"Bernie Inakayak" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ah, but in my admittedly limited experience of kayaking, the obvious
and natural thing to do is invariably wrong!

I think what Peter is saying is that when you attempt to roll, and fail, and
your paddle finds the bottom, and it is shallower than you thought, a punt
is the natural reaction. It would not be wise to rely on punting - but as an
option when all else has failed, it certainly beats the pants off exiting
the boat :-) As a corollary, it is not outwith the bounds of possibility
that you punt off a soft base, and your paddle jams and either hauls you
back in, or you right yourself and find that your paddle is waving at you
from its wedged position as you drift downstream :-)

It happened to me once, and I was fortunate that I got grounded a little
downstream and my paddle eventually caught up with me.I'm not brave enough
to do rapids without a paddle!

Ewan Scott