Seal Launch

Getting in the river from a rock or ledge is sometimes necessary and often more fun. Learn how to do it without landing on your head or landing too flat. A great exercise to prepare you for waterfalls.

The Seal Launch:

Sometimes there is no easy or safe way to get into the river without seal launching. Sometimes you just want to have more fun. No seal launch is safe or fun unless you have some control over the landing. Landing on your head or landing flat can both be painful. However with practice you can keep it controlled and really have fun with them. There are several ledges at the put-in at Rock Island that make for perfect seal launch practice and they are the ones you are seeing here.

To do it right:

Get your boat up to the edge, which is about 6” in front of your waist. Lean back a little to assure you don’t go off prematurely.
Find a good place to put your paddle on the edge that you can push off of without it slipping.
Find a good place to pull with your other hand as well, on the edge.
When you are ready to go, inch your boat up a little further so the edge of the rock is right at your stomach, lean back to keep from tipping.
This is the critical part, the launch. Lean forward to let your boat tip down. As soon as it is close to the landing angle you are looking for (I recommend at least 45 degrees but not more than 75 degrees) you will pull with your hand and push off with your paddle hard while holding your bow from dropping any more with your knees.
As you are freefalling you should be watching the landing spot and still keeping your body perpendicular to the boat.
On the landing you can let your body go back to let the boat penetrate the water and keep from slapping your face, also hold the paddle over your head to keep from slapping the water, or off to the side of the boat.
Ideally your boat will scoop out and the bow will rise first.
Fun Fun Fun

Trouble shooting
If you land past vertical:

You didn’t let the bow drop enough before pushing off (doesn’t sound right but it is) so your stern caught the rock and go pushed over your head.
You didn’t keep your body perpendicular to the boat so you leaned back early by pushing down on your feet (rotating the boat past vert)
You didn’t push off hard enough so your boat had too much drag on the rock rotating you over.

If you went too flat:

You pushed off too hard and too early and lifted too hard on the knees on the landing (pulled up on the landing gear instead of putting the gear down on landing) Essentially you boofed and goofed.

Dane pushing off