Paddling + Rolling Skills | Cape Falcon Kayak

Video: Dock launching a kayak with a Greenland paddle

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

One of the many cool things about a Greenland paddle combined with a kayak with a flat back deck is that it makes a great stabilizer for getting in and out of the kayak. For on the water launches the key is to keep the paddle tip slightly underwater and never stop looking at...

Video: Slow motion rolling in a Greenland kayak prototype

July 2023July 2023Leave a comment

While making an update video for our YouTube channel I came across this nice slow motion rolling clip from the Greenland kayak prototyping I was doing last year. I recently changed the way I do prototyping work from finishing kayaks and testing them to just building the frames and then shrink wrapping them for...

Video: Solo canoe self rescue with paddle float

June 2023July 2023Leave a comment

Here’s a variation on the solo canoe self rescue, this time with a paddle float. I have to be honest that whether it’s a sea kayak or canoe I find the paddle float to be much less effective than just using the paddle without it. Without the float the paddle stays buried in the...

Video: Self-rescue tests with the pedal drive canoe

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

When I was developing our pack canoes I really wanted them to be self rescue-able in the same way as a kayak so I incorporated self rescue loops that would later become the foundation for our catamaran system. This technique is dependent on the right kind of flotation, a kayak paddle, a canoe there...

Video: Edge turning the LPB

October 2022June 2023Leave a comment

Not great footage, but a really good demonstration of the LPB’s edge turning abilities. it will do the same thing in a 20 mph cross wind. With the recent focus on sailing I’ve been putting a lot of rudders on kayaks, so I can say from personal experience that the LPB actually turns FASTER...

Video: Just a couple easy Greenland rolls and a really bad hand roll

April 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Just a couple easy Greenland rolls and a really bad hand roll attempt from yesterdays filming session. (I’d been on the water for over an hour and was exhausted). This shows pretty clearly both the advantage of a full-size spare Greenland paddle on the front deck and the value of Greenland rolling in general....

Video: Greenland Skills

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

I got into Greenland paddling in my mid-20s after damaging my shoulder in a board surfing accident. At the time it seemed pretty boring compared to the surf and whitewater paddling I was doing before, but because the paddle is much easier on the shoulders it was a way for me to stay on...

On YouTube: Rolling a West Greenland kayak

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s another chunk of yesterday‘s roll video. The whole thing is posted on our YouTube channel as well (below) which is kind of nice because you play it at it half speed there for a really good view of the different techniques. It also just looks a little better in wide screen. This is...

Video: Some rolls in the West Greenland

March 2022June 2023Leave a comment

Here’s the first part of a longer rolling video I just posted to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel. This is the same re-rigged West Greenland replica that I talked about yesterday. The combination of the heavy keel, the retrofitted secondary stringers, and the new fitting system, makes rolling this kayak almost like cheating....

Video: Taking the new West Greenland out in wind and waves

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

One of the many frustrating things about living with a serious chronic illness is not being able to test my boats. Basically my body makes poison instead of energy, so anything beyond five minutes of super gentle paddling can make it impossible to function for weeks. As a former surf / whitewater / race...

Video: A bit of maneuvering in the new modified F1

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s bit of maneuvering in the new modified F1 kayak. There’s music here if you like that sort of thing. The design progression of the F1 started 16 years ago with the closest skin on frame copy I could make of a Mariner Coaster. A lot of people have pulled lines from the Coaster...

Video: Love how the LPB rolls. The ice cream headache, not so much.

February 2022June 2023Leave a comment

Love how the LPB rolls. The ice cream headache, not so much. Me having a few choice words with the Lord after forgetting to bring my paddling hood....

Video: rolling and East Greenland kayak in East Greenland

January 2022July 2023Leave a comment

I’m thrilled to share this video clip of my friend Max doing an under the hull sculling roll in East Greenland. Believe it or not he has only been rolling for a couple years and has had very little formal instruction due to the remoteness of his tiny village of Tiniteqilaaq. Max is the...

Video: Doing questionable things in my Greenland kayak a few weeks ago

January 2022July 2023Leave a comment

Grinding through various not fun business tasks for the next couple days, waiting for the oil to dry on the LPB frame, still waiting for wind to test the new sail setup. Here’s some random footage of me doing questionable things in my Greenland kayak from a couple weeks ago. No music on this...

Video: New Greenland kayak on the water, Part 2

December 2021September 2022Leave a comment

Part two of yesterday’s video, FYI, there’s music here. The new West Greenland kayak is a decent roller, not amazing but probably as good as you can get without really cutting into the paddling performance. Pretty easy to scale it down further for a dedicated rolling machine, but personally the trade-off isn’t worth it...