Date: 4 May 2010 Comments: 1

While Melissa continued to join regular outings with the kayak Meetup group, I wanted to give her a glimpse of rolling early on in her training. Too often kayakers think of rolling as difficult and put it off as a skill for advanced paddlers, but there are a lot of basic skills that you can learn from rolling: body position, boat control, torso rotation, paddle-blade angle and being relaxed in the water. To get Melissa started on the fundamentals of rolling we stowed her paddle on deck and worked through hip snaps. I was in my dry suit standing next to her kayak to provide support as she progressively went deeper in the water before coming back up. Getting her head to come up after the kayak took some practice. Her instinct, as anyone who has learned to roll knows, was to bring her head up first.

I had her work on sculling braces as a building block for rolling, but getting used to controlling the blade angle would take more practice. On a hunch I had her try something that didn’t require blade control: the balance brace, a Greenland technique of twisting in the cockpit to lie in the water face up and out to the side of the kayak. I handed her my wooden Greenland paddle to hold in one hand, got her twisted around into the balance-brace position and lowered her into the water. I took my hands away. She floated. “I could take a nap doing this,” she said. From the balance brace I had her slowly pivot around to a layback position on the aft deck. Once she was centered she could sit up. Having found something that came naturally to her, I had Melissa work on a butterfly roll, a technique that moves through a position very much like the balance brace on the way to coming upright. I did little but guide her hand as she came from fully capsized to upright. While she didn’t quite manage the entire butterfly roll on her own, Melissa was very close to doing her first roll. She began to get cold so we called it a day.

Christopher Cunningham

Melissa’s Journal:

What a beautiful day to practice rolling techniques in a kayak! It was 60+ degrees when I met Chris to attempt rolling for the first time. I was wearing a 6.5mm wet suit, booties and hood—dive gear I have used to cross-train for kayaking.

We started in a sleek and narrow black kayak with a low profile – easier to roll for a beginner. The cockpit was snug and as I entered the boat I could feel the difference in this kayak versus other larger kayaks I had paddled. I could really feel the water and motions as if the kayak was an extension of my body. It sat low in the water and I could feel every movement as I shifted. I could see that although this boat may be easier to flip over as a novice kayaker, it also meant that it would be easier to roll it back to the upright position.

Chris began by describing some of the techniques used in rolling. I have to admit that I have never seen this done and have only paddled on calm water since December, and the need for rolling had not yet presented itself, so the description seemed a little foreign. Once I began to try various techniques, the words began to sink in and started to make sense. I had no idea how much the weight of my head would influence the roll. My first inclination was to pull my head up to breathe of course, but as I laid back and allowed my hips to turn the kayak, the motion of up-righting the boat was much easier. I practiced lying down on the water and flipping the boat on the right and then the left side. Chris assisted by bracing my hands so I could see how to flip the boat upright by twisting my hips. I noticed immediately that I favored my right side. I could work with the left side, but found it more natural and somewhat easier on my right side.

Next we tried assisted rolling with a standard two-piece paddle. This was tough to absorb the details and get my body to follow what my mind was telling it to do. I grasped the basics, however I feel like my body had a mind of its own and sort of reacted in a safety and security mode. Being upside down under water isn’t exactly a natural position and my body wanted to panic and breathe. With practice, I realized that it was easier to follow the techniques, keep my head down and follow through the roll. In turn the roll will become more fluid and smooth, ending upright faster so I could take a breath.

Practicing bracing was fun and very useful in keeping the kayak upright. The angle of the paddle made quite a difference. The long strokes, done as if “icing a cake” with a slight angle forward, then back again enabled the paddle to stay on top of the water. When the angle was too steep, I noticed my paddle sinking quick and becoming useless.

I tried high and low bracing techniques and then changed paddles. I attempted a balance brace with the Greenland paddle and seriously, I could have taken a nap! This was the most amazing, relaxing position, albeit the water temperature at this point was getting difficult to stay in for much longer. My fingers and toes were starting to lose sensation, and my body transitioned to full-time shiver. It is time to start looking for a dry suit. I just had to try a few more rolls with the Greenland paddle and loved it. While holding the paddle in my right hand and crossing over my body to the left side of the kayak I found this was the easiest way to roll, or perhaps after 2 hours in the water, I was getting the hang of everything. With my left hand wrapping around the kayak, tucking my body forward, head down, I almost completed the roll without assistance. These techniques are definitely going to need multiple sessions of practice to master. I can hardly wait for my next lesson!