Subject: Re: [baidarka] paddle details, again
From: James Mitchell (baidarka@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Jul 21 2003 - 10:03:30 EDT
PS: the prototype laminated Aleut blade that Corey and I built last
month is so smooth that everyone who has paddled it just says "oh,
WOW." He's got all the tooling set up for it now, and can make you a
"do-it-yourself" version with the shape roughed out. You just sand it
down, shape the loom to fit your hand, and varnish or oil as you wish.
You can call him at 360-299-0804 if you are interested.
If you do finish one of these, remember what I said about that power
edge. It MUST be sharp. Here's a story for you...
Back in the 1950's the Seattle area had its first taste of professional
sports in the form of two unlimited class hydroplanes, the Slo-mo-shun
IV and V. Ten years ago, I was part of a group that rebuilt both
hulls. We fitted up a couple Rolls-Merlin engines, and I took over the
Slo-mo-shun V as its crew chief (yup, kayaks at night and hydros during
the day). Part of this adventure was that Ted Jones, the guy who
revolutionized high speed hull design with those two and many others,
became involved with our reconstructions at the age of 80-something. I
got to hang out with Ted for about a year, before he passed away. What
a trip! He was a real character. If you can imagine rocketing around
Vashon Island in his old Cadillac, talking about hydro races... Anyway,
one day we were at the shop looking at the hull of the old Hawaii Kai
(nee Breathless, as the original Kai was given a Viking funeral). Jones
pointed to the lower part of the transom, where there was a thin wedge
of mahogany that had been inserted between the aluminum under-skin and
the plywood of the hull. With typical modesty, he told me about an
early Detroit hull of his that the owner was unhappy with. In the time
trials, the boat was posting lap speeds of, like, 85-95. The owner came
over to Jones to complain, so Jones inspected the hull. Seems the
builder decided to make the bottom of the transom nice and smooth and
pretty. Jones grabbed a screwdriver, unscrewed the aluminum sheeting,
and pounded some scrap wood in under the skin. They plopped the boat
back in the water and immediately ran a lap at 115. And THAT was my
lesson in separation.
Oh, yes, we did get the old boats running again. The water goes by real
fast at 120!
On Monday, July 21, 2003, at 06:14 AM, John Hess wrote:
> Tom,
> Thanks for your AP explanation, and for the link to your paddle
> photos. I
> made an Aleut-style paddle last year and have been using it with the
> ridge
> to the rear, and with the loom offset towards the ridged side. I
> agree with
> Douglas Huft that for me the paddle is significantly more stable with
> the
> ridge to the rear. Definite flutter with the ridge facing forward, and
> little if facing rearward. But I'm not sure if it is because of the
> asymmetrical blade shape, or because of the offset loom. The offset
> loom
> seems to act in the same manner as the caster on the axel assemble of a
> wheel. Guess I need to make a paddle with an offset loom with the
> ridge to
> the front and see whether it is the offset or the ridge which most
> contributes to the stability.
>
> John
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-baidarka@paddlewise.net
> [mailto:owner-baidarka@paddlewise.net]
> On Behalf Of Tom Yost
> Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 7:51 PM
> To: baidarka@paddlewise.net
> Subject: Re: [baidarka] paddle details, again
>
> John,
>
> When on edge, the Greenland paddle tapers from the loom to the tip
> equally
> on both sides ( Two equal power faces)
>
> The Aleut paddle on edge has one side that is flat along its entire
> length
> and the other side that has a ridge. Since I've eliminated the ridge,
> my
> paddles taper (slopes from the loom to the tip on that side). Since
> I've
> always paddled ridge side ( sloping side) forward, I've felt its
> significance was only in adding strength to the blades to the thin
> Aleut
> blades.
>
> Of lesser significance is that the tip of the Greenland is generally
> round,
> and the tip of the Aleut is generally pointed. The Greenland is
> normally
> shorter than the Aleut, at least in the historical data I've seen, and
> certainly in the paddles I've made.
>
> Since my explanation of the slope is most likely confusing, here is a
> link
> to pics and a drawing of some of my earlier paddles. You will see in
> the
> "On edge" view in the drawing the different taper on each side. Most
> of my
> AP's are based on the pic found in Qajaq by David Zimmerly that
> accompanies MAE-593-76. ( Included) .
>
> http://yostwerks.com/AP.jpg
>
> It was only recently, after over ten years of paddling this way, that I
> realized that my way was in the minority. I did some research into the
> Baidarka Mailing list archive and discovered that in the early
> postings the
> flat power face seems to be generally more accepted. That seemed to
> change
> over the next few years with the ridged power face getting the nod. I
> talked to Wolfgang, Harvey Golden, Bjorn Thomasson, and Rob Macks
> about this
> a while back, and recall that opinions were split on this subject.
> I no longer have my original ridged paddle, but plan to make a new one
> and
> take a second look. I've paddled this way for so long that it no
> longer
> matters to me which is correct. I've been building kayaks and paddles
> for
> about 30 years and back then, there was no Internet building sites to
> provide assistance. You just figured it out on your own.
>
> Tom
>
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