My Jackson Super Hero is 40ish pounds, and only 7’4" long. My “sea kayak” is a Tsunami 165. As you discovered with your Tsunami 175, those are not light boats lol. I can shoulder it fairly well, with my paddle, spare paddle, pfd and skirt inside the cockpit, but if I want to bring water, snacks, or anything else with me I’ll just make a second trip to back to the car for it. But, I’m not carrying THAT one up a trail lol.
I’ve been practicing the sweep roll. I don’t have the flexibility to pull off a C to C. I practiced a bit yesterday and for the first time had a GoPro mounted on the front. I saw the issue I’m having is mostly just bad form. I keep trying to pull down on the paddle, rather than sweeping it out to the side and getting lift with it. I’m also moving my other arm more than I should be. And, I’m struggling to really keep my head down. Maybe the pulling down is a combination of me trying to move my hips and pull my knee against the thigh brace. I’m sure there is a lot I’m doing wrong with it.
I’m using a paddle float that’s half inflated to practice the sweeping motion. When I do it right, and keep my head down, I get up no problem. When I do it wrong, the float doesn’t provide enough boyancy to “save me.”
I had tried with my Dagger RPM Max, which has a hull like you described. The problem I have with it is that I’m really wedged in there because my thighs are too big and really, I’m just not comfortable in it. A guy I met in the class is borrowing it right now because he was interested in buying one, and I’m letting him try it out. If he likes it, he’ll buy mine. If I do get it back though I’ll try rolling it again. I didn’t ha e my camera mounted on it when I tried rolling it before, but from what I could see with my swim goggles on I was doing the same thing I have been doing in the Jackson.
The initial set up for the sweep roll is the same as for the C-to-C roll. Fundamental to both is to try to get the paddle as high up at, or even better, above the surface of the water before you initiate the roll. That does require some flexibility.
Assuming you are right handed, you are probably setting up on the left side of the boat. To get maximum extension of your sweeping hand and arm and your paddle to the surface will require you to firmly engage your left knee in the thigh brace and strongly contract the lateral muscles on the left side of your trunk. Equally important is to remember to fully relax the right thigh and knee and the muscles on the right side of your trunk.
The difficult thing about the sweep roll is that everything happens pretty much at once in one fluid motion. The C-to-C roll is sometimes easier to learn and teach because it can be taught as a sequence of steps: set up, sweep to arch, hip snap, and finish. That makes it a bit easier to trouble shoot the individual steps.
In the sweep roll you are not going to get much “lift” with your sweeping blade. It will provide a bit of transient support but you really don’t want to pitch the sweeping blade at too much of a “climbing angle” as it will tend to stall the sweep if you use too much. Many instructors recommend a neutral blade angle, although IMO a slight climbing angle is OK. You certainly want to avoid a diving blade angle and to do that you need to focus on smoothly rolling the wrist of your sweeping hand back (dorsiflexed) as you sweep, otherwise your blade will dive.
Almost as soon as you initiate the sweep you should concentrate on simultaneously relaxing all those left sided muscles you contracted to get your paddle up to the surface while simultaneously engaging your right knee in the thigh hook. It is primarily the engagement of your right knee upward (relative to the boat) that rotates the boat up in a corkscrew motion. You will, of course be contracting the muscles on the right side of your trunk as you do this, but with the sweep roll there is much less of a “hip snap”.
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Try this – combine the sweep with a C2C like finish.
So, start your roll as a normal sweep roll. Keep your eyes on the paddle blade (as if “glued” to it) throughout the sweep. When the sweep gets near to end, near the stern (how close depends on your flexibility), press/push the blade down towards the bottom. KEEP YOUR EYES GLUED TO THE BLADE. Feel as if you were pushing/pressing the blade downwards with your staring eyes, while at the same time pulling up on the knee that is on the sweeping blade side. This works to keep your head down. As you press down the blade, you’ll find yourself lying almost on your upright backdeck, facing in the direction where your blade was pressing down.
The two key points – 1) try to keep you eyes on the blade from beginning to the end; and 2) pulling up the sweeping side knee at the same time as you begin to push/press down on the blade at the end of the sweep.
Keep trying. Having a roll will quickly ramp up your development in more challenging venues because capsizing becomes less of an issue.
sing
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If you want to skip shuttling, there’s a new ww play park in Franklin, NH.
As soon as I learn how to roll and get more experience in whitewater, I plan to. It looks like a lot of fun, I just don’t want to spend most of my time swimming there.
nhtrucker it sounds like you had a great time and learned a lot. That’s the goal of any clinic.
I got my start paddling when I got a job canoe tripping around Maine for six summers with the bsa. We paddled rivers, lakes, and whitewater. A lot of the skills I learned were later translated to different environments and different boats (c1s, kayaks, rafts, duckies, sit on tops). With flat water I put more emphasis on efficiency, while ww is more about using the current to get to where you want to go. Peelouts, eddy turns, ferries, and surfing are all good fun. They are the “fun” in “fundamentals”. WW is about controlling spin. The boats are designed to turn.
I suffer mightily in aca classes on flat water. My posture, tendency to put 1/2 the paddle blade in the water, and paddle drags (unclean stroke exits) are well ingrained bad habits. I do okay in ww because I have the river to do the work for me. Angles, lean (tilt), and speed become a large part of the equation. Seat time (practice) really helps with this. I have noticed that most paddling instruction tends to focus on strokes. That’s not a bad thing but it’s not the only thing and some folks tend to live in that realm. They may view ww paddling as a series of strokes.
Here’s some stuff that doesn’t always get emphasized in an aca curriculum that helps me- folks talk about “focus” but you need to live it! I would tell you to stop looking at your paddle to do correct strokes and start looking where you want to go! If you are ferrying look at the other shore, not the angle of the bow in the water or your paddle blade! On peelouts and eddy turns lead with your head and shoulders turning downstream or into the eddy. Again, you look specifically where you want to go. If you want to end up 2 feet behind the rock then keep looking 2 feet behind the rock! Your uncle SAL is your friend. SAL= speed, angle, lean. Get that right and you can practice peeling out and eddying out without strokes.
Both flat and ww instruction emphasize core rotation. In ww core rotation it is not just about efficiency but a way to steer the boat.
The next thing is just the opposite of “focus”. It is feel. Do some drills with the eyes closed. Start by paddling forward and backward. Visualize in your head where you want to go and “feel” the boat and adjust accordingly. Open your eyes and check your progress. I’ve never taken an aca class that involved paddling with your eyes closed but I’ve done this myself and with others and found it worthwhile. This is especially true with people who are very analytical. They need to reboot their brain to focus on feeling the boat instead of overthinking it.
Your comfort in the water swimming should match what you are paddling. If you are not comfortable swimming class III rapids then you shouldn’t be paddling them. If you are learning then there is a good chance you already are swimming. If you aren’t “tipping over” then take the opportunity to purposefully swim some rapids in a controlled situation. If you are not willing to swim it then you shouldn’t paddle it.
There are lots of folks who boat class V water that they wouldn’t be willing to swim. They are not you! The rules change and the consequences become more real if you decide to boat class IV and V water… Risk management evolves with ability, physicality, and age. That evolution can lead to harder or easier water.
All paddling is best done in groups. There is added risk when you paddle by yourself. If you choose to do so then you need to accept that additional risk and your decision making becomes very important. Flatwater doesn’t always stay flat. River levels fluctuate.
WW involves shuttles and that usually means paddling with a group. Who you paddle with matters. Your goal is to become an independent decision maker within a group setting. After you get bitten by the ww bug take a river rescue class (swiftwater) to keep it real. One disadvantage to commercial outfitter classes is that while they provide great instruction they may not provide a paddling community that you can practice with. Reach out to others- a paddling club may fill this void.
Rolling is a process and a progression. If you develop a good roll, don’t take it for granted. Continue to practice. If you don’t have a good roll then continue to work on it. Stretching may help. If you are struggling it is really about getting the right visualization. At various times I think about “reaching around, feeling air on my knuckles, sticking my thumb in my butt, finishing with my top hand near my chin (reading my watch), and looking over my shoulder, and finishing with pizza hands (palms facing up).” I just focus on one visualization at a time. Having a partner who can assist is very valuable and helps with muscle memory. Adjust where you boat to match your rolling ability.
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Great sentence and paragraph that highlights your lengthy wisdom. Well said.
Your thoughts apply to Coastal paddling too. That is why sea kayaking emphasizes rescues & kayaks with inherent buoyancy/bulkheads since we venture far from shore regularly.
kayakhank there’s a reason why I stay in the kiddy pool (sheltered areas) when I’m on coastal waters. You gotta know what you don’t know.
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That’s a great point. Regarding what I said earlier about not wanting to swim, it isn’t that I’m unwilling to swim at the whitewater park, it’s just that I would prefer spending more time inside my kayak than swimming it to shore. In the conditions at the park, that means having more skill than I currently have, and learning to roll upright when I do end up flipped.
I am likely going to be up in the Errol, NH area on the weekend of June 11th. The Androscoggin has an easy class II, with a shoulderable portage path for the quarter mile of rapids, or one can simply play in the strong eddy lines at the Bragg Bay, where the rapids end. Right by the takeout at the Bay is also a good place to practice rolling.
Let me know if you want to hook up.
sing
I might just take you up on that. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun!
Cool. Can firm up details when we get to that time. How long of a drive is it for you to get to Errol?
sing
Some video of the new surf wave in Franklin.
The wave looks like a blast, but the dam just downstream made me nervous. I was pretty comfortable about getting myself to shore, but I wasn’t so confident about my boat. I passed.
Self rescue is important - I consider myself a class II boater with class III self rescues skills. If you don’t want to swim it don’t run it.
2 hours, 40 minutes according to Google maps.