The Standard Greenland Roll is perhaps the most recognizable of all the Greenland rolls. The importance of learning the correct body motion with this roll should not be underestimated. It is possible to complete this roll using the incorrect body position throughout. The paddle sweeping in a wide arc can provide considerable righting moment to … Read more
The balance brace is a maneuver that many people learn when they start down the path of learning Greenland style kayak rolls. It has many uses, I like to cool down using it on hot days, you can relax and regain energy in this position in rough water. You can most importantly use it to … Read more
In a couple of weeks I am going to the Apostle Islands for a kayak camping trip with my father. It will be his first time in the Islands. In preparation for the trip we worked on creating useful navigation charts, using information from http://paddlinglight.com I was able to download a high resolution raster version … Read more
A little late evening rolling with a new norsaq from Bill Bremer at Lumpy Paddles. Bill provided me with two sizes, one longer and thicker and one leaner. Both were beautifully carved from some very light Cedar. In my hands the leaner felt a better match for my grip. In practice performing lay back norsaq … Read more
Bill Bremer and I have been conversing for a while about building a prototype learning aid. The commonly adopted name for the aid is a Transitional Paddle. Bill has called this the Stumpy Lumpy due to it looking like a shrunken version of a Greenland Paddle. Bill crafts wooden Greenland Paddles under the company name … Read more
Yesterday it finally happened. We held our first Rolling Clinic at my family’s weekend lake home. The weather was perfect, bright sunshine, air temps in the 50’s and water temps that had risen considerably since the lake ice melted. 17 paddlers attended. Coming from as far away as Thunder Bay, Canada. We had arranged five … Read more
Following the success of last years roll of the day series, this year I will be updating the video for each roll resource page using video content from the new Rolling with Sticks DVD. This week I have started with the side scull which is a great way to get started with rolling. While technically … Read more
Paul, the owner of Northern Lights Paddles (NLP), recently gave me a paddle to review. Paul knows I am an ardent supporter of Novorca Paddles. Ron Steinwall the artisan owner is a great friend of mine. So it was with some trepidation that Paul provided the paddle. I promised to be fair and reasonable in … Read more
By way of background; Inland Sea Kayakers (ISK) is a Minnesota based sea kayaking club that promotes safe sea kayaking and the recreational use of the Great Lakes and smaller bodies of water. A little while back, I forget when, I asked Peggy, the President of the Inland Sea Kayakers, the process that the club … Read more
Today I started selling the Rolling with Sticks DVD. About two years ago I was let go from my job at Thomson Reuters. I had been working there for a decade, climbing up the corporate ladder. It took me a while to recover from the abruptness of the end of that era, but it turned … Read more
