[Paddlewise] Herroshoff and kayaks

Ralph Diaz asked me about Herroshoff and his design. As it  might interest
as a few other people I've sent it to PW. I've included part of the article
from Rudder magazine and as it is over 50 years old, hopefully it is out of
copyright(??).

L. Francis Herroshoff article, "The Double Paddle Canoe" was
published in Rudder, September 1947. He had been designing
and building "double paddle canoes" for 25 years.

Note, "double paddle canoe" equates to what we would
designate as a kayak.

"As for the exercise of paddling - well, in the double
paddle canoe you can usually make it as strenuous or as
light as you like, and for this reason this sort of paddling
is ideal for the semi-invalid or the elderly person. I say
this because the canoeist is in a comfortable seat with a
good backrest, so that if he feels tired or faint he can
just sit and relax. Of course none but the strong should
venture into open water or swift streams. I have paddled
with a gentleman who is about eight-four years old and the
only complaint he had about the sport was that I had not
introduced him to it sixty years before, to which I had to
reply that that would have been difficult, for it would have
been some ten years before I was born."

"Paddling with the double paddle is one of the best ways to
reduce the waistline, and and one of my acquaintances who
has paddled this way for some fifty years swears that it
will add twenty years to one's life. One of our great
national mistakes is that we do not indulge in the sports
which are light and healthy exercise, like walking and
paddling, for these sports can safely be kept up in later
life and are by far the most conducive to health and
happiness." - L. Francis Herroshoff

Alex
.
.
Alex (Sandy) Ferguson
Chemistry Department
University of Canterbury
New Zealand
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