Day One At NOC: The Wet Exit

I arrived last night at Nantahala Outdoor Center, and began my introductory kayaking clinic this morning....
In the following story my thoughts will be in italics, and everything else will be in regular font....

I have a confession to make: I am afraid of water. Well, that’s not entirely true, because I like to drink water, to bathe in water, to swim in water, and to float on top of water. I just don’t like the idea of being submerged under the water, unable to breathe, for an extended period of time. This is one reason that I decided to take this class—to learn how to calmly flip my boat back over if I end up upside down.

This morning we learned some skills in the parking lot before actually going down to the lake. We put on our spray skirts, booties, paddle jackets, and helmets. Laura said, “Now I want you to get into your boats so that we can practice the steps for the wet exit.”

“What, already?!!” I thought. “I can’t believe we are going to start with the hardest, most terrifying lesson!”

“The first step,” said Laura, “is the tuck.”

I bent forward toward my spray skirt. With my face pressed against the neoprene, I realized, "I am about twenty minutes away from doing this underwater with NO AIR to breathe!!! What was I thinking signing up for this class? Is it too late to back out? Why did I even apply for this grant in the first place?” Luckily we had taken a van to the lake because, if my car had been near by, I might have driven home right then.

“The next step,” Laura said, “is to take a second to relax.”

“Ha! Relax?” I thought. “Small chance of that happening! It’s more likely that this kayak will levitate into the air.” I could feel a fluttering in my stomach, my breathing got more rapid, and my pulse went up to about 200 beats per minute.

“Now, tap your hands three times on the side of your kayak,” continued Laura. “Let’s try that all together: tuck, relax, tap. "

Step four was to pull the loop of your spray skirt to release yourself from the kayak, and step five was to place your hands on the side of the cockpit and push yourself out.

“And step six is to start coughing because you’ve been down there for so long that your lungs start sucking in water."

After one more practice round we carried our boats down to the water and jumped in to cool off and check our PFDs. Then Laura called for a volunteer to demonstrate. I stood watching Phil and thinking only about how to live down the shame of not being able to do this. Between some deep breaths and helmet adjustments, I managed to procrastinate until last. At least the rest of the students were all paddling around instead of sitting there staring at me.

I tentatively paddled my boat a few feet into the lake until I was right next to our other instructor, Joe. He explained that the first step was for him to roll me all the way over so I could see what it felt like. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“No, and I won’t be ready for about a million years, so you might as well leave me alone and go help the other students,” I thought.
“I guess so,” I said.

Joe rolled my kayak, and, as I popped back out of the water, he asked, “How was that?”

“Definitely ranked in the top ten worst experiences of my life,” I thought.
“Scary.” I said.

Joe then said, “Now I’m going to roll you over again and keep you under there for longer. Just tap your hands on the side of the boat when you’re ready to come up.”

“What, the fifteen minutes you kept me under there the first time wasn’t long enough?”
“Ok,” I said.

Joe rolled me again, kept me under for as long as I could handle it, and then rolled me back up. “How was that?” he asked.

“Hey, that was actually better than the first time,” I thought.
“I feel a little panicky,” I said.

“Ok. I’m going to roll you again. This time I want you to move around and get comfortable while you’re down there. Move left and right and back.”

He rolled me upside down, and I thought, “This is awkward and weird, yet getting a little less freaky.” Tap, tap, tap. And he rolled me back up.

“That was better. You were under there for two and a half seconds,” Joe said. “I timed you. I think you’re ready to do it now.”

“Wet exit now!? Not until I’ve rolled under about fifty more times.”
“Ok,” I said. My heart started racing again, so he gave me a moment to calm down. Joe told me stories about his own rolling experiences while I managed to return my heart rate to only about twice its normal speed. Then we started.

Flip. Tuck. Tap, tap , tap. Pull. Eject.
“Wow, is that it? That was actually pretty easy.”

So, today I got more comfortable hanging out upside down underwater. And I’m one step closer to conquering my fear of being stuck under water.