When I had put the final coat of varnish on the skin of my new baidarka I took the boat out to see how well it would roll. I took it to Stillwater Cove with Roger Lamb standing by to rescue me. I dressed warm with a poly-pro dive skin, a 6 mm wetsuit, dive socks, booties, a fleece jacket under a paddling jacket (with wrist, neck, and waist seals), a helmet, and of course a PFD. I've worn this outfit when practicing rescues and I know I can spend time getting wet in and out of a boat comfortably. I planned on trying my roll in the cove before we went for a short paddle, but Roger convinced me to wait until we were on our way back in again. When we got back from a short 8 mile paddle, I put on a diving mask so I could see what I was doing the first time. I had my wooden Greenland paddle, the paddle I said could roll ANYTHING. As soon as I rolled the boat over I started having trouble.
The peaked deck of this boat prevents it from hanging straight upside down underwater. It lists over to one side or the other and is difficult to flip back and forth. It hangs so far over you can almost lean up and get your face out of the water! Rolling on one side or the other in a pool is not the same as being stuck on one side of your boat and being forced to remember where to hold the paddle! I was able to roll up, but fell over again and again. The boat is narrow inside and there isn't much room for thigh braces or foam blocks if you still want to get in and out. When upside down, my knees would knock together and my legs would twist around inside. I don't think I could do a "C to C" roll in this boat without a way to hold onto the boat with my thighs. I used Greenland sweeping and sculling tricks to get back up. But each time I came up my loose hold on the boat without my thighs would allow the boat to flip back over despite a brace. I am going to have to find a way to brace my thighs or knees into the boat!
With my confidence in my roll shattered, I headed back into Stillwater cove on a day with 11 foot swell. Dodging kelp so I wouldn't get hooked on it, I lost my brace and fell over again. I tried to do a Greenland sculling brace to keep my face above water until Roger could come save me. Roger arrived on one side, but I could not get the boat to flip over underwater to that side to reach his bow. I had hoped to never get water inside my new wood-frame boat, but I was forced to wet exit. The boat had every inch that I wasn't using full of float bags and rode very high in the water. When I flipped it back up it had so little water in it that we didn't need to do a T-rescue to drain it. Roger assisted and I was able to slither back in the tight coaming. Practicing a wet exit and re-entry wasn't on my list of things to do, but we were able to do this in challenging conditions. I was able to make it to shore without tipping over a second time.