On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:58 PM, MATT MARINER BROZE <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com>wrote: Long paddles have there place, but I don't think a relatively narrow single > kayak is that place. > So why would five Inuit paddlers in relatively slender kayaks tow a whale using *LONG* paddles? They certainly would be much harder to make (or even find the materials). One Inuit paddling with *LONG* paddles might be a simple aberration but all of them had one. I keep coming back to this. Perhaps the *LONG* paddles (GPs, of course) allowed them to cruise faster and longer in order to get to the killing grounds. But once they have a whale in tow you'd think they'd prefer shorter paddles (a lower gear in Matt's terms). Perhaps they all just had one paddle. I sent an email to Harvey Golden asking him to look at the thread and pop in if he has any ideas but I'm guessing he's on vacation somewhere. We can't ask those Inuit (the book is 50 years old and the photo much older) but Harbey would be the next best thing, IMHO. If *LONG* paddles were as terrible as everyone says they are then why would at least some Inuit keep on using them? It sure would be fun if someone would make a 9' long GP and report back. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jul 21 2010 - 15:38:00 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:42 PDT