tangled up in rope

The Inuit have about 30 different kinds of rolls to upright their kayaks in the event of a capsize while out hunting  for supper. It may happen that the harpoon line gets tangled around your body and the unfriendly seal just keeps on pulling you around. So over you go, rope round your body , kayak getting dragged along and you have to roll up somehow or you family goes hungry.
Well we dont need to hunt seals now, and we don`t carry harpoons anymore but we do tend to tie all sorts of equipment on our kayak decks, one of them being the pump.

Normally you can paddle for months and nothing will happen but if you like rough water and surfing you could be in for a surprise. We had some good surf a couple of days ago and Yossi went surfing, he got rolled over in a big wave and the rope came loose and got tangled round his neck making his eskimo roll a little more challenging than  usual. Luckily he managed to roll up after drinking a good bit of seawater. Now he is looking to stow his pump behind his seat and not  on the rear deck as before.
Here is a video of the event

The same morning he had his favourite Greenland paddle on the foredeck as a spare, the waves were so strong, they shifted the paddle over the deck and then the force of the water broke the paddle in half.
Heres that video
Thanks to Yossi for the material for todays blog, hope we can all learn something from it.

VERED LEARNS TO ROLL HER KAYAK

Heres Vered, that translates to Rose in English, but after being here for  so long it sounds better to my ears as Vered.I guess her story is typical of so many kayakers who learn to roll at a clinic or rolling session, then comes the winter and the rolling lessons and practice just dont happen any more.
Then one bright day a decision is made to get the job done and the lessons and practice begins again. This time progress is much faster and the  rolls get better and better. At the end of the season Vered has a pretty reliable roll. Now it just takes lots and lots of practice to get to the stage when it becomes instinctive, when you roll up and realise that you just did it without any thinking at all. And then you still need to practice, not just in flat water, you need to get out and do it in tides and surf and any other  difficult conditions.
Remember that you have a left and right side and  just when you think you can take it easy you realise that you have neglected the other side and the whole process starts again.
What fun.
Heres a video of vered learning to roll in the warm waters of Sdot Yam

Another year is finished, another year is beginning