Birthday Rolls #46

Starring: Greg Schwarz, Jim, Gnarlydog, Adventuretess
Guest Appearances: Moira, Bruce

12 months since the tradition of ‘birthday rolls’ began, it was time to do it all again. All rollers chose to use Greenland Paddles, including Jim who was using his homemade GP for the first time.
Birthday presents are not exchanged among group members; the act of getting together in this way is considered gift enough. I was therefore taken by surprise when Greg Schwarz handed me a small red fleece bag. What lay inside left me speechless: Greg had made me a Norsaq, a Greenland harpoon throwing tool similar to a Woomera. My Norsaq is a beautiful work of art meticulously made with the same timber used to make my GP. Greg substituted Ash on the tips and trim where traditionally bone would have been used.

I have no experience rolling with a Norsaq so was appreciative that Greg included lessons as part of the gift.

Entering the water, the effect of the recent devastating floods was apparent by the unusually brown water and our discovery of a freshwater catfish eel flopping around on the tide line. This poor fellow must have been washed out of a nearby freshwater creek.
12 months ago aged 45, I had wondered at my ability to perform as many rolls. Today attempting 46, plus 1 for luck, I had no such concerns. The challenge for me on this birthday lay in doing different types of rolls. The groups abilities are at different levels but throughout the session, butterfly, Greenland, hand, offside, speed, forward ending and other types of rolls were successfully performed.
On top of these, Greg decided to do his as hand rolls, all 50 of them, one after the other!
After completing the required number of rolls, we played.

Gnarlydog perfected his skirt-in-place re-enter and roll while Greg turned to his role as mentor, helping Jim achieve his first offside roll, using his new GP then guiding me in the use of the Norsaq.

I've found practicing and playing in my kayak improves both my skills and confidence and I’m fortunate to have many opportunities throughout the year to celebrate my kayaking friend’s birthdays in this way.

Jim & Tess

How do you celebrate your birthday ?

Butterflies and Hand Rolls - Australia Day 2010

Starring: Greg and Moira Schwarz, Gnarlydog, Adventuretess

Australia isn’t only about vegemite, koalas, mateship and cockroach races at the Story Bridge Hotel, it’s about living the Aussie dream and ‘having a go’.


After returning a day early from Fraser Island, I decided to spend my bonus day off pursuing my current Aussie dream, to hand roll my kayak.

An impromptu session with rolling mentors Moira and Greg Schwarz was arranged.
Watching Greg and Moira’s effortless balanced braces and Greenland rolls has inspired me to ‘have a go’.

It isn’t always pretty, but I have a lot of fun testing the boundaries of balance in my kayak. Without their guidance, balanced bracing would just be some weird thing that those kayak roll specialists do.
Armed with determination and a neoprene oven mitt, we met Moira and Greg among the patriotic hordes setting up bbq’s and esky’s along the grassy shorefront.
I’ve been attempting hand rolls for a short time and I just couldn’t quite pull it off. Almost reaching the back deck and then failing, my bare handed sweep wasn’t working for me. Warming up with a short paddle and a few rolls, I carefully studied Greg and Moira as they performed hand rolls.
I put the neoprene glove on and listened carefully to Moira’s instructions.

Before I knew it I had rolled and was lying on Sialuk’s back deck looking into the sky.

Success!



Tentatively I tried again, to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Feeling more confident, I tried it again and sure enough, up I came.
By this time, I was getting excited and wanted to try it one more time before going commando (without the glove). Well, the magic left me and my hand rolling came to an end. Moira comforted me with assurances that this was common when learning to hand roll. It comes. And it goes.
Taking a break we all swapped kayaks and I watched as Moira hand rolled, Greg elbow crook rolled and Damiano butterfly rolled in Sialuk – his first!
Moira paddles an Avocet LV and the cockpit fits me very well. I decided to try the hand roll one more time and surprising myself, I managed to hand roll a further 3 times in the Avocet LV before the magic washed off.
We 4 left the beach satisfied. For a few short hours we’d all ‘had a go’ and ‘lived the dream’. Sharing celebratory ice creams afterwards, I was a very happy kayaker.

Kayak Roll Preparation - "Pre-Rolling'

Like most kayakers, when I first started sea kayaking, learning to kayak roll was on my priority list.
I couldn’t wait to learn to roll believing it would be easily accomplished.
Rolling would be a key skill to letting me go where I wanted to travel in a sea kayak…out in the sea.

Armed with basic bracing strokes, I eagerly attended roll training with a qualified instructor. As I wasn't used to the reality of being upside down underwater, once in the rolling class, I soon realized that suddenly being tipped over underwater was not the most comfortable or familiar environment.
Anxiety mixed with the confusion of being upside down made learning the steps to a successful roll extremely difficult. I finished the training disappointed with my lack of progress, unsure if I would ever be able to master this seemingly complicated skill.

Looking back it is now obvious to me that if you are not comfortable upside down in the water, you are wasting your time and money attending a kayak roll class. 'Pre' rolling or priming is essential. It was only after a lot of getting wet and mucking around in my kayak that I was finally more confident underwater and ready for rolling.


getting comfortable underwater
I’m sure there are instructors around who will take your money regardless of your readiness to roll however GOOD instructors take the time to find out if you are confident underwater, if your kayak fits you and if you use bracing and skulling strokes.

With persistence I could roll but my technique was basic (I would roll back up with force rather then finesse) and unreliable. Introduced to the intricacies of balanced bracing by Greg Schwarz, I was ecstatic when I finally learn the "balanced brace".


balanced bracing
Learning to scull and balance brace gave me confidence underwater and an understanding of how the kayak moved in the water with certain body movements.

I discovered rolling is not about strength and pushing a big bladed paddle into the water to bring me back up. Rolling is more about aligning my body with my kayak, using my body to apply opposing forces with my leg/knee that will turn the kayak into an upright position. Not all kayakers are equal: some are more flexible than others and some have better underwater orientation, so training should be adjusted to the individual.

Hanging out with Greg Schwarz I learned another "soft roll"; the "butterfly" roll.


Greg likes to 'finesse' his rolls and he loves to teach that to others.

I am not a qualified instructor but I recommend aspiring rollers to undertake a lot of "priming" before you take that class.
Become confident with wet exits, happy to hang upside down for a minute (or two) before popping the skirt and maybe, with the help of a knowlegeable friend, start some basic sweep strokes with a paddle float to learn the motion of a roll. The chances are that unlike my first class, a prepared student will have more luck in successfully completing a roll course than one that has never tipped upside down in his/her kayak.