Roym, you said it perfectly. Rolling is the best example I can think of for counterintuitivity working beautifully.
dubside says “Water is your friend” and takes it from there.
There’s no such thing as a boat that rolls itself, but some are easier for people to roll. I learned it with a CD Squall (same design as Solstice GTS); doable, but literally every other kayak I owned after that would have been easier to learn in, as well as to do other recovery methods with.
AND, tying the above back to the OT of drysuits, learning while wearing a drysuit will make it a little easier. Why? Because no matter how well you burp the suit before paddling (DO IT), there’s still a little buoyancy in the suit that becomes apparent when you do something such as balance brace, stretching the upper body out on the water’s surface. It’s a nice, distributed buoyancy, instead of a concentrated small area.
One caution with drysuits is that if you don’t get enough air out of the suit, it can cause your attempts to roll to hang up in the capsize phase. Instead of capsizing forward and coming up on the opposite side, you end up face down in the water, fully submerged, but short of the point where you start to float up on the opposite side. This can be very disorienting and the only solutions are to:
A) Scull to the surface on the side you capsized on and complete a foredeck recovery
B) Scull the other way and pull yourself to the opposite side, then complete the roll
C) Wet exit
This is something that I’ve never gotten comfortable with.
Kokatat no longer honors the replacement warranty for delam if not the otiginal owner. But they atill do if that, l have a new suit that arrived a couple of weeks ago under the warranty. One annoying part, the zip switch design is no longer available for women in the expedition model. I would have had to take the drop seat which is uniquely useless for me. So l have lost the hood, the fancier neck and the extra pockets. But a dry suit nonetheless.
As to what to get, i would try and buy time to make it to the suit with booties and the fancier Goretex. Hydrus suit is a lot of money for a material that l found wore fast. Plus if you want to use the suit to reach into colder temps, frankly at some point one without the booties will be inadequate for warmth.
Roy’s suggestion is excellent. If the goal for now is rolling and basic wet work, add a tulik to your wet wear and so do some swimming. At the end of the summer, when you have a better idea of your skills and comfort, start looking at better dry wear that has a proper warranty.
And BTW, not a wetsuit under a dry suit. You would pass out from overheating.
I can get my skirt off for a wet exit but it’s pretty difficult. Is there something to do to loosen it up?
As long as the water is calm, I can still get my face above water but If I had rough water and become “stunned or weakened” it could become an issue.
I know to pull the loop forward, not upward and
I don’t feel it’s a technique problem but it feels like I’m borderline just strong enough. The skirt is maybe tighter from being in storage, the way neoprene cells stiffen. I’m wondering if hot water or stretching it over a large hole could help.
Neoprene actually shrinks slightly over time, as the nitrogen in the bubbles in the material slowly leaks out. Storing the skirt on the coaming for a while may help. Just don’t leave it in the sun, as it will ultimately damage the neoprene.
If you don’t already have a ball or something similar attached to the grab loop, consider adding one. That way, you can just grab the loop - without having to put a hand in it - and use the ball as a stopper to push against. It may give you more leverage to get the skirt off the front of the coaming.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a ball. Something that turns the strap into a T-handle will work, or even a disc of some sort. The point is to have something that’s quick and easy to push against without requiring substantial hand strength. Use your imagination.
There is a tendency among especially male paddlers to say that a quite tight skirt which lets in zero water is preferable to one that might let in a little water but be easier to get off in a real emergency. Where you are likely to be tired.
I have been too old to agree w that for a long time. A bit of water under your legs is not going to sink the boat. But sweating whether you can get it off could sink your ability to relax.
There is a happy medium where the skirt is tight enough not to implide or come off when you don’t want it to, but still be ok to get off when you are tired or under stress. That is not going to be bone dry. But it will be dry enough.
The ball in the loop does make it easier to feel, or a plastic loop which some manufacturers build in. You cannot count on finding it by sight, even if you do have your eyes open under water. ( l don’t) If it is dark or the water is otherwise disturbed you will have to find it by feel, run your hand along the front of the coaming to the loop. The first time a fellow paddler popped a roll at the end of an evening paddle he came up quite surprised. It had gotten towards dark, turns out it was the first time he couldn’t see under water and it messed him up for a few seconds.
I be a little concerned about that. Does this mean she has to take time to stow her paddle? Or risk losing it to manage the loop? Or will she invariably do this with the paddle secure in hand?
I generally hang onto my paddle and probably do so when l go for the loop. Honestly would have to go for a wet exit to see. My volunteer activities have done a job on my paddling this last several months. I really do not remember.
But if she is doung something to manage that paddle it takes time. As a solo paddler these days, probably even with others, l would never accept that as safe. I know that in an emergency it could critically increase my anxiety. For which l have tremendous respect. I overcame it but it took tons of work to do so and it can always return. Like if l am in trouble.
Hanging onto that paddle is a huge aspect of alternatives for recovery from a capsize.
Like l said, thete are skirts that are dry enough witnout risking angst.
I have a couple of concerns about finding that in a pinch. Just add a smaller version of a wiffle ball or look for a skirt that has a loop with a plastic casing for the grab loop that keeps it open and is easy to find by feel. You can slit the ball, put it on the loop and close it with tenacious tape. The stuff is well named.
The paddle can be captured under an arm. This can be a little awkard given that most paddles are heading for the surface but some practice helps. The current ACA Touring L2 skirted certification requires the paddler to know both the standard skirt release as discussed here as well as releasing the skirt by the hips. Pulling the skirt off by the hips will require both hanhands for most of us. I’ll practice both releases early in the year in my Delphin and a tight Seals 1.4 neo skirt.
Fun (ish) dryland practice: sit in your kayak with the skirt on. Close your eyes. With your eyes closed, release the skirt & slide out to the back deck. Open your eyes and walk around your kayak. Get back in, close your eyes, and re-attach the skirt.
