Re: [Paddlewise] Greenland vs. wide blades (was feathered vs unfeathered)

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Stamer <gstamer_at_magicnet.net>
To: <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Saturday, August 14, 1999 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Greenland vs. wide blades (was feathered vs
unfeathered)


>At 12:21 AM 8/13/99 -0700, Matt Broze wrote:
>>Yes all good techniques, but if an error happens with an unfeathered
paddle
>>there is a chance that there may be a lot more force behind it because
with
>>the unfeathered paddle the breaker can grab both blades at once and drive
>>them in the same direction at the same time.
>
Greg Stamer replied:
>
>This has been an interesting discussion, however I still regard this
>scenario as a non-issue. I am responding because I hear this scenario
>argued all the time by feathered blade advocates as THE reason to use a
>feathered paddle in the surf. This is a great topic to discuss around the
>campfire but in real life I don't find that it pans out. Consider that for
>a breaker to grab both blades of an unfeathered paddle at the same time
>requires that the large surface area of your torso is also presented to the
>wave.

No, it only requires that your paddle be somewhat in front of you and the
breaker catch the leading blade and rotate it around. You could have this
happen from your "needle" position if you didn't get your leading blade down
to the deck in time.

>The wave will break on your torso and you will be pounded regardless
>of paddle type. A feathered blade will also be driven backward in this case
>but one blade will react markedly different than the other.

Yes one blade will slice through the breaker.

>One could argue
>that in a worse case scenario this could cause one arm to be jerked
>violently backward causing injury or dislocation.

Unlikely, since your body can rotate to, but even if so it is still
preferable to being garroted by the shaft.
>
>Of course this line of reasoning is pointless. You could dream up literally
>hundreds of scenarios that favor one paddle design over the other,
>especially if you throw in a large dose of paddler error and poor
>technique. Depending on the scenario the feather of your paddle may be a
>help or a hindrance.

I'm listening, lets explore some of the pro unfeathered scenarios you can
dream up for the surf zone.

>The original scenario will only happen if the paddler
>makes several major mistakes. An experienced paddler will time their
>passage through the surf zone to avoid breakers and will "spear the wave"
>or intentionally capsize if they miscalculate. The surf zone can be a very
>unforgiving environment. If you violate a cardinal rule such as letting a
>wave break on your torso or getting shoreward of your kayak if you exit,
>then you will pay the consequences. You cannot blame the equipment for
>gross failures in technique or judgment.

Sure I can. If one piece of equipment allows for a greater margin of error
we'll chalk one up for that side. It only takes a little error in this case
not several major mistakes. Say you don't get your paddle down to the deck
into the spear position quite quick enough. If the wave catches the blade at
enough of an angle (probably less than 25 degrees) it will be swung around
until it is flat to the wave. If feathered it will keep on swinging until it
has rotated through nearly 180 degrees as the other blade slices into the
wave. If it is unfeathered it will lock in at 90 degrees as the second blade
is also caught by the wave and resemble a fast moving "limbo" bar.
The same mechanism that suddenly swings a boat sideways that is not
positioned well enough to punch through a breaker also works on the paddle
(on the long axis and on the long axis of each blade <width> as well). DON'T
EVEN THINK ABOUT JUST ROTATING THE BLADES OF AN UNFEATHERED PADDLE SO BOTH
BLADES  SLICE INTO THE WAVE IN FRONT OF YOU. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE BLADES
WILL BE HIT FIRST AND IF NOT PERFECTLY PLACED TO SLICE THROUGH, IT WILL BE
SUDDENLY ROTATED AND SPUN IN YOUR GRIP UNTIL IT TOO IS FLAT TO THE WAVE
FACE. "Do the "Limbo", How low can you go". I'd rather be caught downwave
from my kayak in the breakers, I can probably dive under it.
If I was habituated to paddling unfeathered I probably wouldn't change
feather because of this hazard, but I wouldn't deny there is a hazard either
and I would be especially careful to avoid it because the price of an error
here is far higher when using an unfeathered paddle.



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