Cheryl, Paddle blades are like spoons. You paddle so the blades scoop and move the water, rather than pushing the blade through it. You're trying to pull your kayak or canoe through the water by cupping your spoon through it. Imagine how difficult it would be if you reversed your spoon and tried to pull youe canoe or kayak that way. So the cupped side of the blade faces you and the rear of the kayak. front -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- -- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- rear Then to tell which side is the top side of the paddle, you think of it like a feather, with the short vanes on top and the longer ones below. To translate that into English the widest part of the paddle is uppermost, and the majority of the paddle droops from it. top _______________________ / /_____________________________________centerline of paddle (shaft) \ \ \ \________________________ bottom Darrell Lee Alameda, CA snorkler_at_juno.com *************************************************************************** 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 Sun Apr 16 2000 - 07:50:57 PDT
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