Re: [Paddlewise] Technology guides paddle design.

Michael Daly writes:

> From: "cholst" <cholst_at_bitstream.net> 
> 
> 
>> Driftwood with (in Greenland) bone edges. But that driftwood included some 
>> pretty large logs, and many Inuit paddles had wider, lanceolate-shaped 
>> blades than the modern Greenland paddle, which appears to be only a few 
>> hundred years old. 
> 
> I think it was John Brand that suggested that the current popular shape of the
> Greenland style paddle was copied from the British.  The early contact with
> the Brits exposed them to the long oars that were used to row the gigs and
> such.  He suggests as well that the style spread quickly, replacing other, older
> shapes.  However, there is such scant archeological evidence that this is hard 
> to support.  

The main problem I have with Brand's hypothesis is that the Greenlanders 
retained the wide blades on their oars and went to narrow blades only on 
their paddles, which are used quite differently. Also, there is apparently 
some evidence of intermediate shapes between the older lanceolate blade and 
the modern Greenland blade. The evolution was very rapid, however, and the 
modern Greenland paddle was in use by the 18th century. It may have been 
about the same time that H.C. Petersen says the Greenlanders started 
paddling more in winter, and maybe that also had an influence on paddle 
design. One thing I have discovered from personal experience is that the 
carved shoulder on a Greenland paddle gives a better grip when the paddle is 
iced up; also that since the blade does not ice up because it is almost 
constantly immersed, it also has a good grip in freezing weather. 

> It is tempting to believe such things.  Fads (memetic behavior) hold a strong 
> attraction to people and create a powerful means of shaping acceptance of 
> a style or technology.  Brand also explains the popularity of the Greenland
> style kayak in Britain with its association with Gino Watkins - a hero way back
> when. 
> 

I think I read in Ocean Paddler magazine -- or maybe that info is from a 
slide lecture by Sam Cook -- that the first fiberglass design in the 
Greenland style, the Anas Acuta, was based on a more recent trip to 
Greenland than the Watkins expeditions. Also, I believe the Anas Acuta is 
more similar to Southwest Greenland kayaks than to the East Greenland style 
kayaks the Watkins expeditions used. 

Chuck Holst 
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