Ailsa’s travel theme this week is simplicity. Here’s what that looked like on Saturday afternoon at the ACA camp at Lake Sebago (click to begin videos):
Meet ACA instructor and mermaid, Gwen, and husband/fellow instructor/merman Kam. These two make kayak rolling (a self-rescue technique) look easy-peasy! There are dozens of variations (i.e, Greenland rolls), all with decidedly un-simple names like assammik nerfallaallugu and avataq isserflup taqqaanut qaanap psinarsuanut qilerullugu (we are not making this up!). The former means “using the hand lying on one’s back” and the latter, “with a hunting float tied to the deckline at the isserfik (!) at the side of the kayak.”
Jean swears ALL these names are ONOMATOPOEIC because that’s pretty much what comes out when she gives it a whirl… “Isserflup aaaack-ack ptuiii!”
In this video, Gwen and Kam show how simple it truly is… It helps to be flexible, coordinated, and Gwen and Kam.
2 Geeks @ 3 Knots 
Very impressive – it’s like kayak yoga! Only thing is, I want to hear all those words from Greenland. 🙂
It is totally kayak yoga! Except for the breathing part… you don’t want to be doing that underwater. With you on the pronunciation bit; we’ll work on it 🙂
Hey there Alex & Jean…stumbled here by way of Wind Against Current and am enjoying your adventures! I met Kam & Gwen at the Hudson River Greenland Festival this June…nice surprise to see them here! Kam got me up on a slack line…almost walking! Was this a special event at Lake Sebago?
Hey, Robin! Nice to meet you. Small world, isn’t it? Kam & Gwen are terrific coaches and loads of fun to paddle with, period. We were with them at Lake Sebago for a “finesse your roll” workshop, for Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club (YPRC) members. We’ll have to look into that slack line business… sounds fun! Thanks for visiting 2g3k. Are we likely to see you on the water?
Actually, we’ve paddled together– in May with John Carmody and Carl Ladd, and briefly down at Sweetwater in Feb. Would enjoy getting together again sometime!
Oh, of course!! The avatar pic is very wee… and you are dry! How ARE you?! How do you like your new Tahe kayak? We’d love to get together, absolutely! Let’s catch up offline ASAP 🙂