Rolling list

Rolling list

I tend to spend my winters building kayaks and rolling indoors. This year more building than rolling. However, I had a brief moment today to put together a rolling list to help me remember what to practice. Too many times I have been practicing and completely forgot...
Bomb proofing your roll

Bomb proofing your roll

I help a lot of people learn how to roll their kayak. Many people come to a mentoring session and leave having completed a dozen or so rolls that they never dreamed they could do successfully. Many people come back to their next session saying their rolls vanished as...
$350 and a ball of string

$350 and a ball of string

I completed the Shrike-Skin qajaq project in time for my wife and my annual spring trip to the North Shore. The North Shore is the local’s term for the Minnesota Western shore of Lake Superior, and is home to a large number of State Parks and National Forest land....
Launching the Shrike Kayak

Launching the Shrike Kayak

In November I had finished building the Qajaqpak and so had idle hands. My father and I had been working on a concept of an adaptable stitch and glue kayak design that would allow people to build a great sea kayak with limited funds and experience. Adaptability was...
Kayak cockpit ergonomics for rolling

Kayak cockpit ergonomics for rolling

Independent of the style of kayak rolling you partake in it is very helpful to have a kayak that fits you. Kayaks roll because we apply force to the kayak through the connection between our body and the hull and deck, and this force is resisted by the opposite force...
Getting your first roll.

Getting your first roll.

français Over the past couple of years I have written many articles and blog posts about different aspects of learning your first Greenland kayak or qajaq roll. Many of these have been published in leading sea kayak magazines around the globe. Rather than regurgitate...