Feathered vs. Unfeathered. Euro vs. Greenland. Used to be when I first started paddling that the first argument generated more than enough heat whenever two paddlers gathered in Neptune's name. Leave it to the Delaware crowd and Texan John Heath to go and re-discover the Greenland paddle and throw another log on to the campfires of perennial argument. Funny to see that the modern argument is pro-tradition (back to Inuit roots) and that the old fogie argument is pro-modern (those dastardly European river paddlers with their wide blades that corrupted kayaking traditions)...do you follow that? You know something...they all work. Each has its up and down side when paddling under different conditions. While we are all inclined to argue that our own personal choice is superior it is really a matter of what you are used to and your own body type and need. I paddle with a medium to narrow blade feathered at about 80 degrees. Wide blades kill my shoulder blades and 90 degree feathering (Klepper wood paddles are at that) are rough on the joints. It works fine for me. It seems that no matter where I go, I am always paddling into the wind (same when I go out running, does that happen to you too?). So feathered works well in that condition. As for sidewind, with a nice stable folding kayak, the flat side surface of a feathered paddle doesn't threaten to tip me over much at all. As for Joan's elbow problems, I have had them but I found that the culprit was that little thing to the right of your keyboard...the mouse. Some fellow paddlers (Jeremy Speer and Jack Gilman) suggested going to a roller-ball and all is dandy now. I am intrigued by the feathered Greenland paddle that Ray Killen mentions in a casual fold of his excellent exposition. Boy, is that a way to skirt around the argument. Reminds me of the Red Skelton movie set in the US Civil War. Our comic friend finds himself caught on the battlefield between Union and Confederate forces. He rigs up a uniform with the gray facing the Southerners and the blue side facing the Northerners. Same with his flag with bars to the Dixie side and the Stars and Stripes to the Yankee side. Then the wind shifts and the flag whips around the other way. ralph diaz Somewhere hidden in Ray Killen's excellent exposition on paddles is the answer...the feathered Greenland paddle. Ray reports having made them and seeing them in museums. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Apr 02 1999 - 08:07:06 PST
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