Help!!

Decked Canoes, Open Canoes, as long as they're canoes!

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grinner
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Help!!

Post by grinner »

Hi all.
I have a Dagger G-Force 6.1 which i got for a conversion for a C1. While it was still kayak i took it down the local white water course and had a slight accident. What happened was i forgot to pull the sprey deck when i went over, not beeing able to roll i couldnt get out. So i have never had the courage to get back in. I have tried afterwards but i havent been able to go back over with a sprey deck on. So i'm back to paddling OC's but i wont to do freestyle so its got to be a C1. So can anyone give me any advice of how to get back in my G-force and use the sprey deck. I need to go really slowly because i have not alot of confidence with using a sprey deck.( I will do anything in the savage skeeter i paddle) So any tips i can use to slowly get me to go over again using a sprey deck would be much appreciated.

Cheers all,
Joe
paddling a flooded canoe is easy. stopping is easy as long as you have some kayaks to help you stop.
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Mikey B
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pool time

Post by Mikey B »

I'd get it converted, and then go and spend some time at a pool with some friends learning to roll and just hanging upside down in it for awhile, etc. It's a relatively safe environment and it will go a long way towards easing the fear...or...paddle a CU Fly, Salsa, or SpanishFly for your rodeo play.
Mike
Martyn
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Post by Martyn »

Hi,

I went through the same skirt phobia for a while. I'm trying to get back into decked boating now. My advice would be to work on getting a bomb-proof roll in your open boat. Get comfortable being upside down in your OC1, giving yourself lots of time to roll, and think about whether to roll or bail (of course this is easier in a pool or warm pond!). Once you are comfortable upside down in an open boat that you know you can get out of, it should be failry easy to get comfortable in an upside down C1, and if you can roll the open boat, rolling the C1 should come pretty easily.

Martyn
TomAnon
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Post by TomAnon »

Hi Grinner!

Boy, that sounds like a scary moment or two. If you can find a partner spend some time in a warm swimming pool. Start your wet exit re-training without your spraydeck. Get some goggles. Try some nose plugs. Have them roll you over in it while you just grab the rails and hold on. Do log rolls. Try filling the boat with water to make it easier for them to roll. Here you are just trying to get comfortable and oriented being upside down. It is horribly, panic drivingly, disconcerting and just plain wierd to have your legs trapped in front of you if you are a long time OC'er.

Next, the wet exit. With K1 only, no spray deck, flip upside down. Let go of your paddle. I know that is hard to do! Reach for the rails with both hands aside your hips. Push down until your butt comes out of the boat. Then, push forward, like you are tanking pants off, both legs at the same time. This should get everything free so you can kick it away from you. Take your time and think through your steps.

Now add the spray deck. Before you add this element check for fit. On dry land you should be able to sit in the boat and fit the spray deck over the cowling yourself. It should take some effort; however, if you need a couple of people it may be to tight. Cockpit sizes on K1 vary widely so check for fit. Now practice removing the skirt on dry land. Grab the loop and pull back along the deck to your belly. If you pull up, some skirts will not come off because you just cannot get much leverage on them that way. Now, go back to the pool and try your wet exit with adding a step. After you release the paddle, pull the skirt off to your belly, then reach for the rails.

I hope this answers the question. That is pretty tough little decked boat to get into for your first one. Hurry up and convert it before someone sees you kayaking.

Once coverted, the C1 wet exit is really outfitting dependent. Since you are new to decked boats try to keep your outfitting simple for now. Go with a good simple thigh strap system. Also, spray skirts are much easier to remove from a kneeling position as you can get more leverage. Also, you do not need to worry about pushing down on the rails first when you wet exit. Just push to the front far enough to release your outfitting.

Your open boat roll will still apply. You will just need to make it more hip snappy! It will come over a lot quicker and you probably will not need a follow up hip snap.

Have fun!

Tom
MarcB
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Post by MarcB »

Hey, Joe
I just went back to paddling after a 30 year lay off. I had to go through the whole learning to roll in the pool thing again. You don't have to have a pool, but you have to have some water that's quiet and 3 or 4 feet deep and someone to help. I started back by just hanging on the side of the pool and getting use to being upside down again in the water with my hands on the ledge and able to pull myself up anytime I wanted and practicing the hip flip. And you can always practice pulling the skirt and doing the wet exit. It takes a while to get the roll back, but nothing worth having comes easy and it sure isn't scary hanging in quiet water with a solid object or a person to help you up. Marc
montana c-1
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Post by montana c-1 »

I am in the process of switching to a Flirt from a cu fly for some more exciting and practical play. I find rolling a c-1 so easy ( compared to Oc) that sometimes I roll all the way over again. keep the practice in the pool and u will get it!!!!!!!

By the wa \y whoever said the cu- would be a good choice was correct. Love that boat lots of open canoe fun!!!!!!!

Good luck
one blade one LOVE
grinner
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Post by grinner »

Hi all.
Thanks for the information. I will try it when i get chance. But it was scary so i never go to anywhere that there is white water. As soon as it happened i was back down a couple days later in the spanish fly i was boroing and swam straight away but i got out and it never botherd me. I had to run down the course to get my boat which i didnt want to do. So i'm still on white water. I dont have enough money to get a CU fly so i'm using a skeeter. But i have the determination to get back to using the g-force untill i get to having to do it. But i am going to do it this time because this is something i really wont to do.

Anyway thanks all for the advice and if there is anymore i will be happy to hear it.


Cheers and beers,
Joe
paddling a flooded canoe is easy. stopping is easy as long as you have some kayaks to help you stop.
mrosene
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Post by mrosene »

yeah.....try paddling some aggresive open boats like the new salsa or spanish fly once you have your roll every time snappy like a whip then move to your c1 youll find its alot faster to roll once you have it every time so eventually it will be automatica!!! and if that dosent work tie a strap to your pfd and loop it around the spray skirt pull strap so you can exit like a conoe and its easier to find your pfd than a lil loop.. and practice practice practice :D
gnar
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Craig Smerda
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Post by Craig Smerda »

Grinner you are suffering from a well known OC'er dillusion known as :o
[S]-[K]--[R]-[T]-[O]-[P]-[H]-[O]---[A]

I've went through it as well! People that start in OC's sometimes have a harder transition going to the decked canoe than vice versa. Stick with it though because there are a lot of things that you can learn in a C-1 that translate well to OC-1. Make sure your outfitting in the C-1 is easy to get out of if you need to and practice your wet exits... just don't make the wet exit your first line of defense. Practice your rolls and get someone to stand in the water with you so they can flip you over if you are floundering... or at least lift you up long enough to catch a breath of air :D
bearboater
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Post by bearboater »

i definetely had a scare in my c-1's. i began in an open boat, and hada real rough go lkearning art how to C-1. I was very scared of not being able to get out of the boat with the skirt and the straps. However it is not a problem in any of my boats, its just something that needs to be tried, until your'e comfortable with it, i'm still a little uneasy about it, but im getting better. even though its the same basic sport, there are huge differences, and i still don't have a roll down. OC or C, but all i can say is it takes time. for me to feel comfy in my c-1s ,i took them to some flatwater, and played around alot so i could get a feel for the edges, and get a sense for what happens in what circumstance. however i took my flirt to a wave, and worked on my roll in the eddy at the side, and learned how to paddle it in the wave. I would just look for a pool session, or a friend to help. thats what im doing.
cheers
-isaac
race boats are so fast, i bet its in the speed wing.
grinner
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Post by grinner »

Hi all.
Sadly I cant go and practise until next saturday. So i got to wait untill then to go for it again. I have dangled upside down in my OC and it never bothers me. I've never done it for long but i have kind of done it. That was after falling in after about a minuet of paddling on flat. The main problem i have is the same as most, i have to paddle with kayakers. Which is great when my boat goes off but a but rubbish for learning C1 and OC1.
So thanks all for the encouragement and advice. And i will try them and tell you how i did when i have done it.

Cheers

Joe
paddling a flooded canoe is easy. stopping is easy as long as you have some kayaks to help you stop.
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msims
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Post by msims »

I just recently installed a quick-release VW-style lap belt in my C1. Skirt-o-phobia left me quickly on my first wet exit. It was a peice of cake. Before I found that the lap belt that had a pull-through strap was a little more difficult to undo. Now, skirt-o-phobia has been replaced with skirt-supremacy! :-) Don't worry LB and Louie, I still have respect for the big yellow and red freightliners of whitewater!

C1's are definitely cool. Especially when you start carving turns on a surf wave... Stern prys and draws are a thing of the past when surfing... such a nice experience!
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