RE: [Paddlewise] Lightning paddles

I have posted this to Paddlewise because Matt has some ideas regarding my
long paddle rational for Eastern Canadian native paddlers. If we fool around
with this long enough, maybe Mr. Golden will provide us with his ideas.

Chuck Sutherland

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From: skimmer_at_enter.net
To: marinerkayaks_at_msn.com
Subject: Lightning paddles
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:48:56 -0400

Hi Matt,

 

I don't believe the paddle I broke surfing off Newport RI was your
Lightning. I think it was just another of my beat up old Klepper paddles.

 

I also had a very nice wood strip 8 ft, 90 degree offset paddle by Nimbus.
It was, and still is, good for teaching rolling, but not good for touring
due to 90 degree offset.

 

Long keel lines and hard to control, heavy, beamy East arctic boats and the
requirement that they not ever capsize are reason enough for me for their
long paddles. 

 

Southwest Greenland boats were really much more like slalom boats-Narrow,
lots of rocker, so much so that to give them some tracking ability they had
to attach a fin (skeg) on the boats, either inside or outside the skin, to
augment their tracking ability. Such boats, as discussed for WW boats,
require shorter paddles. That in turn, requires the ability to roll. These
are a package deal, I believe.

 

How do you account for the long paddles (that included several radically
different construction styles) of the Eastern Arctic?

 

Chuck Sutherland
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