May 29, 1999

Learning How To (Almost) Roll

Trip #22

MAP

I left the house about 6:45 am. It wasn't till I was on the road that I remembered that Mason Neck State Park doesn't open till 8:00am. So when I got there, I sat for about 20 minutes waiting for the gate to be opened. While I waited four squirrels came up from out of the woods and started playing along the road. A car that pulled up followed this and a man dressed in military fatigues got out and unlocked the gate. He pulled his car through and locked the gate behind him. But within a few minutes a park ranger showed up and let me in the gate.

The water was dead calm. Not a ripple on it yet, and only a few boats. Once on the water I turned right and headed down towards Kane's creek. The park had posted "no swimming from park shores" signs so I was looking for a place outside of park boundaries to take roll lesson #2.

As I headed up to the north end of Belmont Bay, I noticed something slithering through the water. As I approached I saw it was a snake, and as soon as he saw me he disappeared under water. At the north end of the bay, I found a place to beach and unload my kayak. I walked out in the water to get an idea of the bottom composition and it was hard sand until a little over waist deep. From there it got real mucky, with the muck getting thicker as I got further from shore. After scouting the area for submerged objects I walked back in and got in the kayak.

At a decent distance from shore I attempted the first C to C roll. I had ordered and received "Grace Under Pressure" earlier in the week and I felt I knew a lot more about rolling. At least a little better prepared. Needless to say, I failed the first attempt miserably.

After bailing out on the first attempt, I inflated my paddle float and climbed back aboard. I left the paddle float on the paddle to attempt using it for an assisted roll. Start with head near the surface, move head down toward right shoulder, raise right knee. Whoa! That was easy! I know I had put too much pressure on the paddle for it to work without the float, but it was "considerably" less than last week. The paddle didn't even flex, much less feel as though it would snap in half.

So I took the paddle float off and deflated it. I felt I was close. Since I wasn't yet comfortable with my setup, rather than tip over on my left, I tipped over on my right and tried to setup. Head towards the surface, move head down and right knee up...my paddle is sinking fast. Still too much pressure but as soon as the paddle hit bottom, BOOM I'm up on top.

There wasn't much pressure on the paddle when it hit bottom; it was just enough to stop my paddle. I know I'm close now, and for the next hour I do this over and over, not making much rotation until my paddle contacts the bottom. I beach to let all of this sink in and get a bite to eat.

While on the bank, my friend the snake comes up for a visit. He was pretty close to the shore so I grabbed my paddle to spook him away. After I'm sure he's gone I head back to the water to try rolling again.

I'm quickly back to the same routine. I come up strongly and in balance, but only after my paddle hits bottom. Since I'm using a Greenland paddle I extend it further and try to move to deeper water. For an instant I thought I would roll up but it didn't happen until the blade hit bottom again.

I decided to spend some time on the setup. Getting my paddle in to position was difficult, but I did manage it after a few tries. The more I went over, the more comfortable I felt upside down and the more time I could spend with the setup. None of this seemed to help me roll up though. Every time I rolled up only after contacting the bottom with my blade. I paddle back to shore to think this through again.

Guess what? Yep, the snake is back. He's beginning to make me mad (read: nervous as hell). I scare him off with the paddle again. Back in the water I spend another 15 minutes trying to roll up before hitting the bottom with my paddle. For 15 minutes I fail. I finally decide rather than get frustrated I'll paddle around a bit and call it quits for today.

The whole time I was attempting the snap, I never felt like I had good leverage with my knee. My knee rests just inside the coaming of my tiny cockpit and I never felt like I could get good leverage with it.

After paddling to shore one last time to load my stuff back in the kayak, a new snake came up for a visit. The first one was brownish with some sort of pattern on its back. This one was darker and no pattern. I scared him away and headed off for Conrad Island.

By now there is a constant stream of pleasure boats heading out of the Occoquan River and heading south. They're all passing to the inside of the island and the west bank of the bay. At the island I paddle along slowly and surf a few waves from the bigger boats as they come by the island. I watch a barge go by loaded with sand and then head back east toward the park.

In the southeast corner of the bay I beach once more to put a shirt on under my sleeveless wetsuit. The beach here looks like an excellent place to roll. Firm sandy bottom with no obstructions that I can see. Gentle slope to the bottom and no muck. I'll have to try rolling here next time I come out to Mason Neck.

After getting back to the launch site I load and head home. A little bummed I couldn't roll, but feeling one step closer than last week. Now where did I put that video?