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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
First roll
Posted By: Berkeley C
Date: Sunday, 18 July 1999, at 1:47 a.m.
I took off from Doran Beach on Bodega Bay by myself in a Pygmy Osprey. Other than boat wakes, the day was quite nice. I stayed away from Bodega Rock, not wanting to disturb the seals who frequent that formation (Or the sharks that sometimes hang out there looking for lunch). Once past Bodega Head the seas became fairly large, so despite the presence of a couple of alluring caves, I mainly stayed out of the rocks. I didn't have a helmet or a partner, and I'd hate to see that beautiful wood finish marred by repeated rock collisions.
So south I went to the far end of Doran where there is reputed to be some OK beach break surfing. What I found was 2 to 3 footers closing out. No sustained rides here, but a good chance for side surfing and bracing practice. I put on my nose clip to keep the sinuses relatively dry should I go over.
Now my dad claims that he learned to roll during the seventies by reading a book. I hadn't studied any books on the technique, but I had one lesson with the irrepressible Bo Barnes of Outdoors Unlimited, where I had alllllmmmmmoooost pulled one off in a whitewater boat. I knew that it was possible.
My first wave was a silly little thing that left me high and dry on the beach until the next set came along. My second was a neat three footer that sent me over the falls. A purl and a broach later I was upside down with no paddle. In the past I'd always bailed at this point, but this time was different. I took stock of things and realized that the wave was still pushing the boat sideways towards the beach. I remembered how Bo had preached that the hip snap was the most important part of the roll. Maybe the force of the wave would help right the boat if I aided it with a hip snap. So I did. The reward was a face full of foam rather than merely water. So I snapped again, and something funny happened. I came up.
I didn't feel any jubilation; I just wanted to find that damn paddle before I got slammed again. Fortunately it was floating nearby.
Later I realized that a change had come over me. It was an ease that I've never felt before when surfing, swimming or paddling. I could enter an alien environment and extract myself back out. The sea felt friendlier than before. I never expected that my first successful roll would be in a surf zone, and I sure hadn't figured that it would be without a paddle. But there it was.
Still got a lot to learn. But one more of life's little milestones reached.
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