How did you guys and gals get started kayaking? Work your way through
formal instruction? Friends? Get a book, a kayak and start self
teaching? Just wing it with a kayak? Any and all types of kayaking
would be of interest.

It seems like group classes and trips are certainly the popular thing.
I think the social aspect of the group activity are as much a draw for
some people as anything.

I'm much more of a loner and find that although I have the time, it's
a few hours here and there, and I never know when it will be. I'm
leaning toward the book and kayak method. I've spent my whole life on
the water (49) and have experienced most fazes of boating, including
extensive wind surfing and dinghy and catamaran sailing. But, I
haven't done the kayak thing yet and it seems about the right time.

After I get comfortable with a kayak in protected waters my current
opinion is to at least get with someone and learn to roll.

Just looking for some feedback.

bb

Books are good, but some things are unlikely to be learned that way. For
instance, you can probably learn the paddle float self-rescue from a book but I
doubt one could learn to roll from most of the descriptions in books. In my
case I think that the expectations I aquired from books really made it more
difficult for me to learn to roll.
Even if you are a "loner" I would join a local club. You may rarely
paddle with your club but they may put you on to some sources of instruction
that are cheap to free. Our local club has occaisionaly talked certified
instructors into giving classes to our club for free. Also, there are some
experienced kayakers who seem to enjoy teaching more than paddling.
Kayaking is more than just physical skills. The ability to plan and know
what you will encounter is just as importat. How did you guys and gals get
started kayaking? Work your way through
formal instruction? Friends? Get a book, a kayak and start self
teaching? Just wing it with a kayak? Any and all types of kayaking
would be of interest.

It seems like group classes and trips are certainly the popular thing.
I think the social aspect of the group activity are as much a draw for
some people as anything.

I'm much more of a loner and find that although I have the time, it's
a few hours here and there, and I never know when it will be. I'm
leaning toward the book and kayak method. I've spent my whole life on
the water (49) and have experienced most fazes of boating, including
extensive wind surfing and dinghy and catamaran sailing. But, I
haven't done the kayak thing yet and it seems about the right time.

After I get comfortable with a kayak in protected waters my current
opinion is to at least get with someone and learn to roll.

bb wrote:
How did you guys and gals get started kayaking? Work your way through
formal instruction? Friends? Get a book, a kayak and start self
teaching? Just wing it with a kayak? Any and all types of kayaking
would be of interest.

I'm self-taught, which explains why I'm so bad. William Nealy's cartoon
book "Kayak" helped me, but not enough to make me good.

After I get comfortable with a kayak in protected waters my current
opinion is to at least get with someone and learn to roll.

River kayaking, or sea and lake kayaking? The answers are probably
very different depending. It's hard to roll a sea kayak. On rivers
inflatable kayakers seldom can roll, but enjoy themselves anyway.

On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:32:10 -0000, Bill Tuthill
wrote:

I'm self-taught, which explains why I'm so bad. William Nealy's cartoon
book "Kayak" helped me, but not enough to make me good.

I can see struggling with poor technique if one is completely self
taught. There appears to be some very good instructional books
available. When I was into road bikes (bicycles) I learned a lot from
books.

River kayaking, or sea and lake kayaking? The answers are probably
very different depending. It's hard to roll a sea kayak. On rivers
inflatable kayakers seldom can roll, but enjoy themselves anyway.

I'd say sea and coastal kayaking, mostly.

bb

Bill Tuthill wrote:

bb wrote:
How did you guys and gals get started kayaking? Work your way through
formal instruction? Friends? Get a book, a kayak and start self
teaching? Just wing it with a kayak? Any and all types of kayaking
would be of interest.

I'm self-taught, which explains why I'm so bad. William Nealy's cartoon
book "Kayak" helped me, but not enough to make me good.

After I get comfortable with a kayak in protected waters my current
opinion is to at least get with someone and learn to roll.

River kayaking, or sea and lake kayaking? The answers are probably
very different depending. It's hard to roll a sea kayak. On rivers
inflatable kayakers seldom can roll, but enjoy themselves anyway.

Probably the biggest misconception that non-kayakers have is that you
need to know how to roll to be able to paddle a kayak. Granted, there
are conditions that you shouldn't even consider going into without
having a strong, polished roll, but for your average recreational
kayaker knowing how to roll just isn't all that important.

I've talked to quite a number of people who seem to think you need to
spend six months in a pool practicing your roll before you have the
skills to go out on a river or a lake. Nothing could be farther from
the truth.


--
//-Walt
//
// Sigs suck. Oh, the irony.

On 23-Apr-2004, Bill Tuthill wrote:

It's hard to roll a sea kayak.

Myth. The best low-volume (and some medium volume) sea kayaks are
no harder and often easier to roll than some of the chunkier WW kayaks.

Rolling isn't hard - learning to roll is hard (for most). I've taught
folks who learn to roll in 15 minutes* while others can't do it after
years of trying.

Learning a good roll is easier than learning a _good_ forward stroke.

Mike

*not 15 minutes to a bombproof roll, but 15 to a roll that they can take
away and develop over time into a bombproof roll.

My wife and I were interested in getting yaks, so we went to a demo day and
were instantly hooked. We ordered a pair of Pungo Classics (for paddling on
lakes, ponds, and quiet rivers). We had a pretty long wait for them but in the
interim we took a trip to Nova Scotia which included a beautiful kayak trip
(half day). That gave us enough basic instruction so that when our boats
arrived we were comfortable with them right from the start. No need to learn to
roll with these boats--- in fact it is probably impossible.

******************************
Got wood?
Check out my exotic hardwood pennywhistles at fair
prices...http://www.Busmanwhistles.com

bb wrote in news:b4ji80pg1b3i5iavc5hmgja6etd3moqrcu@
4ax.com:

On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:32:10 -0000, Bill Tuthill
wrote:

I'm self-taught, which explains why I'm so bad. William Nealy's cartoon
book "Kayak" helped me, but not enough to make me good.

I can see struggling with poor technique if one is completely self
taught. There appears to be some very good instructional books
available. When I was into road bikes (bicycles) I learned a lot from
books.

I think there are a lot of things that you can learn from books and just
getting out and paddling a lot but I also firmly believe in formal
instruction.

When learning skills from a book you don't have someone watching to see how
well you've put what you've read in practice. One can develope bad habits
and through trial and error learn to compensate for them. It's easy to
paddle forward in a fairly straight line just using your arms, and as long
as you're going straight and forward it probably "feels" right. Having an
instructor watch and note that you're not using torso rotation, suggesting
some exercises to use your whole body when paddling, and then provide
immediate feedback, will not only make your forward stroke effective, but
also efficient.

While I imagine some people have learned to roll from a book, it is much,
much easier to have someone that knows what they're doing teach you.

River kayaking, or sea and lake kayaking? The answers are probably
very different depending. It's hard to roll a sea kayak.

Not really. It's just that there is a much stronger emphasis on learning to
roll in white water boats than in a sea kayak so fewer sea kayakers learn to
roll right away. I think it may be easier to learn to roll in many
whitewater kayaks but once you've got the technique down rolling a sea kayak
is just as easy. Unfortunately, sea kayaks have a bit of an identity crisis
these days because a lot of retailers are selling wide flat bottomed
recreational kayaks as "beginner" sea kayaks. They typically have cockpits
so big that one can't the body to boat contact necessariy to roll
effectively. Rolling a good fitting narrow touring kayak is not difficult
at all.

On rivers
inflatable kayakers seldom can roll, but enjoy themselves anyway.

I'd say sea and coastal kayaking, mostly.

My suggestion would be to take a beginners class to learn the basics and
then get out and paddle as much as you can and practice what you've learned.
Then take an intermediate class after a couple of months or so. That should
give you most of the skills you'll need. Generally rolling classes are
dedicated to teaching how to roll so that may require an additional class.
After that available instruction is usually more focuses (forward stroke
refinement, surf zone, navigation, etc). Over the course of a few years
formal instruction isn't going to cost much but while most likely help you
develope skills faster.

Going to kayaking symposium is also a good option. The Swee****er sea
kayaking symposium in Florida every year (usually in February) is a skill
oriented symposium that will provide instruction in a lot of areas by some
of the most accomplished kayakers in the world. It's sort of like spending
several hours getting bicycle instruction from Lance Armstrong.

Paul is snipped: We ordered a pair of Pungo Classics ... No need to learn to
roll with these boats--- in fact it is probably impossible.

Congratulations on getting started in a great sport. While there is no need to
learn to roll, it is possible to roll a Pungo. Not easy, but possible.

What is important is to learn self rescues. The best of course is a roll. For
that boat, you should learn paddle float rescues and try them in as hard a
conditions as you paddle in. Also be aware that in many parts of the US, the
water is still cold enough to kill you.

Brian Blankinship