>> 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 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
>> Ont he Norwegian Canoe Association site there were some very interesting pictures of paddle stablilized skin on frame kayaks. Each paddler carried two full sized paddles. There were a pair of loops in front of the cockpit (one on each side of the boat) and another pair behind the cocpit. These loops looked to be 1' to 2" wide. They appeared to "stand up" above the perimeter deck line and were just inside of the perimeter lines. The paddle was inserted perpendicular to the kayak through one loop until the end of the blade was in the other loop. This left about 3/4 of the paddle out as an outrigger. There were pictures with one kayak stabilized with one paddle, one kayak stabilized with two paddles (one to each side), and two kayaks joined together and stabilized using 3 paddles. I am not sure if there was some method of tightening the loops down on the paddles but I would guess there probably was some way to hold the paddles securely in place. The use of the loops was interesting in that they spread the load out over more of the paddle than just a deckline would. In addition the front loops were high enough that the paddle would stay horizontal even though it had to lay on the slightly curved portion of the front deck. It was interesting that they all carried a full size spare paddle on the front of the kayak. There was one picture that had a caption about the ease of getting to the front mounted spare when you lost a paddle. >> <snip> >> Mark J. Arnold MJAkaker_at_aol.com >> The arrangement isn't clear to me from the photos, but it appears that on some of the kayaks there might be two pairs of leather straps inboard of the gunwale under which the paddles are inserted. The straps are on about the highest part of the foredeck, which is not peaked like the Romany's. I'm not sure this is a traditional Greenland arrangement. I have the impression from reading H.C. Petersen's Skinboats of Greenland that the paddle was simply inserted under a tensioning toggle or two, which would be a good addition to my Romany for using this technique. FWIW, Petersen interviewed several old kayakers, and found that none of them had ever heard of anyone carrying a spare paddle. In the photo of the Norwegian rescuing another kayaker, the bracing paddle (if it is being used for bracing) is inserted under the spare paddle at a right angle to it. I carry a storm paddle on my foredeck as my spare paddle, and sometimes I park my standard paddle under it in much the same way. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
. 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. Chuck Holst wrote: <SNIP> 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.<SNIP> One of the downsides to a wood paddle? Actually with the way you set up the paddle you created a tremendous force because of the long lever (handle) and short blade tip on the other side of the fulcrum (the line). Had the paddle been stronger you may have been able to use this long lever handle to punch a hole in your boat much like a beer can opener did to a can (before pop-tops). It is not a good idea to set up any paddle with just a little bit of the blade under one line. Cedar is a light wood but unless it has a laminated or very thick (like an Eskimo paddle) shaft I wouldn't trust it to do a paddlefloat rescue unless you knew to be very careful not to put to much weight on the paddle. I suspect that the tip broke as you started to become unbalanced to that side and thereby put a tremendous amount of pressure on the short tip forced against the kayaks deck. Once the tip broke continuing to capsize in that direction would be hard to stop. With a European paddle the line that you first put the blade under should not cross the blade but should cross the (usually) stronger shaft. This also shortens the lever arm available some, so not as much leverage can be applied to overstress the paddle. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.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/ ***************************************************************************
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