A little rock hoppingAt Flatrock Point a ledge continues out past the point where the waves were breaking. The water was surging over the rocks from both directions and also pull away to expose half a metre of rock. We spent some time there riding the surge before we stopped for lunch.
Timing the run to coincide with the surge had to be perfect or there was a risk of being stranded on the rocks.
I watched Dean take a run; it was mistimed. His kayak hung up on the rock as the water sucked away. I watched as he went over. Extending his Greenland paddle he carefully set up to roll and he was up. Very impressive.
Then Gary mistimed a run. He didn't go over but saved himself with a very good brace.
It got me to thinking more seriously about my roll. In the past when I practiced I set up before going over. That's good when learning to roll but you're not going to get many chances to set up when you're actually knocked over.
OK, so I have a roll but I have to be honest with myself, I'm not sure if its bombproof. From now on I'll practice flopping over with the paddle in different positions trying to make it as realistic as possible. Only then will I know whether I have at least a reliable roll.
What you are talking about is called a 'no set up' roll, and is a good test of your roll. On my blog I did a post about a 'wrong set up' roll which is setting up on one side, and rolling on the other. So that you have to move - underwater - from one set up to the other. With the thinking being that if you can move from one side to the other, you can get to your set up from anywhere. But you should definitely practice the 'no set up' roll.
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