Sea Kayakers, Over the years, I noticed that drip rings on my paddle really didn't keep my hands and the paddle shaft dry. In waves my hands frequently dipped in the water anyway. Also, winds blew the water flying off the blades onto my hands and the paddle shaft. The drip rings were also a small obstacle when extending the paddle. About six months ago, I took the drip rings off and haven't had any problems, even on recent long paddles of 24, 27, 34 and 40 nautical miles. When the conditions are calm, my hands and the paddle shaft stay dry without the drip rings, because the water on the blade flies off the ends. But this may be due to my moderately fast stroke rate. I actually found that I prefer to keep my shaft wet, because the grip feels better. Duane Strokesaker Southern California <A HREF="http://geocities.com/strosaker/">Pirate Sea Kayaker</A> *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:58 AM 7/8/02 -0400, Strosaker_at_aol.com wrote: >Sea Kayakers, > >Over the years, I noticed that drip rings on my paddle really didn't keep my >hands and the paddle shaft dry. In waves my hands frequently dipped in the >water anyway. Also, winds blew the water flying off the blades onto my hands >and the paddle shaft. The drip rings were also a small obstacle when >extending the paddle. > >About six months ago, I took the drip rings off and haven't had any problems, >even on recent long paddles of 24, 27, 34 and 40 nautical miles. When the >conditions are calm, my hands and the paddle shaft stay dry without the drip >rings, because the water on the blade flies off the ends. But this may be due >to my moderately fast stroke rate. > >I actually found that I prefer to keep my shaft wet, because the grip feels >better. Just out of curiosity, what's the coldest the water temperatures gets out there in southern California? I've been using a traditional Greenland stick a lot lately and one thing I've noticed is that even without a sliding stroke the paddle gets very wet. It's actually quite refreshing now that the water here is warm but I'm sure I'd prefer a dryer paddle shaft when the water temps are in the 40's. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
After six months of building I finally launched my new boat last weekend. I started building the Outer Island (designed by Jay Babina) last January The Outer Island is 17'10" long, 21" wide, with a low flat rear deck. One of the primary criteria for choosing the design was something that I could lay back on the deck with for layback rolls. Once the plans arrived I decided that rather than buy pre-milled bead and cove strips I'd make an attempt and milling my own strips. It turned out that it wasn't that difficult once I had the table saw and router table set up. I'm glad I chose that route as it gave me more control in selecting wood colors. I knew it was going to take awhile to build so I decided not to rush it. I certainly didn't work on it every day and getting a new puppy last November meant I just couldn't spend a lot of continuous time down in the basement and leave "Archie" unsupervised. However, taking my time paid off. The boat came out gorgeous and is everything I hoped it would be. After a dousing of cheap champagne on the paddler (I wasn't about to try cracking a bottle of champagne across the bow) I climbed into the cockpit and took the first few strokes. I paddled forward about 50' and then let it glide...and glide and glide. It went straight. Whew. I had hastily carved a foam seat for it and quickly realized that I'd have to carve it a bit deeper as the boat was a bit tippy sitting up so high. After a half an hour or so I got used to the tippiness, but the high seat tended to force my legs into a too straight position. The initial tippiness wasn't too bad but the transition from initial stability to secondary felt pretty squirrelly. After paddling for less than five minutes said, "we'll, you going to roll it?" Ok, next test. I tipped over, set up and rolled up. No problem. I rolled a couple more times, slowing it down each time. After spending all weekend it it and rolling it dozens of times I'd have to say that I don't think I've ever paddled a touring boat that was a easy to roll (yes, Gabriel, even easier than a Romany). It was a busy day at the kayak shop so I spent a good part of the day helping out before getting back in near the end of the day. I let a couple of friends paddle it and one thought it felt like he was sitting way too high in the cockpit so I borrowed the seat from a Seaward Endeavor (basically a thin piece of carved foam in a nylon casing. The difference was *very* noticable. It no longer felt tippy, and in fact, it felt quite stable. The twitchiness between the intial and secondary stability point was gone. It became very easy to gradually edge the boat from a flat hull until my head was in the water. Rolling it became even easier. Rather than a backband I built a foam "ramp" glued to the rear bulkhead. Even with the very thin seat I can lay back onto the ramp and put my head on the rear deck without my back rubbing against the cockpit combing. I still need to build in some knee padding but it's already pretty comfortable now that I've got the seat height figured out. I also used flush hatches with internal bungies and didn't know how watertight they would be. After spending several hours in it on Sunday, rolling dozens of times, the bow hatch was bone dry. When I opened the stern hatch, I discovered that the hook I had glued to the inside of the hatch cover had come loose (I think because I had epoxied it after the cover had developed a bit of amine blush). Even with the cover being held down only on one side I still only had a couple of spongefulls of water. I have been keeping a web site with some building pictures on it (I tended to lapse near the end though) and once the picture of the launching get developed I'll post the URL. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 7/8/2002 8:50:40 AM Eastern Standard Time, jaf30_at_cornell.edu writes: > I've been using a traditional Greenland stick a lot lately and one thing > I've noticed is that even without a sliding stroke the paddle gets very > wet. It's actually quite refreshing now that the water here is warm but > I'm sure I'd prefer a dryer paddle shaft when the water temps are in the > 40's. Evaporation of moisture from your hands in wind and lower air temperatures might be more of a problem than the actual water temperature. I used a Greenland-type paddle all last winter (Long Island Sound) and just made sure -- as indeed I used to also with drip ring equipped Euro paddles -- that I kept my hands dry. For me that means wearing at least surgical latex gloves and at worst chemical rubber gloves, the latter if need be with a military surplus wool-synthetic glove liner. Best regards, Ralph Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
The Greenlanders have a solution of sorts, emulating the "drip ring" function. They tie cords around the ends of the shaft of their paddles that catch and wick off much of the water that would otherwise run down from the blade onto their hands. These things can get pretty artsy in local adaptation, but any light cords knotted around the loom with bitter ends hanging free for several inches does a good job. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:30 PDT