Eskimo Rolling - Reentry & Roll - March 29

I had a Greenland style rolling student today. She had an iffy sweep lay back roll, and wanted to make it more reliable and add a re-entry and roll to her abilities.

We made her roll very reliable in about 5 minutes. It is so cool to identify and fix a weakness and see results so quickly. And, then to make her roll bombproof in just a few more minutes!

Then we went on to the re-entry and roll. As is sometimes the case, the problem had nothing to do with rolling. It was in committing to climbing in to the upturned kayak, making sure you are fully in the seat and in contact with the thigh braces, and still have control of your paddle.

Here is how to accomplish this. Start in the water with your kayak right side up and facing forward to the left of you. Grab both the paddle shaft and your kayak's left side combing on your left hand. Put the kayak on its side as you put your feet into the cockpit. Now, take a deep breath and grab the combing on the right side. You now need that breath since you will be upside down at this point. Squirm around if needed and get completely into the seat with your feet on the your foot rests and your thighs in the braces. At this point you will have completed the hard part. (Unless of course, you can't hold your breath more than 5 seconds.)

Let go of the combing, grabbing you paddle with both hands and get into your set-up position. Now, roll the boat like you would any other time.

If you are doing a left-handed roll, start right side up, follow these instructions carefully, and you should end up upside down. I'm not left-handed, so I can't be sure, but I hear it works splendidly. :-)

After you have rolled up, you will have a cockpit half full of water. So head for calm water or a friend's help so you can pump out the water and put your spray skirt back on.

While I have never experienced this, I'm told that some boats roll more slowly when they are full of water. So you my need to do your roll more slowly as well.

There is a myth floating around that if you put your spray skirt on while you are still upside down, you will not have a cockpit full of water after you have rolled. Balderdash! Rubbish! Let's sink that myth for good.