I saw a video of someone rolling a wood duck on this forum.  I can't seem to find it now but I know that it is there.

He looked like a very good kayaker.  I don't think that it is very easy at all to do.

Lou

Link to WD12 rolling video

Beware. While the video is interesting and fun, it downloads slower than epoxy in winter.

Laszlo

Howdy Laz - LTNS! 

Sure a WD will roll! Pretty much any boat  will -- like everything else, it's only hard when you don't know how. It probably isn't the best boat to learn in, however; but then, it might be argued that tougher boats make for better accomplishments? Whatever, your best bet is to learn in an "easier" kayak that was designed with rolling in mind. I still love the Chessy 16 LT for playing in.

I never  got around to rolling my Mill Creek 13 only because there's little possibility for establishing a postive connection to the boat that won't rip my patellas off, and also because I don't have a spray skirt for it (although flooded boats can be rolled). I have no doubt it can be done, but gotta say....

....In boats like the MC13 and, I'm guessing, the WD series, the hard part is usually getting the thing to flip over. Rolling back up tends to be lots easier. I have rolled a number of short & wide "Tupperware" recreational kayaks just for general amusement, and they can be suprisingly difficult to flip over! But like I said, mostly easy to right, but you end up with flooded boat due to the large cockpit opening.

Cheers,

Kurt Maurer 

Well look who's crawled out of the woodworks (or sawdust factory, if you prefer) - Kurt Maurer! Dang, it's good to hear from you again. Yours were pretty much my favorite posts back when you haunted this forum.

For those of you who don't know Kurt, besides writing the best boatbuilding blog I've seen (back before they were called blogs) and giving us some good ideas on how to build small boats (he's the one I got the idea for my rigging anchors from), he's also a consummate boat roller. Here's a picture of his typical appearance at Okoumefest 2007, I think):

Here's another picture of him demonstrating how to stand up in a kayak:

Kurt, you are absolutely correct about the difficulty of getting a WD to roll. When I did my wet re-entry test I exited the boat by throwing my legs over the side and sitting up on the coaming. I fully expected the boat to flip over, but instead, I fell out and the boat recovered with no water in it at all.

I'm not sure how much water it would scoop up in a properly done roll. It's a big cockpit, but with the deck shape it may be a lousy scoop. Besides, shouldn't  there be a spray skirt stopping the water?

Anyway, really good to hear from you again. Come on back here and give us the benefit of your company again.

Laszlo

Well thanks for all the perspectives.  I truly appreciate it, 

Also glad to ask a question that got old aquaintances back in touch.

Tim

Good to hear from you, Kurt.  What's next?  Elvis is alive?

Sorry, had to dash out of town shortly after posting, now I'm back home. Saw Elvis while out there, he says hi. 

 Hey, no fair -- you have to have at least halfway calm water to do the stand up thing!

[IMG]http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i104/Arky704/Kayak%20Stuff/NuthinToIt.jpg[/IMG]

 Without a spray skirt, yes, the cockpit will flood. A recreational type kayak generally rolls once relatively easily, then you gotta empty it or it's lots harder the second time. But we're talking about "party trick" rolling here, ya know. Rolling a proper sea kayak with a spray skirt in place is really whwere it's at.

 I'd like to get back to this forum and spend more time here, but the format gets stuck sideways going down. I'll try harder though, thanks for all the kind words!

Okay, how do you make pictures come up here....?

you've got 2 major problems  1 findind a spryslirt that will seal the cockpit and 2 your knees arent under the deck you need someway to hold yoursekf into the cockpit ,that could be acomplished with knee straps that are made for sit on tops. but kinda seems impractical.  i,d concentrate more on rescue techniques  that are better suited to your boat.