[Paddlewise] Baidarka bow styles

One of the nice things about Paddlewise is that it can be so stimulating. 
This morning I spent some time coming up with alternative ways to create a 
bow that would have a similar effect to the bifid baidarkas without 
bifurcating the bow.

Had two successes. One I simply added spray rails at the sheer. Easy to do 
by making a couple of frames across the deck and then lacing the spray rails 
(looked like one half of a Greenland paddle to the frames. Could vary the 
size easily and easy to install. The second method was to put the spray 
rails inside and wrap the covering over them. By leaving excess material it 
was simple to pull everything tight and it looked similar to most baidarkas 
but much easier to build.

Given the skills of  native boatbuilders this would not have been beyond 
their abilities and it would seem that if they wanted added forward lift 
either dynamic or  through flotation they would have tried such simple 
techniques.

This wonderful speculation though. No doubt anthropologists in the future 
might look at cars from the late fifties and speculate that the fins were 
for directional stability and the chrome was used because it was more 
durable than paint. Probably turn up their noses at anyone who suggested 
they were for aesthetics. :-)

Cheers

John Winters 
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