Rolling
…wall of text warning…proceed at your own risk
is the single most important thing I learned in developing my skills. Why? Let me explain.
Re-entering a sea kayak in rough conditions is a dicey proposition, at best. I learned to paddle, brace, and tour, but my skills in that first year were pretty stagnant. After learning to roll, that all changed.
I was able to practice being broached in the surf and the worst that happened was that I got wet. Previously, a re-entry and draining of the kayak (or hauling it to shore to empty) took a LOT of time and energy (cold water saps one very quickly). Now, all I did was roll up, catch the next wave and move on from there.
I was able to practice all sorts of boat handling, including leans, carved turns, surf entry and exits, and even do stuff that instructors warned about and recover with the knowledge that, for the most part, they were right.
I began paddling further from shore and in rougher conditions, but continued to improve, even though I only rolled occasionally. My braces improved to the point where I rolled less and less and actually had to make time to practice my rolls lest I forget.
I still don’t consider myself a great paddler, but I’m safe. Others have better technique, are faster, have more reliable rolls and boat handling skills, but I have the skills I need when I need them and the roll served me well for over 30 years now.
When I teach others to paddle, I use the castle defense analogy to explain why a roll is so important. The roll and brace (the roll is nothing more than an extended brace when a paddle is used) are the moat. If it works, the castle (me) is safe and all threats are mitigated. The better my moat (ie. my roll), the more secure I am (one could think of how well the oceans on either side of the US served as a moat and how well they’ve defended us).
Should my roll fail, I am now forced to rely upon the walls (self-rescues). These are much more easily defeated and it is best to not have to rely on these. Worse, the water is generally cold. If it reaches the 60’s, it’s bearable, but mid 50’s are more common. It can be even colder in inland waters here. Re-entry and roll, followed by securing the boat is the first of these. Good, but not as good as a successful roll. Paddle float? Pretty much a non-starter in really tough conditions, though I’ve done it (practice only). Cowboy entries work well for some, not so much for my old body any more.
If re-entry fails, you are now down to some really dicey (keep) defenses. Buddies can be useful, and many folks go here first, but a failure here can be fatal. Buddies get injured, have dubious experience in rescues, the interaction requires coordination and communication and can be complicated by non-standard language and variances in training (lots of “training” from when I began paddling is no longer used, for example, and terms have changed or disappeared from the paddling lexicon). Worse, in rough conditions, paddlers must waste a lot of energy retrieving the capsized boat and paddler and this weakens the entire group.
The last defense is the inner keep. Here you are just trying for a last stand and these defenses consist of your gear, resourcefulness, remaining paddling skills and knowledge, and whatever personal skills you bring to the table (swimming ability, for example). Immersion protection, signalling devices, flotation, etc. Here, the risks become greatly significant and survival may be one of those flip of a coin issues. You never want to get here and if you do, you want to never be here again. When the crap hits the fan, you may really wish to have had a roll in your skills package so that you never had to get here.
I’ve known paddlers who survived hurricanes and never left their boat. I would probably never want to do that, but I’ve been out in 50 MPH gusts, chop, swells exceeding 20 feet where the wind is shearing off the tops of the waves. After reaching shore, I was really glad that I didn’t have to do more than roll once before reaching a safe harbor (literally). And in case you want to know, I will probably never do that again, by choice. But when on a multi-day tour, you sometimes have to deal with the conditions you are in.
Without that roll, my survival was probably in question.
Nobody MUST learn to roll, but it’s a useful skill, not a mountain to be climbed. Technically, it is no more difficult than any brace except that it is started (depending upon boat design) upside down and submerged. Done properly (IMO), it is the single most useful skill to have in one’s toolkit because it is so important to safety.
Rick