My first boat was (is) an Old Town Otter that I've paddled zillions of miles --some with Dave Kruger which is how I got hooked on this sea kayak stuff. The first paddle was a 7' (84") Carlisle plastic with "spooned" blades, and I kept hitting my knuckles on the gunwales. So I returned the seven footer and went to an 8' (96") Carlisle with "spoons" which was seemingling the last one in Portland. . . This solved the knuckle banging problems witht he 28" beam, and my stroke improved. Both about $36.00 --which I thought was pretty spendy. Both were, in retrospect, like swinging a lead pipe with sash weights on each end. I promptly left the 96" paddle leaning against a tree at Sparks Lake one afternoon when packing up to head home. . . So I replaced it with another Carlisle eight-footer which happened to have a larger diameter shaft but flat blades. I still have the "Pokey" and the Carlysle. Somehow the paddle has managed to develop scratches in the shaft that rub in my hands. All these cheapo plastic paddles featured straight or feathered positions and I developed a stroke using the paddle both ways. The *huge* improvement to paddling the Pokey was adding foot pegs so that I wasn't fighting to keep from being pulled down to the bow of the boat on each stroke. The seat in a Pokey is like an armchair. . . Its for sunning and beer drinking, not any support at all. Next I went for the "spendy wood" paddle at GI Joes. . . a Sawyer at $60.00 which was much lighter and also had a slightly larger diameter shaft than even my third plastic paddle. This one is 254 cm. I think. . . maybe 7'6" with flat wooden blades that are assymetrical. About this stage in the game I also bought an Aquaterra Sea Lion, and I used the Sawyer paddle to propel the Sea Lion around Long Island in Willapa Bay a couple times. Despite a stainless steel sleeve held by seemingly stainless screws, the screws corrode in salt water (bi-metalic/electrolytic corrosion). This paddle featured feathered or straight positions, and at this point I was developing wrist and elbow problems --lots of hard, fast, feathered paddling in a plastic boat to keep up with hard, fast kayakers half my age in hard, fast glass boats. I opted for straight blade settings in case I needed ever to "slap" the water for a brace. Besides, the wrists take less of a beating with the straight setting. So then, deciding that I might die keeping up with the group in a plastic boat, I went for a Current Designs Solstice GTS (thanks Ben, Josh!) and decided that the wood Sawyer was the kayaking analog to tossing an old blanket on a thoroughbred Arabian. . . I bought a 230 cm. Wind Swift. Although longer than some paddler's choices, this is shorter than what I've been using. The narrow blades allow for a faster turnover than most of the other paddlers I'm with, and I find that I vary my stroke from very high and straight for speed to very low and flat for rough seas and to give my body some variation in posture. Although I've never seen the Greenland style paddle videos, I'm thinking that the low, flat, high cadence style of paddling that I use is perhaps like the Greenland style. (What is that video's name again?) Someone in another list-server told me that when I grip the paddle with the shaft resting against the top of my head that my forearms should be perpendicular to the shaft. I've been told by some that this is a wide grip and that having the hands in closer together on the shaft would provide a longer stroke. . . But the narrow grip stresses my elbows and eventually my grip just naturally shifts back to the wider stance. Something that I'm discovering is that legs and feet do a lot of work in the paddle routine. I don't use a rudder (I do have one.), and so my foot pegs are locked in place while I paddle. The balls of my feet get pressure points and the hips get stiff from paddling. Dave Kruger has found his legs going to sleep (I hope this is not a secret, Dave!) and Ben at Pacific Wave notes that too short a foot peg position can make the legs and feet numb. Ben has also warned me that my econo-cheap neoprene fishing gloves may be causing me to grip the paddle harder than with bare hands, leading to elbow problems. Once upon a time I used to race very expensive road bicycles. We spent a lot of time working on riding position, getting the saddle adjusted just right so the butt didn't fall asleep. (OK, we called it "crotch crickets.") Like paddling, grip and position on the bike bars can cause numb hands, arms, shoulders, and a really stiff back. Picking the correct gear ratio can eliminate knee problems. The upshot of all this is that position and equipment in any physical activity can cause or prevent injury, can add to efficiency or create impediments to speed and grace. Paddles are a big part of the paddling picture, but I'm convinced that conditioning, posture, seats, foot pegs, knee pads, et al contribute to paddling comfort. The posts in here seem to bear that out. . . no pun intended. Geo. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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