Roll Practice

Just got the email that confirmed the beginning of winter kayak roll practice at an indoor pool. I felt a tingle of anticipation. It was followed by giddy emails from fellow paddlers, who exhibited similar signs of excitement.

I looked at the dusty musical instruments sitting in the corner of my den. While recognizing the necessity of practice, I had never really enjoyed it. Music, sports or whatever. It’s a lot of fun to do those things, but practice never felt like doing.

The first season I enrolled for winter roll practice, it felt the same way going in. Braving the frigid night air in the dead of winter to get wet? Sitting in a confined body of water, rolling 40 or 50 times? Couldn’t be fun, could it? With an impending schedule of offshore and whitewater paddling, I sucked it up and signed up.

What a great surprise. From the first session, I could hardly wait for the next and the next. Yes, it was rolling a boat in a pool. But, it was also much more.

In pondering what made this special, I arrived at the conclusion that rolling is the quintessential paddling skill. It’s a line of demarcation that separates the casual from the true believers. This was a gathering of eagles. This was the fellowship, and it embodied all the delights of that.

Roll practice is far more than practice. It is a social event. Sure, we all paddled year-round in the wintry blasts. But, there was little time to tarry and bond in those bitter conditions. This is where we came during the gelid times to keep the pilot light going and maintain the ties that bind.

Practice starts in less than two weeks. I’m counting the days.