C-Forum

Yea, Friday is pool session and I have to get those bow stalls to work.

So far, I can stall the boat with my hands for some time. My problem is to do
it with my paddle. So far I tried two versions:
a) paddle in front of me, somewhat perpendicular to the boat in the vertical
(imagine a sailboat, the paddle is the mast)
b) I slide my shaft hand to the throat and have the blade right in front of me.

b) seems to work better but I still fall over to my offside. Has anyone a better way to do it or general tips?

Thanks, Jan

I don't have any good bowstall tips, but if you see johnny kayaker bow stalling no problem, don't feel bad! It's one of the (few!) things they can do better than us. 2 blades for balance, plus their lower centre of gravity in the boat make it easier to balance forward to back.


Judo

a few ideas. I`d skip the paddle a la sailboat mast thing, no stability.
-try not going too vertical at first
-face close to and at times right underwater
-paddle definitely underwater, maybe half a foot, so that you can both push and pull on the paddle for balance. hopefully you will be able to pull yourself a little more vertical, or push less vertical. Paddle perpendicular with the boat and square with your shoulders
-try adding a little spin to your bowstall, I find spinning slowly towards my offside gives me better balance
-longer, low volume boats have generally better stability than spud boats, in my experience
-practice, practice practice.
Good party trick or way to pass a cold winter

Here's something the 'yakers can't do . Paddle forward, then throw your weight forward real hard. The boat will go vertical on the bow . Keep the paddle shaft square to your shoulders & underwater like James said. Controll side to side by pushing & pulling on the paddle. Controll forward & backwards with head position. If you're falling on your face, put your head in the water. If you're falling backwards, pick your head up. Play with it & you'll get the hang of it.

The reason the 'yakers can't do it is that they sit too low in thier boats. Our center of gravity is higher, so we can go straight over the bow.

I agree with Mike about moving your head and body forward if your boat is tipping too far forward, and back if the stern is falling back into the water. Think of it as lifting the bow to your chest, as opposed to putting more weight over the bow. The reverse is true at the stern. That one tip boosted my stall time from 3 to 30 seconds in my Groove.

Like others have pointed out, the paddle position is perpendicular to the length of the boat. A low brace held out in front of your body, with the entire paddle underwater to start. You'll be dunking your face into the water often. In my Groove, I thought about using a snorkel, since I was just coming up to breathe when I first started to get it.

When you get into the right posture, try to feel your lower body moving the boat around, with the paddle remaining fairly stationary. The paddle is just a acting as a handle on the water that you can use to move the boat around. You'll be cranking against the paddle: up, down, left, and right, but it will really stay pretty much stationary.

Enjoy,

Just curious, is it more than a party trick? What's the purpose of a bow stall? Setup to other moves, cartwheels, etc? Questions? Questions? Questions?
________
Subaru pleo specifications

I find it builds really good balance and can come in very handy in moving water. If your bow goes down as you are running at set, I have had it happen in my playboat all the time, or in my creekboat after vertical drops, the extra balance you gain from practicing the bow stall can keep you from flipping over.

It can also help with learning to link ends, or make you not look too silly when you go to cartwheel but accidently flush from the hole, and are floating away downstream on your bow.

Now a real silly trick is to be able to roll up intentionally into a bow stall, I have no idea any practical use that serves. But it can annoy kayakers who can`t do it.

Can't annoying kayakers be a good enough reason itself? <evil grin>

Judd

Judd,
I was just thinking that ))

James: %&#!@,!!!! How do you do that?

Thanks all, for the great tips. I will try it tonight and let you know.
So far, I think I had my paddle to close to the surface...
Hopefully I cross the 10 seconds line...

All vertical flatwater stuff helped me a lot to control my playboat in drops. It is way better to throw a cartwheel than to go over. Also, you can always say it was a wavewheel However, with James trick, even going upside down could be pretty cool!

On the river, or in the pool, Jan

Rolling up into a bow stall is easy in a short boat. I did it all the time when I got my big ez. Just put the paddle out perpendicular to the boat (or maybe a hair towards the bow) when you roll. The forward tuck puts your weight on the bow & that's it. I had to modify my roll by starting with the blade further back so I would NOT bow stall.

Now go annoy those silly 'yakers .

Today I got to the river & a bunch of 'yakers in little tiny playboats were there. My Viper was on the rack. They all said "you brought the wrong boat", meaning that the wave was too steep for the big boat. I told 'em I'd give it a try anyway . We all get out to the wave & have fun surfing. I decided that I could spin the Viper. Then I did it . Then I did it again, followed by a stern ender . They were quite amazed to see that monster flat-spinning. Glass is so cool

Just mimic the kayakers with yer blade. You'll get used to just pushing and pulling with the blade end of yer paddle. Kayakers can't bowstall better than Cboaters, that's a common misconception. We just have to do it a bit differently. Also, your face will have to be in or within a half inch of the water most of the time. Next step...flatwater loop...anyone doing those yet?
Will

Thanks for the good tips. I was trying it on Friday and, yea, it works a lot better now. I can do just over 10 seconds. The key was to keep the head underwater.
Right now, I fall over when I try to take a breath. But I'll work on that.

Flatwater loop: no, I don't have the boat for that. I can pump my delirious up a little but not enough to actually get out of the water...

Once I buy my spud boat...

On the river, Jan

Last night I was playing around and actually got quite a few good cross-bow draws. I was amazed at how fast I could spin my xxx around. I would get about 2 1/2 rotations then fall on my face. Has anyone done a cross bow draw into a stall? How about into a cartwheel?
Twiggy

Hej Twiggy,

yea, thats my favorite thing to do as initiation for off side cartwheels. Bowstall is easier with a couple of forwardstrokes for me. But spinning around on the bow is great fun!
Once I can manage bow stalls better, I might be able to do them from a cross deck draw. right now, I have to keep teh spin momentum, at least a bit of it...

On the river, Jan