, 5 min, 824 words
Tags: adventuring anacortes-kayak-tours
The other day I heard a rumor that a couple of colleagues – James and Ted –were heading out for a roll session. One of my goals for the summer is to get a solid (or semi-solid) roll down, so I headed out with them filled with nerves and excitement.
First, I should mention what a roll is: it's the safest self-rescue technique in a kayak. If you capsize, instead of getting out of your kayak and then back in, a roll allows you to use your body and paddle to right yourself quickly. There are many types of rolls for different conditions and paddles and individual strengths. Ted seems to know all of them, or at least he has a roll for every situation. He and James got warmed up with a few casual rolls and half-rolls while I practiced edging and my low brace, then Ted and I got down to business.
Like in a previous learning experience, we started with me grabbing the bow of Ted's boat and lowering myself most of the way into the water. From there he coached me through an effective hip snap. The idea is to use your legs and abs to right yourself, with torso and head following afterwards. Once that seemed to be working, he talked me through the basic paddle movement and what my body is doing at the same time.
Basically, there are just four basic steps:
Then it was time to just jump in and try it. On some level, the more failed rolls you've done, the better your roll is going to be. So I just had to get started. As usual, it took some composure, but I went for it time after time and refined it based on feedback. I was as surprised as anyone when it worked for the first time. I rolled four or five times in a row before we headed back to shore.
Later that day, I headed out with a larger group for some more training. And the roll just wouldn't come! So I'm back to adding to my failed roll count, though with Ted's help I identified where I'm going wrong so I can keep working on it.
In subsequent roll sessions, I've had wildly varying results. One day, I rolled successfully on my first attempt. Another time, two consecutive roll sessions resulted in zero successful rolls. At this point, I'm working to stay optimistic, and I do feel like I'm learning something every time I get out there. I keep reminding myself of Ted's favorite adage: the people with the best rolls are the ones who have failed to roll the most.
For example, one day I spent two hours working on paddle positioning to really get my paddle out of the water in my setup, and had two successful rolls total. But now my paddle positioning is fairly solid!
The other day I had a massive underwater composure breakthrough. It was a relatively unsuccessful day for me, and after yet another failed roll, I found myself underwater again and felt a wave of exasperation. While still underwater, I realized with a certain pleasure that for the first time, I'd experienced a feeling other than panic while upside-down under my boat. This really was a victory for me, and hopefully it will translate into increased comfort with attempted and failed rolls.
In short, I'm hoping to spend lots of time out on the water working on this and other skills. And of course the roll isn't the last word in kayaking – it's just another tool that can be awfully handy. I can't wait to continue building technical skills all season long.