From: kyak@rockisland.com
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 08:25:58 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <199807261525.IAA02669@cronus.rockisland.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: [baidarka] paddles
Here's my 2 cents:
1. Every body is different so it makes sense we all don't need to
paddle the same way.
2.Leaf tips - in my paddle building efforts they seem to offer the
most stable shape in the water. My own guess, arrived at by watching the
flow around the blade during strokes, and direct comparison, is that this
shape "releases" the pressure (water) that builds up as you pull the blade
thru the water in an especialy smooth and easy way.
3. Length- I don't know about rules of thumb. I like a slow cadence
so I prefer easily driven boats, and I don't dip the blade all that deep
once I am up to speed. I find that i like paddles from abpout 105 - 109 ".
When people tell me they are "too long" I re-interpret that to mean "too
long for me".
4. blade surface- I don't try to smooth my blades over much. The
slight irregularities left by the knife seem to be beneficial. Watching the
flow you can see that it is composed of a random collection of mini eddies.
They seem to cancel one another out with good results for stability of the
blade during the stroke.
` 5. Edges - I agree with Lew that the edges are quite important. I
use a diamond shape to the blade (raised center ridge on both sides, blade
thinning towards the edges) but I keep the blade edge about 1/8 to 3/16 "
thick and somewhat rounded. The blunter edge seems to be much less prone to
catching an angle and taking a dive. I think the blunter edge creates a more
random flow (as above) anyway it just seems a better-mannered to me.
6. Finish- minimal effort. Maybe an oxide pigment on the blade,
jojoba and cedar oil over that and on the shaft. Raw wood only for the grip.
skip