A friend, fellow paddler, and L4 instructor dropped me a note recently. He’s away on a trip using a borrowed boat, a Valley Aqunaut, which is the normal-sized version of my own Argonaut – the Argonaut is essentially the HV Aquanaut.
“Rolling this boat is no fun at all. Every time I have trouble capsizing I think of you.”
This is because one fine day we were out practicing rolls and he coached me to get in a setup position and lean over till I went in.
I did not go in. I couldn’t. The boat edged, sure, but would not capsize.
This come from someone who’s a very good roller – forward, backwards, Greenland or euro blade, hand rolls – he’s very good.
As I’ve learned to roll, I’ve had to learn to really throw my weight over the side, and often carve my way into the water using my blade – rolling the boat in, more or less, before I can practice rolling up.
It’s nice to know I’ve learned to roll a boat that’s a bit of a challenge to rolled.
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