--- Peter Treby <ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au> wrote: > Does anyone make Greenland paddles asymmetric (one > side flattish, other more > curved)? Did Greenlanders do that? Some Aleut > paddles are flat one side and > ridged the other, was that for a foil effect? Do we > know which side of such > an Aleut paddle was the power face? Dear Peter, The only Greenland paddles I've seen with asymmetric faces are a few Polar Greenland paddles from 1890s-1910. They are perfectly flat on one face with a high-arch cross-section. These perhaps should not be considered as what we call "Greenland Paddles" because they are recent imports to Greenland and bear no resemblance to what any modern GP enthusiast would consider to be a 'Greenland paddle.' To emphasize: I haven't seen any true Greenland paddles with asymmetrical faces (having seen and studied over 80 Greenland paddles spanning 400 years [the paddles span 400 years. . . not my study of them ;-) As for what face of Aleut paddles was the power face, I'm not sure that question is settled, but I prefer to use the ridged face as the power face. This preference is based on using replicas of two different Aleut paddles. Best, Harvey *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Dec 07 2007 - 08:16:17 PST
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