Rolling is mostly about getting over the mental blocks that you have built …by being told how difficult it is. {this includes fear of getting your face wet…fear is very difficult to break and can take years}
OK Doggy Paddler… year after next I want to see “Critique My Roll.”
OK! Roym, I’m sure you’re right - it’s the fear of being upside down in the water and not the actual physical action that I find intimidating. I am so loving my new GP that I am indeed hoping to get to the Greenland paddlers gathering in my area next spring.
Rex – you’re on, but I might need two years… I’m kind of a wuss.
Hey Doggy Paddler, You can do it! You’re right. It’s all about pushing through that mental discomfort.
You have to coach yourself something like this:
But rolling feels so weird!
Do it anyway. That jackass, Rex, on the interwebs can do it. 'Least he SAYS he can. If that jackass can do it I can do it.
But rolling offside feels so weird!
Do it anyway. Rolling felt weird but you did it. Just push through the weirdness!
Thanks for the encouragement, Rex! I’ve been practicing wet exits with my new boat and new (tight) spray skirt, and have realized that my main fear is getting water up my nose and in my eyes (I wear contact lenses, which is a drag in several ways for paddling, but I digress.)
So I decided to wear goggles and a nose plug, and that has removed about 80% of my fear. I am trying not to criticize myself for using them, and instead think one step at a time. Right now they’re helping me just do it. In fact yesterday I actually enjoyed the practice wet exit, and was actually aware of being able to think (a little bit) about what I was doing while I was under the boat.
I hope to progress to prop-free when I’m really comfortable with the props.
I totally want to roll, and now the idea of it freaks me out less.
I still use nose plug whenever I know in advance that I am going to roll / capsize. A lot of people try to tell me that I am not doing it “right” because i use that plug. But I don’t care. I have plenty of unprepared capsizes where I roll up without a nose plug, and I don’t see why I should suffer the same discomfort when I practice.
Wear ear plugs too…the more comfortable you are, the more time you can dedicate. I don’t think sinus infections or ear infections are any fun and unnecessary. I always wear both for practice…contrary to what some people believe, ounce you can roll, you are able to roll but for practice I still like the protection . The ear plugs are important because your inner ear is your center of balance. For a quick roll {after you have learned} the water has very little time to enter, but the amount of time necessary for practice can be a game changer. {wear ear plugs and nose plugs and goggles } I never wear goggles for practice, but since you wear contacts. It may relieve one more point of anxiety so you are able to concentrate on how the roll feels.
Thank you, Allan and Roy - hearing this from experienced paddlers makes me feel better. So moving forward I’m just going to plug up my face and go for it.
Now I just need to find better goggles because the ones I’ve got leak. And ear plugs.
On the various plugs - there are some old school WW folks out there who will pooh pooh the use of any devices to plug orifices. But those folks need to update their concepts. Or maybe get old enough to respect the body’s vulnerabilities.
I play music and when I was first doing a lot of wet work started noticing some new discomfort in one of my ears. Doc’s vented plugs became a constant companion. Silly to have hearing loss from learning to roll if a relatively inexpensive product will protect you. Get them tethered and colored too, so you can see them in the water when you drop them.
These, you can get them online from Amazon and other places. https://www.proplugs.com/p-101-docs-proplugs-vented-red-w-leash.aspx
I cannot handle the chlorine in most pools in my eyes. If it is pool time for skills work, I use diving mask with a vented nose. I have a small face so it is easier to find a decently fitting mask in a dive shop than most other sports stores.
I have always kept my eyes shut under water (probably because I first learned in a chlorinated pool), but for those who can keep their eyes open there is a concern about water pollutants. So even in some fresh water situations it is prudent to wear a mask, like if there has been a lot of storm runoff recently.
Some people have the same problem I do, fresh water up the nose is an instant headache regardless of temperature. Salt water is not all that pleasant but the nasal rinse from it is tolerable.
Even when I was doing WW I would put on nose plugs before hitting a set of rapids. I nailed every roll with that way on one outing when I pretty much capsized my way down the Deerfield and thru the Gap. Couldn’t aim the boat right for squat that day. But as long as I kept rolling up nothing was fatal and I did not feel the nose plugs diminished my overall success at plugging on thru.
Thanks, Celia, and thanks for the link. All good stuff to know going forward.
In surf zone were I like to be the roll is your only choice, Getting pushed into rocks or cliffs is not an option. I used to practice with this one group with rescues. They could all do a cowboy scramble on flat water. Then one day in MILD 2 foot conditions 80 percent could no longer cowboy scramble, Let alone in a surf zone were fast moving waves keep come every 5 to 6 seconds. BUT great your trying to improves your safety . Just don’t let it make you to confident.
Rolling would be easier, both flat and rough. The kayak is your best PFD. Practice rolling too. There comes a time when it all clicks I don’t care how old you are. My Friend Jo Hamilton was rolling in her 70’s with terminal Leukemia, cuz the click was still there and the strength was not the real factor. The water lifts you when your in the boat doing it right. Peace to Jo’s life spirit, whose gifts have been riding in the volvo and my heart for the last 10 years, she taught me ‘rolling’ lesson 1.
So I learned how to do the paddle float-assisted self-rescue. I actually found it quite easy; of course the water was totally flat and pretty warm, and there were instructors there to coach us, so ideal conditions. One thing the instructor emphasized that I found very helpful was to make sure you are always putting your weight on the side of the paddle float during the entire operation. Otherwise you will capsize in the other direction.
Awsome, DP. Did you use the heel hook technique?
No, we didn’t. We jumped up on the back deck, setting the paddle up near the cockpit coaming with the float in the water, gripping the paddle shaft with the hand nearest to the cockpit. Then we put the foot nearest to the cockpit on the paddle float; then the other foot, transferring foot #1 into the cockpit, then foot #2, while simultaneously reaching under our bellies to grasp the paddle with the hand farthest from the cockpit. Then flip over into cockpit facing the paddle float.
After that they showed us how to do what I think is a paddle float-assisted re-enter and roll (not sure it’s called this though.) That involved basically setting up the paddle on the hull of the capsized boat, sticking your feet crossed onto the foot pegs under the boat, then grasping the coaming under the boat and going under the boat yourself to pull yourself into the cockpit upside-down. Then using the paddle with the float and your hips to right the boat.
I didn’t try this though. By that time I’d lost my nose clip and was tired, plus it looked quite challenging! But, my spouse did it! (I was impressed.) And I hope to try it next time.
After a little reading I think this is called a paddle-float-assisted reverse somersault re-entry and roll. That’s a mouthful!
I’m guessing our instructor finds this easier than the side entry which seems more common.
Agree that’s it’s tiring when you’re first learning the paddle float self-rescue. When I learned it I was paddling an Eddyline Skylark (28" wide). Got back in my boat but the next day my body looked like I had been in a boxing match.
You’ve described the re-enter and roll with the paddle float, but our coach said nothing about crossing your feet. It was essentially get your butt back in your boat. That was the class when I wore my drysuit top because it was windy and chilly. Having removed the back band from my Fathom wasn’t helpful.
What I found most tiring was the Eskimo rescue (where I lost the nose clip) because that one activated my fears the most. Being under the boat! I didn’t do a great job, but I did it, and didn’t drown, so, progress! The paddle float rescue was probably more physically strenuous, but I wasn’t scared of that one at all so it seemed easier to me.
Yeah, with the re-enter and roll one our instructor pointed out that different people have different preferred ways of achieving the same end result, and he likes to put his feet in first, crossed, before going under the boat and putting his butt into the cockpit, so that when he does his feet will be in the right orientation. (I guess maybe less water gets into the cockpit this way than if you turn the boat on it’s side??)
I had to lie in bed crossing my feet and picturing going upside-down into the cockpit before this made sense, and my husband reported back that the whole thing didn’t make sense to him until he did it, and even now he’s kind of confused. Haha! So I guess one just has to practice until it starts to feel natural.
@Doggy Paddler said:
Yeah, with the re-enter and roll one our instructor pointed out that different people have different preferred ways of achieving the same end result, and he likes to put his feet in first, crossed, before going under the boat and putting his butt into the cockpit, so that when he does his feet will be in the right orientation. (I guess maybe less water gets into the cockpit this way than if you turn the boat on it’s side??)
Heh. I wondered how he pulled this off. I was certain that the buoyancy from his PFD would attempt to upright the capsized kayak while he entered it.
Then I suddenly remembered that I had experimented with mounting the spraydeck under water a couple of years ago. And guess what: It seems that I (almost) did your somerset version by pure luck:
https://www.facebook.com/allan.olesen.33/videos/1158603387603877/
I had to lie in bed crossing my feet and picturing going upside-down into the cockpit before this made sense, and my husband reported back that the whole thing didn’t make sense to him until he did it, and even now he’s kind of confused. Haha! So I guess one just has to practice until it starts to feel natural.
Don’t worry. I think a lot in 3D (I am an engineer). And I have never been able to picture the full 360° motion of a roll within my head. I have no problem doing the roll, but I have to accept that there is a point midway where I just have to start from scratch without trying to link what I did before, and what I am going to do next. I know from others that this is quite usual. Even in the eskimo rescue it goes wrong when the rescuee only raises one hand over the water because he thinks he knows where the rescuer is - they always end up raising the wrong hand because they switch left and right when going under water.
Re-enter and roll! Yes! The way it was explained to me… and it works for me… start with your boat upright and put your feet in. Then pull on the boat just like pulling on a pair of pants… holding your breath of course.