[Paddlewise] Water is more fun than concrete

At 12:56 PM -0400 7/24/98, Steve Cramer wrote:
>John Winters wrote:
>>
>
>> Steve writes.
>> >Take your eyes to your TV and look at what they're doing. It certainly
>> >looks like the paddle is staying put--OK, maybe it moves a
>> >centimeter--and the boat is moving. But unless the bouy is also moving
>> >through the water, the paddle is pretty well fixed.
>>
>> In this Steve is quite right. It doesn't look like they move a lot nor do
>> they move a lot but they don't have too. Movement is movement and the
>> movement is essential to developing thrust.
>
>Another thought experiment: kneel on a skateboard next to a parking
>meter. Rotate forward as you would for a forward stroke. Grasp the post
>of the PM and return to a neutral position. Did perceive your board
>move? Did you perceive the parking meter move? I believe Nick would
>observe that the earth moved a little bit (Did it move for you?...well,
>never mind), but I think this amount of movement can safely be ignored.

Actually, the parking meter will bend. Something else will always give
before you move the earth, in this case it is the parking meter and when
paddling it is the water. But you are correct, for most purposes you can
call the earth immovable. For paddling purposes you can consider the water
to be concrete if it helps you understand your paddling technique. I expect
you will learn more from thinking of water as water. Much of the fun of
paddling is due to the fact that water does move when you push on it. I
know I'm glad water is not like concrete. Think about it, right next to
your paddle (which acts almost like it is in concrete), your kayak is
sliding along almost as if were a skate on ice. These two distinctly
different reactions are happening in the same medium not more than 6" from
each other, and the frontal area of the paddle and the kayak are not all
that different. The difference is in shape and the way the forces are
applied to the water. Pretty cool.



Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
c/o Newfound Woodworks, 67 Danforth Brook Rd, Bristol, NH 03222
(603) 744-6872

Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/

>>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<<


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