yea, yea, yea. Obviously who ever came up with that one hasn't tried to learn kayak rolling. I've tried a couple times now, I've even got the steps down. Funny thing - the minute, or rather second, I'm upside in the kayak I do the same, wrong thing! At least now I know what that is.
But lets go back to Friday night... I drove up to Whitinsville, Mass to the Community Center for a kayaking skills class in their pool. The class is run by Eastern Mountain Sports (a direct competitor to ACO!) The instructors, Mark and Steve were both funny and knowledgeable. There were 6 people in the class. Two guys who were very good at rolling, and 4 of "us", so after going over the basics they split the group up. The 4 of us, they took through all the steps from a wet exit to the roll. I did a very leisurely wet exit, and that alone was worth it. (These boats had tiny, tiny cockpits). Then we moved through the set up, the finish, and "all the stuff in between". I learned that a "hip snap" is more of a knee thrust and how to position the blade so it doesn't slice. Then it was time to do the full roll.
I rolled over and did exactly what I did last summer! Body memory is incredibly strong. The good news is Mark and Steve told me what I was doing...I am paddling. Yup, roll me over in a boat and I try (actually succeed) in paddling upside down in a kayak. And they say I'm not talented!
So...I will try again...and this time I'll try to bring the gosh darn paddle over the bow.
How its supposed to go:
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