23/7/19

Slater Wiles

Rolling and the Problem With Nose Plugs

     Last summer, the first few days I spent in the white water kayaking were great until I flipped in my boat . Not only due to to the fact I didn’t know how to roll, or that I was scared of the white water, it was because my nose would get full of water. Thankfully my instructor gave me his nose plug, and the next day I bought one of my own. 

     This cheap peice of metal (or rope depending on which one you have) is very useful. In glory of all of its use, preventing water to get in your nose, which according to me is one of the worst feelings, it unfortunately is not very reliable when it comes to durability and longevity. Since they are made out of a metal that is very malleable, it ends up breaking after a few weeks of kayaking with constant bending to take it on and off of your nose.

     That said, yesterday, my nose plug broke when we were surfing Push Button. Since I hate the feeling of getting water in nose, I sat on the side for twenty minutes or so watching others and learning from their mistakes so I could still be productive without it. I tried surfing a few times after before we left but the nose plug teally limits what u could and couldn’t not do comfortably.

     Later that day, we finished running the main channel. It was the only day I didn’t want to flip on any of the rapids, I flipped twice on Coliseum. I was told that blowing out of your nose slowly was helpful, which it was, but I feel as though that limits the time you can spend underwater since you only have so much air in your lungs. Luckily, I got up my first roll for both of them. The reason I flipped back over another time was because for some reason, every time I get back upright, I wipe the water off of my face. Usually, that means that another wave will come and flip me over not having the paddle in my hand to brace. One thing I learnt was that the water keeping our eyes closed is in the helmet and not in the eyes. That said, if you let the water drain out, you will be able to open your eyes a few moment after you roll back up. 

     What I can take away from yesterday’s experience is that I should always have an extra nose plug in my life jacket, but at the same time not to rely on them too much, and that I should always paddle as soon as I roll back up in white water.