It occurs to me that there is not only the problem of the upside down paddle and ways of determining if a paddler is in state of such confusion but also, and more importantly, how do you tell them to correct it. Last year, the Downtown Boathouse put about 10,500 people in the waters around the embayment as part of the public kayak program; the vast majority were total newcomers to paddling. All of the paddles used in the public program are asymmetrical but, blessedly, they do have corporate names on them in American alphabetical letters (also works for paddles made in Canada, Great Britain and most of the rest of Europe). Often we spot paddlers on the water with their paddle blades upside down. You call to them to point out the error. But this leads to a problem: How do you tell them to correct the situation? Only one in four or five paddlers catch on immediately how to correct this. But some just rotate the paddle which than puts the powerface backwards and other paddlers do the strangest, undescribable things or they refuse to believe you (New Yorkers never want to come across as gullible). Any suggested terminology to use? One term with moderate success is to tell them to windmill the paddle which gets them to change which blade is where and then it easy to correct. But some people, being city folk have never seen a windmill, so that doesn't always work. Again what do you say to get them to get asymmetrical blades correctly aligned? A third issue is what to say when asked why is it important that the blade be in a certain way. New Yorkers are very image conscious and are big on logos being correct and generally it suffices to tell them that the company would be upset if its name/logo were upside down or it wouldn't look cool. But some people want more explanation than that, a technical one. I try to get away with telling them, in a hush reverential tone, that this is the way the Inuits paddled, and newcomers and wannabes want to be part of that sacred mystique and accept that explanation on faith. But some already know about the differences between Greenland and Euro paddles and won't buy that explanation (the web and books make everybody an instant kayaking expert know-it-alls :-)) I know the technical explanation why an asymmetrical paddle has to be rightside up and what that means. But I wonder if anyone can give me (and fellow volunteers at the Boathouse) a whammy of a technical explanation that will so overwhelm the listener that further questions by the most inquisitive of the public will cease. best, ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 14 2000 - 13:08:37 PDT
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