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The year 2011 was my dad’s first season kayaking and my second season. Being a young man eager for adventure and a challenge, I was determined to get him up to speed with everything I had learned about kayaking my first year and start hitting the class 3 rapids as soon as possible. My dad promised to learn how to roll before our first trip, but due to a hectic work schedule, managed to only attend one pool rolling session before our first scheduled kayaking trip. Needless to say, he still was not even close to having a roll. The class 2 Nantahala was not going to happen.
I began to think of a way that he could be helped to roll up in the event of a capsize without the need for a wet exit. Sure enough, an idea hit me. I would attach a flotation device to his paddle shaft with enough buoyancy to hold his bodyweight so that he could keep his head above water after a capsize and be able to lift himself up out of the water even with poor form. So I made a couple prototypes for us and away we went on a couple of class 2 trips. To our astonishment and relief, the idea was a major success. We were both doing combat rolls instead of wet exits and we were even able to practice rolling as we floated down the river. What started out as something to get my dad to come out and run the fun stuff may end up helping a lot of people.
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| Updated May 21, 2012 |  | | | |
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