Although I have been hand rolling white water boats for a couple years now, I had never completed any in a sea kayak until today. The low back deck and cockpit of my new Boreal Design Ellesmere seemed to do the trick. I can even do a horizontal scull in it without sculling (just floating). It's one heck of a boat!

Anyhow, of all days to damage a boat, it was today, when the surf was tiny. We were able to ride some small dumpy waves right onto the steep beach (high tide). There are some small rocks on the beach, but mostly it is sand at this tide level, so I (and the others) were riding the dumpers right up onto the sand. On a two-foot dumper, a sand ledge suddenly became exposed, and the stem of my bow came right down on the edge of it, instantly stopping the weight of the kayak and me from a speed of about five knots. There was a loud thump, but I kept paddling. Later, on the beach, I saw that about a 3"x1" section of gelcoat was badly cracked and chipped where the impact had been on the stem. Fortunately, the glass underneath wasn't damaged, and no water leaked. This afternoon I filed off the damaged gelcoat and put an epoxy/fiberglass patch on it.

    Duane Strosaker