: Oh, I knew I didn't *have* to know how to roll before I join up.

: I usually learn pretty quickly, but I'm not so full of hubris to
: assume that I'm gonna pull this off in one session. Chester CT
: is a three hour drive for me. That makes repeat lessons fairly
: expensive, in both time and money/gas. It makes much more sense
: to me to put the money down on a local kayak's educational
: services so I have some foundation. Preferably, I'll then find a
: club local to the Capital District to flesh out the foundation.
: Once I hit the coast with ConnYak, I figure they'll teach me how
: the flat water education I've picked up works with the
: ocean/bays/sounds. "What, you mean waves aren't just from
: the wake of a passing boat?"

I am here in the Philippines on the South China Sea and the closest sea kayaker is probably in Oz (Australia). So I get all my instruction off the 'net. The best site I have found is: http://qajaqrolls.com/rolls Christopher Crowhurst does a great job. He also has a rolling guidebook and DVD. The guidebook is very nice as it is waterproof so you can put it on your front deck. You know you are not going to remember everything you watched on your computer when you get out on the water.

You can also go to YouTube and search for "kayak roll" for lots more info.

I would suggest the standard Greenland roll for your first roll. http://qajaqrolls.com/rolls/layback/standard This must be the easiest roll there is. I sometimes go three miles up the beach and back stopping to entertain the locals by rolling. They can not get enough of this and I usually do two to three hundred rolls. I only have enough energy to do this because the standard Greenland roll is so easy. This roll can be stretched to five or six seconds. How easy is that?

~Bob