[Paddlewise] Back home

Back from the Newfound Woodworks Rendezvous and it was great. So many
strippers that I called my broker and had him order varnish futures.

If you are interested in building a stripper this is the place to be. Lots
of builders willing to tell about their trials, tribulations and successes
(Mostly successes).

I also paddled Nick Schade's boats. They are excellent designs and I am
confident they would be as good in rough water as they were in the calm
confines of the lake.

While I was away it was nice to see Official Canadian Ballast Rocks (TM)
being discussed in the appropriate tongue and cheek manner. My apologies to
those who took it too seriously. Long time readers of Paddlewise and
WaveLength know that I often mix humour (well, my kind of humour anyway)
and serious content in an effort to convey a message.

I appreciate Richard Culpeper taking over the rock collecting while I was
away. Unfortunately
Richard is not fully qualified and if you got rocks that glowed in the dark
please dispose of them at your local Nuclear Power generating station. One
of the dangers of collecting rocks on the north shore of Superior is that
radioactive rocks are an all to common occurrence. Men, if you have used
the rocks a sperm count is in order. Women should not be surprised if their
next child has unusual features.

On paddles,

Length seems to depend on style. The low flat paddling style may be best
performed with a longish paddle while the more vertical style seems best
with a shorter paddle. My paddle is 205 cm and that is a bit longish. Some
time back I gave  a  talk on paddles and several local paddlers tried the
shorter paddles. Most not only liked them more (lighter weight maybe) but
felt they helped body rotation. One fellow keeps cutting his down and says
that, at the current rate of reduction, he will have eliminated the paddle
entirely by 2002.

I don't know why it should take so long. He could just buy a cat and be
done with it or, failing a cat, he could buy a pair of crotch dirigibles.
The paddle is a most unsatisfactory means of propulsion. As the Prof.
Inverbon points out the Inuit only used paddles for male coming of age
rites. It was the British who confused these playful games with kayak
propulsion. A few years back an Inuit told me how offended they were that
white women used the paddle. This is apparently forbidden in the Inuit
culture. He said they tried to explain the rites to British anthropologists
and missionaries but the Brits thought they were inviting them to sleep
with the Inuit wives.

The harm done by this sad misunderstanding is well known.

Cheers,
John Winters
Redwing Designs
Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
http://home.ican.net/~735769/






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