How To Roll A Kayak [5 Tips For The Perfect Eskimo Roll]

For beginners who are just introduced to the world of kayak, they can be amazed by how the advanced or even intermediate kayakers are able to do a complete rollover once their kayak capsized. I am sure most of us will panic when this happens. 

There are a lot of ways we can learn on how to counter kayak capsizing. The truth is, we only need to master one or two ways to ensure our safety in the water. The hardest part is to keep practicing the techniques regularly, until we are confident with our newly acquired skills.

No worries as we are here to help you master the art of rolling the kayak properly. Here in this article, we will be discussing one of the more common and efficient kayak roll known as the Eskimo roll. This technique is quite common and easy to master. 

Roll kayak is also known as the Eskimo roll. It is one of the safest and efficient ways to recover if we are face with kayak capsizing. The beauty of this technique is that the user will not have to experience going out of their kayak and into the cold water, then trying to get back into the kayak again after emptying out the water from their kayak. 

The Eskimo roll kayak is very fast and works perfectly if the right technique is applied. The whole Eskimo roll is based on the famous principle that we were taught in school, known as the "Braces and rolling basis".

1. When we are practicing the eskimo roll for the first time, we should always remember our starting posture and position. This is because when we are performing the kayak roll, we need to get back to the start position pretty fast so that we don’t end up falling off from the kayak into the cold water.
2. We should always grip the paddle firmly and just rotate our upper body, placing our paddle on the left-hand side of the kayak. We also need to check that the right-hand blade is kept in power face up position because it is important for the elevation of the kayak.
3. We should always lean towards the front deck and keep our head down to make the roll smoother. Sitting firmly in the kayak is also very important to prevent us from falling out of the kayak while doing the roll.
4. Once we are able to flip and feel comfortable during the upside down position, the last thing for us to remember is to stay calm and hold on. We need to push our paddle forward and get our hands on the water to make sure everything is under control.
5. When it’s time to roll, we should sweep the paddle to make an arc because this helps us get a firm support so that our upper body will be able to get out of the water easily. We need to have a strong upper body to do the strokes.

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It is very important to learn how to roll a kayak to ensure our safety in the water if our kayak capsized. If we panic while doing a roll, we may end up losing balance and falling out from the kayak. We should focus on keeping the blade in the right angle position at all times. However, the main key is to stay calm and practice it regularly.