On Feb 12, 9:53 pm, "Moby Dick" wrote:
Looking through the local sports magazine (Boulder, Colorado), I see
lot's of "roll classes" for whitewater kayaks. Do sea kayakers need
this, too. I know what rolling is -- seems to me that if a sea kayak
is flipped due to a wave or something, it'd be good to know how to
roll back up. Or is just getting out of the kayak sufficient?

TIA


The roll is more crucial for WW kayakers than sea kayakers because the
water that WW kayakers are generally on is moving (rivers) and what's
immediately downstream of a WW kayaker who flipped is usually
hazardous, whereas when a sea kayaker flips, the water is generally
not moving, so the sea kayaker has the option of doing a number of
different solo or assisted rescues. These options are generally not
available to a flipped WW kayaker, and certainly not within the WW
kayaker has to right themselves before hitting a rock or going over a
pourover or something similarly hazardous. The flipped WW kayaker
needs to get right side up ASAP, and the roll does that.

The roll is basically the same for the sea kayak as it is for the WW
kayak, namely head down and hip snap. (And let's not turn this into a
discussion of the myriad different ways to roll a kayak, they are
mostly basically the same!) As a WW kayaker who ventured into the
world of sea kayaking as an instructor, I feel much more secure in a
boat I can roll. I think it would be good for all kayakers to learn
the roll, but as I said it's not nearly as crucial for a sea kayaker
to be able to roll a sea kayak as it is a WW kayaker to roll a WW
kayak.

John Kuthe...