Playing in the surf

[Phil Thompson]

Hello all

I went out yesterday morning for a play on the bar. There was a lot of white water about and I was on my old kayak - a little 13ft kevlar job from Washington state. It has a big underhung rudder, a lot of bow flare and being short I thought it would go well in the surf.

I had a good time playing with bracing in the foam. I would get hit by a little bit of white water and lean into it and surf sideways for up to 20m (or so it felt). I would lean into the wave keeping my hands down on the paddle. My right brace was better than my left and in the end I fell in. I can roll okay on the flat but I was just flopping around under the water so I bailed. I got to shore and bailed the boat out and had another go. I really need to practice my roll until I can get into the start position absolutely automatically. It needs to be like changing gear or running so that I can think about the conditions instead of going "What? Which way is where?"

It was interesting to see how I have changed since I last used this boat. It lacks solid footing so my feet move a little on the slightly wobbly rudder bar. The seat has no back rest and no support on your hip sides. I felt naked! In the slop I didn't feel like I had the same control I have in a whitewater boat or the Mirage. The Mirage's extra stability would have been nice and also I like to "wear" the boat more than a sloppy fit will allow.

I didn't get that many surfs as I was experimenting with bracing. I wore my polyprop top and was quite warm.

cheers

Phil

[Phil Thompson]

As an addendum to my failure to roll in the surf I was getting stuck into the rapids up at Barrington this weekend with the Duke of Ed group. The first day I didn't fall in which only meant I was not pushing things so on Sunday I got stuck into the rapids. Playing in them after coming down. You paddle back into the torrent and surprisingly enough you can find some water flowing upstream. There are also large standing waves to surf.

I ended up falling in and was sort of ready for it. Instead of "Oh no - quick try to roll!" I just went "Oh yeah this is upside down. Let's get into the recovery position when we can and remember to look at the river bottom - keep you head down as you screw roll." With a more relaxed attitude I came up. I did it again when I got sucked into a standing wave and the upriver edge caught.

So I have now rolled in anger but the anger bit is absolutely incorrect. The only reason I rolled is because I rolled by staying calm. Now to do it in the salt water. Swansea bar and I have a date some time soon.

[John Anderson]

Hi Phil,

now that sounds like fun.

Moving water does add an extra element to rolling. It helps to roll on the side where you get lift, if you roll on the wrong side it's so much harder. The foam can be an issue too as the paddle gets no purchase on it and it can be hard to tell where the surface of the water really is. There is a variant of the Pawlatta roll called the Storm Roll, where you strike down hard and with the paddle blade close to vertical near the bow, the blade then skids out to the side when it hit's clear water. I've been meaning to try that one next.