{"id":39,"date":"2002-07-28T15:30:36","date_gmt":"2002-07-28T15:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bitpost.com\/blog\/?p=13"},"modified":"2008-07-07T12:15:07","modified_gmt":"2008-07-07T17:15:07","slug":"still-recovering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitpost.com\/blog\/2002\/still-recovering\/","title":{"rendered":"I made the kayaking plunge!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My pal Ken<\/a> came through again with a great introduction to kayaking this weekend. He set me up with an “Perception RPM demo” rental. It was a great fit, and kayaks are all about getting a really good fit. You basically wrap yourself up in an airtight container of pvc and rubber, and with this straightjacket on, you shoot yourself down the rapids. You instantly become one with the water, and the smallest rapid becomes hard work and bunches of fun.<\/p>\n

\n\"The<\/a>\"The<\/a>


\u00c2\u00ab-Ken<\/p>\n

Me-\u00c2\u00bb<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first item on the agenda was learning how to unwrap myself from my kayak, or as the pro’s simply call it, to “swim”. This is typically done while you are upside down, which is not a difficult position to obtain for a beginner kayaker. There is a strap at the top of your “skirt” (stop snickering, real men DO wear skirts) that you pull to bail out of the kayak – kinda like the eject button on an F16. Then you pop your knees out of your snug little cocoon and flap around like a fish outta water until you find the surface, where you gasp for air. It’s a very graceful maneuver, and you will find everyone gawking at you as you do it (they are in awe).<\/p>\n

The second lesson of the day is to (attempt to) learn how to “roll”. While you are in your favorite position (upside down, in case you forgot), you realize that you should really at least be attempting to remain in a position where air is available, at least as an option, in case you decided you should like to sample a breath of it. According to Ken, while upside down, you simply reach your paddle completely out of the water above (a.k.a. below) you, snap your waist, and gently tap the water to complete the maneuver. I left my arm extensions at home and as a result I just couldn’t get this part down. I relied heavily on the “flail for the bottom and shove yourself over with your paddle” method a bit too often, according to my coach. By the way, for the record, a “combat roll” is exactly like a “roll”, except you do it in raging rapids, with rocks pummelling your head and no hope of keeping your paddle straight. You probably guessed, but I’m not what you might call “good” at this particular maneuver.<\/p>\n

A related lesson that helps you get the waist snap down is called the “eskimo rescue”. Basically, when your buddy gets sick of watching you bail out, he can bring the tip of his boat next to the middle of your kayak while you are flipped, and you reach up to find it, using it as a lever to flip yourself back over. This actually helps you perfect your waist snap (rumor has it).<\/p>\n

And the final lesson: be prepared. When we ran our little set of rapids, I set a record on the time it took me to flip over, bail out, and get wedged between my kayak and a nice large rock, with the help of thousands of gallons of raging water. Ken set up downstream and threw me a line and had me tie it to my kayak, which he pulled to safety. I opted to abandon the whole safety thing myself, and hurled myself into the rapids, swimming like mad for Ken’s location (and I made it too!).<\/p>\n

Kayakers tend to have favorite spots where there are some nice rapids to play in, followed by downstream eddies that will hold you in place while you line up to jump back in to the rapid. Here’s us playing in ours (well, Ken playing, me mostly swimming). On a final note, a big thanks to Ken for giving up his previous plan of high adventure on the Nantahala that day, so he could tutor an old man on the much gentler French Broad River. You are truly a great friend! Look out, I will be back! (once I recover…) :P<\/p>\n

The Clown<\/b>
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The Master<\/b><\/a>
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