[Paddlewise] Stabilizer Experiment

>>
My Romany is so easy to roll -- and reenter and roll -- that I haven't
bothered attaching bungies for a paddlefloat. Also, I have had no trouble
getting back into the cockpit when I simply hold the paddle, with
paddlefloat, against the coaming. Even though it's a Greenland paddle, it
doesn't move around much once my weight is on it. However, last Sunday I
loosened part of the perimeter line on the foredeck of my Romany so I could 
stick the blade of my Greenland paddle under it. The idea is to use the
paddle to stabilize the boat while refastening the sprayskirt after a
reentry and roll, but it might also stabilize it enough to scramble up on
deck if the reentry and roll fails. The first test will be tomorrow
evening.

Chuck Holst
>>

Okay, here's what happened. I was going to replace the perimeter line 
anyway, so when I did so, I used enough to allow for some slack between the 
two fittings closest to the cockpit on either side. Out on the lake, I 
inserted one Greenland paddle under the line on either side, so that they 
stuck out at approximate right angles to the boat but angled downward 
somewhat. Then I tried rocking the kayak. Great! -- it was very difficult 
to rock with those stabilizers sticking out.

Next, I decided to try using the paddles to stabilize the kayak while I 
scrambled up on deck after a wet exit. I capsized, did a wet exit, and 
inserted my main paddle under the deck line on the side closest to me. Then 
I flipped the kayak over with the intention of inserting my storm paddle 
under the line on the opposite side. However, flipping the kayak launched 
the first paddle fifteen feet through the air like a harpoon off a throwing 
stick! While Jody Russell recovered the first paddle, I inserted the 
second, then swam around and reinserted the first paddle -- this time with 
the kayak already upright. Because the paddles moved around too much when 
shoved far under the deck line, I adjusted them so only the widest part 
near the tip was under the line. Then I swam up on deck. Once I was up on 
the deck, I overbalanced and capsized again. This time, the paddle slammed 
into the water, and the paddle tip snapped off right where the line had 
crossed it. I finally did a reentry and roll with my storm paddle to 
complete the self-rescue.

Unfortunately, it was my favorite paddle that broke, the one with plastic 
tips joined to it Greenland-fashion with a mortise and tenon. But it was 
the tips that contributed to the break. The tenon in this type of join has 
less cross-sectional area than a solid tip, and on examination I could see 
that the break had started there. Interestingly, the tenon tore out of the 
blade rather than breaking right at the join, as I would have expected (the 
paddle was made of plain-sawn western red cedar). I have more than once 
seen an instructor teach a student to hold the Greenland paddle by the tip 
when extending it, but only once have I seen a Greenlander hold a Greenland 
paddle by the tip, and I believe this weakness is one of the main reasons.

Lessons learned: The original idea of stabilizing the kayak wth the paddles 
after reentry works well, and I think it is quite possible that the paddle 
would not have broken had the tip been solid when I tried the second 
experiment, but I will certainly be more cautious about trying that 
particular experiment again!

Note: The inspiration for this experiment was reading about Greenlanders 
using their paddles in a similar way (only on one side, though, since 
Greenlanders typically do not carry a spare), but I think it was Howard 
Jeffs in England who had the related idea of stabilizing the kayak by 
inserting the halves of a spare paddle into tubes on opposite sides of his 
kayak. My method, like the Greenlanders', has the advantage over Jeffs' in 
that the paddles are more easily removed and restowed.

Chuck Holst

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