The Rolling Rationale

Over the weekend I was talking to a fellow kayaker about how strange it is that modern day sea kayakers strive so hard to learn a number of different types of rolls. After all it is unlikely that any of of will ever need to roll up while one of our arms is pinned to our body by fishing line. It is also unlikely that using a Euro paddle and one of the modern sea kayak designs such a roll has a prayer of working. Once you've got a solid roll, both on-side and off-side, why not just be happy and move on?
Aside from the obvious fact that learning new things is a challenge and kayakers, for the most part, like to challenge themselves, there is the "cool" factor. Being able to do a bunch of different rolls looks pretty darn cool. Doing a one armed roll will most certainly get you more beer than a regular old C-to-C roll.
The best reason is that as you learn new rolls you gain two things:

1. confidence


2. a feel for the balance of your kayak.

Most of the Greenland rolls rely on using the buoyancy of your body to roll the kayak back under you. Each time you try a new roll you feel the subtle shifts in the relationship between your kayak, your body, and the water. For instance to make a butterfly roll work you really need to extend the paddle away from the kayak to make the most of the buoyancy that is needed to bring the kayak around. A little too far out and you cannot shift you weight back over the kayak. A little too close and you do not get enough lift. Either way, you are back at the beginning.
A teacher once told me that the real trick of learning to use a traditional paddle is understanding the interface between the air and the water. Knowing how your body shifts the balance of the kayak makes you more sea worthy. Unlike a boat, or a ship, a kayak relies on its paddler for its ultimate stability in rough water. Kayak and paddler are one on the water.