I practiced it as much as I could to develop muscle memory. I would like to go back and try it on the wider kayak - I am sure that would be a challenge.
Today's kayak class focused on the roll (last class) I decided before I arrived that I would choose a smaller kayak that might roll easier - that made a big difference. At first I struggled, my paddle would dive down and I couldn't get up. Fortunately the instructor had the pool depth set so we could brace off the bottom and that helped me learn the hip flick technique and then combine that with the sweep. I rolled several times bracing off the bottom then transitioned into a full roll without the help of bracing from the bottom of the pool. The critical part was to have faith that the procedure will work. I found it useful to lean over towards the paddle side of the boat after I was upside down. Then sweep ensuring the power face was on the surface of the water then follow the paddle with my head (*eyes) and combine that with a hip flick towards the end while leaning back. At any rate, it worked for me. Heeha!
I practiced it as much as I could to develop muscle memory. I would like to go back and try it on the wider kayak - I am sure that would be a challenge.
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At class tonight we practiced with the throw lines/bags. We also focused on rescues - T rescue and X rescue. Unfortunately I had problems getting the hip snap to roll my kayak on the T-rescue. I think one of the problems is the kayak I am using. it is quite a large cockpit and there is some knee supports but not really solid support. However, I still feel like I should be able to get this working. I will try to practice that up against the edge of the pool and gradually keep going further over until I can get that working for me.
Today we went over spray skirts and did wet exists with the spray skirts on. It certainly slows down the process of getting out the boat.
We also sent over low brace and high brace and then added low brace turns and linking strokes and combined that with edging. I find that often I try to go too far with my edging to get more dynamic turning and there is often no brace available so I end up in the flipping over. Today in class we talked about cold water gear - dry suits and wet suits. I asked about maps- not only need to know where the white water is but where falls or dams are but also need to know water level charts. The government web sites have maps and charts.
We leaned how to do the three types of bow draws. Today in class we used paddles rather than just our hands. We learned how to hold and do the forward and reverse strokes. Problem was with my longer kayak there wasn't enough room in the pool (we just had a small part of the pool and with 12 folks it was pretty tight). If I got up to speed then it was difficult to stop and turn - I overturned a couple of times doing this. Good practice though. We also learned the sweep stroke and reverse sweep stroke. It became clear that I need more practice at my own pace with more room. I have called the pool and apparently Thursday nights they have a free swim when one can practice, so I will start to do that.
The first of the 6 day kayak class was yesterday and it was great! I really enjoyed it. We went over Transport Canada's requirements and a few other safety issues. Items that have to be in the kayak:
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InterestsLives in Southern Alberta, loves life, family, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, archery, videography, photography, multicopters, hazelnuts, far too many things, etc. Archives
March 2016
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