the goggles weren’t allowed but if the same thing happened today, I’d wear them anyway as I was a pretty new paddler then with little confidence.
After attending a few symposiums and several stand-alone ACA classes, I’ve learned there are some fabulous coaches who are really invested in their students and others who seem to be physically present only, offering little feedback.
While I worked on self-rescues this year, what I haven’t tried is the re-enter and roll using my GP. I normally try new things here at home, but high water has closed the access and I have no way of getting my Prana in the water.
Interesting, thanks. Hope you will re-gain your water access soon!
Rookie,
Just a friendly reminder: If you roll you don’t have to do that awful re-enter stuff. I would suggest practicing the roll a lot and that re-entry stuff very little.
Rookie, do you always use the Prana now? Or does the Fathom LV also get some time out?
@Doggy Paddler said:
Rookie, do you always use the Prana now? Or does the Fathom LV also get some time out?
Oh, absolutely the Fathom gets used. It’s here at home so it’s just 52 steps down to the water. Maybe 51 now since the water is so high. Alas, I couldn’t take it to paddle Lake Michigan even if I wanted to because I have to call the DNR and set up an appointment for them to drive over and unlock the chain they installed across the access road. They require 48 hours advance notice. And I don’t think they would agree to come back out so I could get it back on the lake here given it’s autumn. 
I have a good cart and could go that route, but I also have the Prana topside. 
Glad you give them both time on the water. But, I don’t understand “topside.” No matter.
@Doggy Paddler said:
Glad you give them both time on the water. But, I don’t understand “topside.” No matter.
Technically, I live on a kettle lake which was formed when a chunk of ice broke off a passing glacier and become embedded in the ground. When the ice chunk melted, a kettle hole was left and filled by water from natural sources. The road and most of the cabins are located at the top of the kettle hole so they look down at the water. Thus my “topside” reference.
In the winter we zoom down the hill to the frozen lake on saucers. Then have to climb back up (gasp, huff and puff).
A couple of ideas from watching. Is your PFD bulky with junk tied on the belly? A PFD that is a trim fit, no junk or pockets and one that does not ride up in the water, lets you pull yourself across the boat. Try without your PFD and see what a difference it makes. You don’t want to climb into the boat, you want to push it down and swim across it. The paddle float should just be there for a few seconds of balance support at the critical weight shift. You look very uncomfortable like a fish out of water. Take your kayak to shallow water and play with it for a couple of hours - preferably with small breaking waves around. Don’t use the paddle float and practice swimming onto the back deck, laying on the back deck, wrapping your legs around sitting up and riding it like a wild horse. practice laying on the deck of the kayak, taking your legs out of the cockpit and get used to balancing the kayak with just your weight and paddle braces.
Take a class on rolling and bracing now not later. If you want to paddle a sit inside seakayak, knowing how to do real braces, how to skull up, and rolling up a flooded kayak will do you a lot more good than learning a paddle float recovery. Even if you don’t get a bomb proof roll you will gain orders of magnitude in balance and boat control, and becoming one with the boat.
Yes, what SeaDart said. Your bracing and sculling take off like a rocket when you don’t care at all if you capsize. You don’t care if you capsize if you can roll on up.