So yesterday I was off to Rutabaga to do a little traditional rolling instruction. I’m not sure why, but in the southern part of the state it seems like traditional rolling is very slow to catch on. Not like up north or in Michigan for that matter where there is a fire in the sport. I would think that has to change in time. This part of the state is 2 hours from big water and is a land filled with lakes. prefect for future champion rollers. I think as instructors we need a way to incorporate traditional rolling into kids classes. Something to think about for the future. IF someone starts making decent gear for young people!! Oh well, one class at a time.

So one thing I was thinking about yesterday was learning styles. In both the ACA and BCU they have terms for ways of leaning. Different terms, but they describe the same thing. Some people learn by just jumping in and doing, some have to think and understand every little detail, some need to see demonstrations to help them visualize, and so forth. I’m a thinker type. Probably why it took me so long to learn my first roll. I would want to understand every little nuance of what I was trying to do. I would go upside down and meticulously try to do each step according the book, or description I was given by the coach. Of course, that really never worked. If you over think a roll, you don’t roll. Your motions are too rigid and if you focus on one bit, you tend to blow something else. It’s challenging for thinker types to learn a roll which for the most part, is sort of impulsive and flowing. In fact with people who do tend to over think, this is probably the one place learning a C2C roll works well. It’s rigid formula is right up the street for analytical learners. Step 1. set up, step 2. sweep, 3 hipsnap. . . . sure most other rolls are that way too, but the depend much more on fluid actions, whereas a c2c you can almost just put them together in a stunted fashion and roll.

If you’re off trying to learn a roll by yourself here are a couple things that helped me.

1. you can roll without a skirt. It’s slower when your cockpit is full of water, but it’s not any different. So if you are alone this makes it much easier to fall out and get back in and do it again. No need to waste time dragging the kayak back and dumping it every time.

2. Use a paddle float on your outer blade. The buoyancy will help you keep the blade to the surface. However, it can also make you rely on it and you tend to want to pull yourself up. Don’t do use it for too long, just until you are comfortable with the feel of keeping the blade on the surface.

3. lay back rolls are easier. If you keep coming up and then falling back over. . . you are probably not doing that “head dink” thing. But if you lay back, you will lower your center of gravity and the head dink becomes less important. However, if you want to learn a normal sweep or c2c. then keep your ear pinned to your shoulder. I used to just bite on my shirt to force myself to keep my head down.

4. work on your balance. I’ve had students who are doing everything right but they are uncomfortable on their back decks, wobble and fall over. Ok then. Take time to lay back on your deck and scull for support. Close you eyes, relax and scull or brace if you are going over. Then do this on the back deck and out of your cockpit. Let your feet dangle. Keep doing this until you could take a nap on the back deck. When you reach this comfort zone, you will have no problem when you roll up onto your back deck. The wobbles will go away.

5. practice in your yard. Sit in your kayak, then wiggle it over on it’s side. Then sweep and hipsnap. Don’t knock it, it helps.

Anyway, just some thoughts. . .

Some days you go absolutely nowhere. And that’s ok too. You don’t need to paddle 200 miles to enjoy kayaking. Yesterday I did have hopes of racing around my little lake and playing a bit with my new Werners along the boulders on the western shore. The problem of course was the weather. As soon as I hit the parking lot I could feel that change in the wind and soon a wall of darkness raced in from the north east. I heard one very distant rumble. So is it worth even launching? You just know a storm is coming. Probably be a waste of time if you were determined to do distances. Ah, but plans can change. Soon I had my warehorse out in the lagoon racing back and forth, trying out my bow rudders, hanging draws, and all that other fiddly stuff that can be effected by a new paddle. Yeah, I did get that occasional flutter with the new buoyant blade at first, but I soon had it sorted. I was also playing with some really deep low brace recoveries and it did feel to be that there was a little extra purchase on the blade as well.

There was another crack of thunder. Still off in the distance. No time like now for rolling practice. For the next half hour or so under the darkening skies I just rolled and played with my old warhorse. We hadn’t played in some time and it was pure joy. . As the wind began to pick up I stowed my paddle and hand rolled the explorer for a bit. Wow. . it went well. Usually I have to muscle the big Explorer, but for some reason it was simple and fluid under the clouds.

I pointed the boat out toward the place I had planned to go. Lightning struck out among the trees. I snapped this picture, then turned around and paddled back to the jeep. As my kayak slid on the sand, a small wake followed and crashed along side me. It was a good day. A day where I went absolutely nowhere.

The classic table decorations of the country home. Hand made clay bowl, candles on a woven mat, and 4 piece Werner paddles!

Thanks to the personal attention of Christie Dobson at Werner Paddles, my new Ikelos paddles arrived today. The Ikelos is a full sized, high angle blade generally designed for folks with some decent conditioning. I’m not sure I qualify as “well conditioned” but I love the connection a big blade gives you with the water. The blades are amazingly buoyant which gives you a great feel in the water. Beautiful for braces and rolling. These are the big dogs I’ll be using in Puerto Rico in 39 days. The 4 piece is available as a special order. It does add a bit of weight to the paddle (standard is about 26oz), but it’s not bad and the convenience for travel makes up easily for the couple extra ounces. I really recommend that when you look at new paddles you should give one of the “Performance Core” paddles a try. If you’ve never tried them before that extra buoyancy will be a big surprise.

In other news, I’m sure you noticed the site was down today. I started yesterday moving KQuixotica over to a new server and there was a bit of a delay in the switch. But it’s all worked out now and we are back up and running. Sorry for that.

I’m sure you guys remember Bryan Smith. We got to watch him do some amazing stuff in the Skooks in This Is the Sea II. He’s an impressive paddler, and today we’ll see he’s also an impressive film maker! Bryan has posted the trailer for his new DVD, “Pacific Horizons” and it looks flippin fantasic! The film features segments on Dubside, Quadra Island Tidal Races, Skookumchuck Narrows, Keirron Tastagh and Jeff Norville’s 14 day Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, San Juan Islands, The Oregon Coast, Columbia River Gorge, Remote West Coast Vancouver Island Locations, Queen Charlotte Islands, and much more.

It was a hot and steamy night. I had kept having visions of the house as Salvador Dali would have painted it. My clocks were oozing down the walls like the trunk of a strangely over endowed elephant. The most comfortable place to sleep was on the floor surrounded by fans. (no, not the rockstar type fans. . . . one could only hope. . . .) I was sleeping quite well until there was a tug at my foot. I tried to ignore it. . tug. . . . . tug. . . . I rubbed my eyes and looked to see Lizzie our black lab. Instantly she saw I was awake and walked on top of me and stared down at me from above. . Slurrrrrrrrrrrp! Time to get up!!! “Ok, already” I said. I sat up and put my arms around her as she sat in and leaned against me. We sat there in a quiet house watching the clocks melt together for a few moments. Then I got up and put her outside. . . It’s going to be another hot one.

I was flipping through the new issue of paddler magazine. My eyes still almost to blurry to read. . I read a small bit about Roz Savage. .” Roz has a plan to row from San Francisco to Australia in a time frame of 3 months. . In part she said. . “I sat down and wrote my obituary. . Twice. The first was how It would read if I carried on as I was. The second was what I actually wanted it to say. . .That’s when I knew it was time for a change.” Yeah, Roz. . I understand you. Good luck! Be sure to take time to visit her website and say, “HI”.

Well, I’m back from the symposium in Washburn and I think it might take a day or two to get my head back on straight. As always it was a good time. Yesterday our final rolling class was stopped by lightning and we had to call it an early day. To bad too, cuz I was sure we were going to have another new roller. All we needed was another 10 minutes!

Watch here the next couple days. I have some pics from Hadas and Tomer that arrived while I was gone. . I’ve got info about an exciting new DVD coming out and a few more tidbits as well. Now I’ve got to try to get my eyes unstuck so I can get some work done!

Happy Monday, and as always Thanks for stopping by! I may not always mention it but I certainly owe all of you guys a lot for your readership and support over the years. THANK YOU!

Now, how do you get melted clock out of the carpeting?