Exactly
That day I swam in Back Sound taught me a lot!
OK - more can do it
– Last Updated: Feb-16-13 9:19 AM EST –
But it is not likely to be an entry level talent for folks just starting out in surf... I have also had capsizes happen close enough to shore that staying in the boat meant my torso or head was being dragged along the bottom. If there were rocks rather than sand in that space... not sure I trust the helmet quite that much.
After re-read…
I totally get what you’re saying and agree conditionally. The conditions one finds themselves in that is. I also “conditionally” stand by all my comments on this thread.
FWIW, if while upside-down the under current wants my paddle badly enough I will let go of the trailing end; this takes most of all the pressure off of holding onto it and protects me from getting a shoulder ripped out and/or losing the paddle. Anytime I feel my arms getting over-extended I try to use this. I feel it’s safer and this is a good option for me because I’m comfortable with pulling a spare and rolling up with it.
I talked with Sergy when he lost his paddle last Sat., he said one second his paddle was there, the next it was gone. This has happened to me before. It can and will happen to anyone in the “right” conditions.
All the best, tOM
Roll up with half a paddle?
I’ve done it in flat water but don’t know how realistic it is in rough stuff.
that’s worth practicing
Just a few weeks ago I sat along the beach in the broken waves for a while, in water just deep enough to clear my head upside down, to where my shoulder hit bottom, just capsizing repeatedly. I like to do this once in a while just to practice righting myself with one quick nudge off the bottom, letting go of the paddle with one hand to nudge off the bottom with my hand. When I’d land on my shoulder, I’d nudge with my elbow.
Practicing this once in a while makes it come naturally for me when I find myself capsized, washed into shallows. If the wave is still powerful enough to drag you behind the kayak in water that shallow, you’ll be able to ride along the surface if you allow your paddle to trail and just allow the planing paddle face to keep you up towards the surface. Works like a champ as long as you don’t panic and try to push your body above the surface with the paddle. Just float with the blade along the surface until the wave loses a little more energy to allow you to sit up without being knocked right back over. The kayak will always end up leading your body towards shore in these situations.
So effectively, you won’t have to worry about your head or torso being dragged along the bottom by a wave, or how to roll up quickly if you find yourself in that position. It’s an easy one to practice and an easy one to execute. If you’re still being pulled along by the wave, think relaxed arms and continued being pulled along, with you body along the surface next to the paddle face. Don’t reach down and injure yourself. If you’re no longer being dragged, nudge yourself up.
2 primary paddles on each trip
That way if one breaks I am not using a paddle I do not enjoy using.
Good advice - thanks
Not sure when I’ll have a moment to practice this coming up - things are a bit distracted at home and will stay that way for a while - but I’ll try and hang onto these notes.
One thing I didn’t highlight in the above replies is that I have had to overcome pretty strong claustrophobia when upside down in a boast to get to the roll. So each step, including staying calm while being flushed by white stuff, takes more repetition for me to get by than others.
It’s a bore, but I have found that if I just stay at it I eventually can drill by these moments.
It’s easy with a GP and…
…Greenland style deck rigging. That means getting rid of the nearly useless bungee cords that come on most boats and installing cords and sliders. They will hold the paddle very securely, yet you can release it in a heartbeat.Mine has been pounded many times in surf and it’s never come loose. However, grabbing it off the foredeck is a simple matter of pushing it forward out from under the cords, then back to release it from the bow loop. It takes about a second and I’ve done it a couple of times when I’ve been whacked hard enough to have my primary paddle torn from my grasp. It was no problem at all to do it under water.
There are two important keys to making any spare paddle system work:
1- The paddle must ALWAYS be in the same place, so you can find it by feel.
2- You have to practice using it, so that when you need to grab it, you’ll do so without having to think about it.
My take…
I have not read the other responses, but imagine that there are others who feel the same…
I choose to take a high quality paddle of a different size or variety with me so that I can swap out paddles if i choose to.
I own a big blade Ikelos, and a smaller blade Cyprus. I bring both with me so that i can “change gears” if I choose
Or, I will bring a GP with me for a change.
And sometimes…I will also bring a storm paddle for the front deck if I am paddling in conditions where I need immediate access to a spare if I drop my primary and or it is ripped out of my hands in surf, etc. The storm paddle is immediately able to be put into use, and can be retrieved while upside down under water too.
matt
my spare is the same as my main paddle
Because if I have to use it chances are it’ll become my main paddle.
2 (thats 2) primary paddles
– Last Updated: Feb-18-13 2:01 PM EST –
Last May I went on a paddle with a local club on a long flat water river. Because of good weather the power boats came out a few weeks early. The wake from one threw my weight onto the blade while I was slightly bracing for stability getting out of my kayak. The Aleutian paddle cracked under the stress, with a long and deep longitudinal crack. NO one in the group, including me, had brought a spare paddle even though we all know better.
I had to paddle a few miles back to the launch with the paddle blade oriented backwards, so the water pressure closed the crack. Paddling in proper orientation (ridge on power face) would have finished breaking the paddle. The stress in my forearms after paddling to the launch with the Aleution paddle held backwards convinced me that those who are advocating that orientation are wrong.
I have repaired the broken paddle and now ALWAYS carry a spare.
Dave
type of water
makes a big difference. For WW, for example, I keep my spare in my boat behind the seat. And the spare is a set of hands paddles. If I broke a paddle (not hard to do in WW) then I would paddle a single blade until I could catch an eddy. If I had to swim and lost my paddle I would take out the hands paddles after I had made it to shore.
Same here in WW
Completely different approach to the spare, mine for WW is a 4 part that would not be very practical to assemble while bouncing down the river regardless of how easy it’d be to get the parts out from under the air bags.
But it is a very different thing to be without a paddle a mile offshore and being blown further…
it is very realistic
When you roll you are only using 1 blade, so having only one blade is not a hinderance.
broken paddle
I have only broken a paddle once, but it was a unique situation and the spare storm on the front deck was key.
I broke my paddle on the bottom in clapotis over a sandbar. I tried rolling up but had no lift. I had not realized that I broke my paddle. I was able to pull the storm paddle off the front deck and roll up and then paddle to shore where I could pull my spare Euro paddle from the back deck and continue the day and make the long paddle back to the car.
So there is a good case for a good spare and potentially a spare storm in addition.
Matt