Re: [Paddlewise] Greenland Style Paddles

On Fri, 3 Sep 2004 11:55:51 -0400, "Larry Pelletier"
<larry.bp_at_verizon.net> said:
> I have several questions:
>
> First, I have been paddling for just two years, but I'm not a kid.  I
> have arthritis in my right shoulder and tendonitis in my left elbow.
> I have read that the Greenland style of paddling is less stressful on
> joints since it is more aerobic than strength orientated is there any
> truth in this?

I think so.  When I switch from my greenland style paddle to my euro
paddle the euro paddle feels like a shovel on the end of a stick.  The
euro feels clumsy to me after spending time with the greenland.  The
converse is also true, if you are used to a Euro paddle the first
reaction to a greenland is likely to be. "how do you get anywhere with
this." and "why didn't that stroke work".

> > Second, If the above statement is true where can I try out this
> > type of
> paddle and learn the correct paddling style to go with it? (I live in
> Rhode Island)

Sept 11/12 is the Arctic Boat weekend at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut

http://www.mysticseaport.org/source/show_course.cfm?mcourse=215&mki-
nd=visit I can't think of a better way to go way overboard on
starting out ;-)

http://www.qajaqusa.org is where the "hardcore" greenland practitioners
hang out, on the web.  Just in case you wanted to waste more time on the
Internet...

> Last, How do I select the correct length paddle?

Chuck Host did a nice pdf on building your own greenland paddle and
sizing it properly: http://www.qajaqusa.org/QK/makegreen2.pdf

>  I don't have a Greenland style kayak, I have a Wilderness Systems
>  Cape Horn which is a relatively wide high volume kayak.

I'll leave this up to others.  I would go with a slightly longer, than
the anthropomorphic measurements, paddle.
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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