"? Is there a time when a Greenland paddle should not be used? " I've thought about getting/making a Greenland style paddle, but one of the reasons I haven't done so is frequent trips on narrow, twisting blackwater rivers. I use WW paddles all of the time--a 206 cm Werner Wenatchee and a 203 cm Werner Quest. I use the high angle paddling style that I learned paddling my first kayak, a Prijon Taifun. It seems to me that there are two ways to change the "gear ratio" in kayak touring. One, already much discussed, is to change the size of the blades. The other is to change the shaft length. The relationship between the Wenatchee and the Quest is similar to the relationship between the San Juan and the Camano. Going from a 230 cm San Juan to a 220 cm Camano would have more effect than going from a 230 cm San Juan to a 230 cm Camano. Over a year ago now, John Winters was kind enough to answer for me some questions about paddle length. I can't quote him at this late date, but in essence he wrote that as long as the shaft is long enough to enable a paddler to fully immerse the blade(s), a shorter shaft is more efficient than a long shaft for straight-ahead paddling. A paddle with a longer shaft has some advantages for sweeps and braces. While I'm flirting with heresy, there's another issue I've puzzled over for quite a while. I have a colleague who is a canoe racer. His 18' boats make my Meridian look like a fat scow, but that's another issue. He uses the "sit and switch" technique with bent shaft paddles. His paddling style makes sense to me. Many of our touring kayaks have good tracking characteristics. Would we actually be able to go farther on less energy if we used a single bladed paddle and switched sides every 4-6 strokes? I would already have a short canoe paddle if I could find one commercially available with a full-sized blade and a 23" shaft. However, none of the canoe paddle manufacturers make one that short. I carry a cut down aluminum/plastic canoe paddle as a spare and I have used it to get myself home (over a mile) in an emergency, but that paddle has lousy balance and I wouldn't want to use it for ordinary cruising. Bob -------------------------------------------------- Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Research and Planning Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311 910-630-7037 rperkins_at_methodist.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 30 1998 - 16:38:54 PST
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