I got into kayaking a year ago, after building my Arctic Tern, and didn't learn to do an eskimo roll until a symposium late last summer. I didn't practice on my own after that, partly leery of attmepting it by myself, partly because when I did get out, I wanted to paddle around and not stay at the beach and practice. So I never put into practice what I had learned.

This weekend I took the Outer Island out, paddled around right-side-up for a couple of hours, then commenced to practice rolling a bit at the beach. Every one was a Pawlatta roll (I use a narrow paddle) on my 'on' side, but I nailed every one! And it wasn't until much later that evening, long after putting all the kayaking gear away, that I realized that I had totally neglected the 'hip flick' that was part of the rolling class. I'm amazed that I could successfully pull off the rolls with such sloppy 'rollsmanship', but I'm now ready and rarin' to go for this weekend's symposium here in Michigan!

And I can't wait to get it out on Lake Michigan during a Small Craft Advisory...

Dean