Eskimo Roll II. Kitunarautaq: further details

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Two posts below I speculated about the tricks King Island kayakers employed to roll their craft. I particularly wondered about paddler/boat connection (required to transmit the forces generated by the former) in such roomy kayaks. Well, the bountiful Net and a bit of luck have greatly cleared that.

Issue #4 of Volume XIII of the Journal of the American Whitewater Affiliation (spring, 1968), contains an article by the late John Heath describing King Island kayaks and kayaking practice. Interesting stuff (for me, at least) is plentiful. Among other things, we are told that King Island paddlers sat upright in the middle of the wide cockpint, without any backrest, and that the kayaker hooked his flexed knees under the deck beam immediately fore of the cockpit to become locked with his boat. One question answered.




Besides, the paper provides a detailed description of the rolling technique, explanatory graphics included. I see little point in my glossing it here for an English-speaking audience that can go directly to the source, but I can say I found it very interesting. Oh, and the rest of the pictures were also most enjoyable. Definitely, recommended reading.



Once again, the Net has come to the rescue of my idle curiosity. And, once again, it has answered one question and prompted several others. Namely, I've learned of another piece by John Heath published in Sea Kayaker in winter 1986 describing the rolling techniques of Nunivak Island and Kotzebue Sound, also in Alaska. To my understanding, Kotzebue Sound is the border between two major kayak types, the relatively short and wide boats of the Bering Sea and Strait to the South, and the long and slender ones of North Alaska to the north and east. I can't help but wondering for which one is the Kotzebue Sound roll. A reference to it being performed with the single-blade paddle, even though the double-bladed one was preferred for most other uses, is intriguing, as North Alaskan kayaks seem to have been paddled mostly with double paddles.

Unfortunately, Sea Kayaker's store seems to have run out of the pertinent issue.

Eskimo Roll I: The Others (Kitunarautaq).

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For those not in the know: the eskimo roll is the maneuver that returns capsized kayak and upside down paddler to the conventional, upright position. The latter is much less stable, but it is often preferable, particularly on the long term, as, among other advantages, it tends to make cruising and breathing sensibly easier.

The eskimo roll came to us from the Arctic through Greenland and, in this area (by no means the only one), that tradition weighs heavily on kayaking's collective unconscious. Details of the technique do not belong here, but its mention tends to conjure up images of sleek, low-decked, sharp-ended boats with seamlessly fitting paddlers among the initiated. For most modern, western kayaks that typically requires astutely arranged spraydecks, thigh braces, seats, foot braces, etc.



Pretty much every instructor facing the unenviable task to teach rolling to, for example, guys like I remarks the need of reasonably close paddler/boat fit. Rightly so. In my only attempt at learning to roll, I could realize how what I had up to then considered rather adequate fit to my kayak was actually quite lacking. I believe this did contribute to my failure, but, at the same time, it provided me with a great excuse ("I've actually got it, it's just the fit...")



That's why I was especially intrigued by the images of the other Arctic kayakers for which, besides the Greenlanders, rolling seems to have been reasonably common. Or, at least, to have survived contact with westerners long enough to be adequately documented. They were the inhabitants of the coast of Alaska in the area of the Bering Strait and Sea. In particular, the maneuver seems to have lasted longer in King Island, in front of Nome, where at the beginning of the last century this paddler was photographed executing the technique they called kitunarautaq.



And, as you may notice, they rolled wide boats, with beams greater than 60 cm (up to, or even above, 70 cm with some frequency), rather short, no longer than 5 m, with tall decks and ample volume and with cockpits so spacious they could accommodate two passengers riding back to back. Oh, and they did it with single-bladed paddles.



Although, actually, the paddle part is what I find less surprising. I wonder more about how a paddler in such a roomy boat and whose seat is a woven grass mat is anchored into his kayak and things like that. Truth is that knowing about these other rollers encourages me. If they made it in the conditions the pictures seem to suggest, there might be hope for me yet.