The Western Seaboard
Sterling Reflection Rolling
Playtime on Lodi Lake.
Story/Photos/Videos by Marc Owerfeldt

Kayaks are the only boats built to perform upside-down just as well as right-side-up.

Posted on September 30, 2017

If you paddled a kayak before but never rolled one then you've only seen half of what a kayak has to offer.

In late 2017 I started playing around with my Sterling Reflection on Lodi Lake and enjoyed a bit of success: I didn't drown.

Initial attempts at Lodi Lake. Balance brace, rolling back up, recovering from a fall and other humble beginnings.

Earlier that year Wolfgang Brinck had shown me a few moves on his skin-on-frame boat, a baidarka he built in his shop in Alameda. I tried to copy Wolfgang's rolling technique but failed miserably and took a break from rolling for a while. I mean, who needs that stuff? As it turned out, I would need it (a lot).

Note that I'm sporting a paddle carved by Wolfgang. It still is my favorite Greenland paddle.