Excuse me for sniffing but after 6 times of rolling over to practice wet exiting I still have water coming out of my nose, or I caught another cold…think it’s probably both…
So I went to the club safety class at a college pool and I was sent to an instructor who talked to me and showed me what to do…I was wearing a Johnny suit and used my pdf, paddle and paddle float…got into his kayak and rolled over…I let go of the paddle, waited app 3 sec while upside down, tapped on the bottom of the kayak and got my butt out and up to the surface…pretty good except I didn’t have the paddle with me…tried again by holding the paddle but that screwed up my head and it was an ugly exit, but i guess the idea is to breathe so I must have been successful if i’m typing…I tried a few more times but it seems like the paddle was messing me up…but I did it correctly on my last try.
Then I inflated the float, slide it on to the paddle, got it into the bungi on the stern, hooked my foot on the paddle and slide my belly up, went in backwards and turned around…instructor told me that I need to work on my weight, my reply 'I lost app 20lbs since new years", his reply, not your physical weight, you need to learn not to move around so much because of the balance…
ok…next lesson, helping another kayaker right their boat…
So my partner goes over, I paddle over, make the “t”, start shimming his bow (front) onto my kayak, he pushes down while I lift and flip…presto, no water and I bring my kayak over to him and he slides in…very good, my turn…no problem…now we do it a second time…uh oh…instead of me shimming his kayak on mine, I grab the stern, lean to the right, give a nice big pull, and oh crap, here i gooooooooo…roll and splash!..so instead of helping him we both go for a swim…I had a great time!..then i went to an afternoon canoe/kayak meeting at another college and took 4 workshops…first aid/hypothermia…river otter program…coast guard safety class and a rolling class verbal demo…overall a great and informative day…also heard sad news about a canoe fisherman dying last week in Long Island due to exposure…I gotta be careful…
But it was fun?
loved it1
I loved it!..and to tell you the truth, I was sweating in the pool…pulling myself onto of the kayak a few times…struggling to get my butt out of the water…had beads of sweat on my head…I looked at the clock and saw that my hour was almost up…sad…time went by so fast…wish they didn’t charge so much for individual instruction, but it’s a business…take care
Which College?
I’ve often gone to the classes at Hofstra. Lots of fun and good people. Didn’t go this year, as I’m working with Greenlandic stuff this year.
Come summer, I’m always up for practicing rescues.
Lou
St. Joseph’s College - Patchogue
It was a pool session put on by the Long Island Paddlers club at St. Joseph’s college in Patchogue. The club runs a couple winter pool sessions that are free to club members and in addition does multiple “summer” skills sessions in either Long Island sound or Great South Bay. Off the top of my head we had roughly 40 members,divided up into one hour sessions, practicing skills with 8 good instructors and one questionable one(me).
I’m a big supporter of joining your local canoe/kayak club and taking advantage of the experience of other paddlers. Of the roughly 40 people practing skills about 25% of them never did a wet exit before the session, now at least they know what to expect and have a basic understanding of wet exits, paddle float re-entries and assisted rescues. Win-win for everyone, the instructors get to have some fun, the new paddlers learn some basic skills and we’re all a little safer on the water.
it’s addicting
(good work!)
Pool practice can be addicting.
When you set up, place your hands on either side of the boat where the deck meets hull. Grip your paddle in your hand and against the hull, to ensure you keep your paddle. After awhile it becomes second nature.
When I was learning I crossed off these little milestones, they may not mean much but it gives you a sense of progression.
Nice Group of People
Being from Queens, they are a bit far out for me, so I haven’t joined.
Lou
if it helps
with your wet exits, here are some things I was taught:
when you first go over, relax a few seconds and get acclimated… good for ya mentally and also helps center your body weight under the boat.
tuck the paddle under an armpit. I naturally go for the left, but learned to do either side. Now your hands are free, yet the paddle is secured.(Note I am not saying other methods are wrong, I have long arms and a short torso, and this works for me).
About moving hands back and forth: your post didn’t specify - but the correct hand position is the edge of the hands at right angles to the side of the hull, not palms or backs flat to the hull. This lessens the chance of your hand getting conked by a rescuing boat offering a bow rescue as it presents less surface area.
After you’ve completed your hand gestures (or just skipped them because you are alone) do a tummy crunch forward… this will, again, center your weight and put you in great position to release the skirt.
Hopefully you were taught to push off from the boat like taking off a pair of jeans. This helps you surface cleanly without a few hits on the legs which can be not only painful but distracting.
Some straps are easier to feel for than others. I personally prefer a D-strap, I can get my hand in easily and snug it in there. I have a BomberGear skirt with a D Handle and I also made my own for my SnapDragon skirt with a 6" plumbing riser (hollow plastic tube with ridges, light, strong, easy to grip).
Your preferences may vary, but whatever you choose, practice feeling your way up with both hands on either side of the coaming, just in case you can’t find the strap, or it’s broken, or - uh-oh- you forgot and tucked it inside the skirt before you put in.
it’s good to experience all of this. The more you practice you will be pleasantly surprised how long you can comfortably be underwater - a nice controlled wet exit is a building block in learning the re-entry and roll and the skirted rolls.
Welcome to the joy and madness! 
thx
Hello Waterspyder, it was a great session and I’m 1% prepared for my next trip…couple more and I’ll soon be up to 5%…gotta introduce myself at the April meeting…can’t make this Thursday’s…
Lou…I’m originally a Flushing boy working in Jackson Heights…now living in Nassau county…the meetings aren’t to far, it’s right off the LIE I think at exit 52…I just joined in Sept…nice folks and the trips look really good…here’s the link…
Thx all for the advise…now that I think about it I don’t think I bent my stomach over enough or pushed with my feet…given time…ps…beautiful day today…CF
http://www.lipaddlers.org/