Greenland Paddle #2

[Todd Bradshaw]

This one cost me $13 and I had to dig through about five stacks of 2-by's at the Home Improvement store to find a board worthy of being freed from a boring life as part of a fence or deck. I settled on a 10' 2x6 of WRC with a large clear area, big enough to use. I've read of folks who use cedar for them and like it, so I figured I'd try it instead of the standard spruce/pine/fir that #1 was built from. I wanted a little longer blade with a little bit of shoulder where it joins the loom and a little shorter loom than #1 had.

I hacked it out, oversized, on the band saw and took it down from there with a spokeshave. After drawing all the proper reference lines on the blank, I pretty much proceeded to ignore them and shaped it by eye until it felt right (We don't need no stinking reference lines!)

I have to say that after using paddle #1 for a while up north and on Lake Superior, I'm really starting to like them - and I have a bunch of very expensive European-style kayak paddles, some of which I've been using for thirty years. The Greenland paddles have a much more "alive" feel and you quickly get used to the technique of using the whole paddle to propel and maneuver the boat. When you switch back to the Euro-style they feel much more like a stick with two unbalanced blades on it's ends. They will generate more brute force than the Greenland, but going a distance with them seems like more work. Anyhow, it's a great and cheap weekend project and once you get used to one, you may not want to put it down.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid79/p4d66f82571d68dafedcd62d2a27b25f6/fb0dadd5.jpg

[MarkC]

smile.gif

[Jamie Hascall]

Great inspiration Todd. It looks like we'll probably put a pair of Pygmy Kayak kits after we get Victoria sold and I've been wondering about paddles. I've always paddled with feathered blades and have wondered what it would be like to switch to unfeathered. My main concern is getting a proper low brace into use without the automatic feathering that I now use. Nothing like laying down a brace with the blade perpendicular to the water surface :eek: . No matter what it looks like a lot of fun to make so I'll have to add one to the paddle stock.

Jamie

[dld]

now visit Greenland Kayaking Forum (http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandTechniqueForum_config.pl)
and start a skin on frame kayak

[Todd Bradshaw]

Jamie, I had the same thoughts about feather angle before building #1. In fact, I seriously thought about cutting a long scarf and feathering it like they did on my old wooden paddles, but decided to try it "true-to-form" before messing with the traditional design.

Now I have a real mixed bag. The Prijon, Kober, and Schaeffer slalom paddles and Beran sprint paddles that I used for years were all 90 degree feathers. The Werner touring paddles that I've been using for the last five years are 60 degree feathers and I still have to think twice sometimes about whether the blades are offset 30 degrees this way - or that way from what seems "normal" before I lean on the left one. Surprisingly though, the Greenland paddle seems quite natural. Perhaps because it's either this way - or that way and not some angle between them, if you know what I mean.

The other thing that helps drastically is that the entire loom of the Greenland is consistantly and heavily oval-shaped from end to end. As soon as you grab it, your hands automatically feel which way the power face is pointed. For me, at least, this seems to over-ride the old "roll your right wrist before leaning on the left blade" technique that was burned into my head after so many years.

The one thing that did take getting used to, and which came as a bit of a surprise, was the amount of stability that a Euro-style, big blade gives you just as you stuff it into the water and begin a stroke. The skinny, long Greenland blade doesn't tend to do that. If you lean forward and start to take a good, powerful, high-angled Euro-paddle-style stroke with the Greenland blade it'll get your attention really fast - because there's nothing there - just like making a slice when you intended to brace. You learn quickly to keep the shaft angle pretty low and let the boat build-up speed a bit more gradually. On the other hand, the thing is a natural for all kinds of extended-paddle maneuvers that just don't work very well with modern paddles. Going from regular to extended positions is much less cumbersome and much smoother. You can sit in an 18' kayak, start a sweep stroke with the blade right next to the bow stem and bring it all the way back to finish at the stern stem and extended bracing is like having an outrigger. Other than a couple of rolls that I learned when I first started kayaking, I haven't done anything with an extended paddle in many years and it's kind of fun to have some new ground to explore.

[Jamie Hascall]

Todd,

Thanks for your take on the paddles. That's precisely the sort of concerns I've had. My low brace has definitely saved my life and I'd hate to not have the paddle to support it. On the other hand, those extended paddle manouvers sound really good to learn.

I wish we weren't going out of town this weekend as I just found out the 20th Annual West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium is starting today out at Port Townsend. Every kind of Kayak and paddle will be there to try out. Sigh. It's even sadder to me than missing tomorrow's performance of Molly Ivins and Al Franken at McCaw Performance Hall. That should be quite an interesting evening with all that's been coming out these past few days.

Jamie

BTW, I just checked out the Greenland Kayak Forum link that DLD posted. Great site! I'll be passing it on to a friend that's working on a skin on frame boat. Thanks! :D

[ 09-19-2003, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: Jamie Hascall ]