Vertical storm roll
Tuesday before last, a group of divers were in the pool, in the deep end, for training. Unknown to us, lurking beneath the surface one of them shot some footage. Sue of the dive shop on Pippy Place was kind enough to give me a copy of part of the video. It was nice to get as it was taken from a different perspective.
I had a go at trying the vertical storm roll. Its interesting but I'm not sold on the application. Nevertheless, its another trick to add to the bag as you never know when you'll need to pull one out.
My first reaction was that its a better tool to practice hip snaps than holding onto the edge of the pool for example.
The yellow hull is Neville and Dean in the short boat.
Here's a video of what it looks like from above.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERsZr6L299o
What makes a roll a "storm" roll is the fact that you come out of the water in a forward leaning position - not laid back like most "non-storm" rolls. I believe the idea is to come up in a position ready to paddle and take on any oncoming rough seas.
Ya Sean, I've seen a few storm roll clips on youtube. Some are referred to as "vertical storm rolls" and the others as "storm rolls".
ReplyDeleteThe "storm roll" does as you say, puts the paddler in a position to paddle. Maligiaq has a good clip too on youtube.
The "vertical storm roll" looks to me like it doesn't put the paddler in a good position ready to paddle. To me, it looks more like a trick thing than something to use in stormy conditions. One possible useful application is after a failed first roll attempt when the paddle dives deep. Rather than try to bring it back to the surface to set up again, let it stay deep and do the vertical storm roll. That's a point raised by Doug Alderson in an article on it in Sea Kayaker of December 2001.
In any case I'm sure it will be tried in conditions at St. Philips this coming year!
Tony :-)