Subject: Re: [baidarka] Paddles
From: wolfgang brinck (nativewater@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Mar 13 2005 - 22:29:44 EST
--- Will Samson <willsamson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Though I'll no doubt find out in due course, what theories are
> there as to
> why are the two paddle types so very different? At one time I
> thought they
> were pretty much identical, but clearly that's not the case.
>
> Can anybody please enlighten?
>
maybe we can revive the lift vs. drag discussion.
I suspect Greenland paddles are shorter than Aleut (Unangan) paddles
because the Greenland boats had a lower deck. I don't think the
difference is a whole foot though unless you are looking at storm
paddles, and then it might be more than a foot. In any case, paddles
need to be sized to the paddler and the boat, not so much by what
type they are. I have been making a lot of paddles recently and have
found 88 inches to be a good length for the Greenland paddle and 90
inches a good length for an Aleut paddle, both used on a boat with a
21 inch beam and distance across the outside of my hands in the
vicinity of 23 inches. But I don't think there was such a thing as a
standard size paddle for either the Aleuts or Greenlanders.
Why do Aleut paddles have a ridge? Might be a regional thing. Lots of
paddles in the Bering Sea area had central ridges. No doubt there was
some borrowing of design ideas between cultures. Some old paddles
found in Aleut burial caves seem not to have had the central ridges.
The ridge if oriented toward the back of the boat stabilzes the
paddle and minimizes flutter.
Flat Greenland blades if pulled straight back through the water will
flutter. So Greenlanders have developed a way of holding the paddle
and of pulling it through the water in a way that minimizes flutter.
This stroke is different from the stroke that is typically taught to
recreational paddlers.
Another difference between Greenland and the Aleutians was paddling
conditions. Aleutians didn't have to deal with ice. Greenlanders
did and so they put protective bone edges and bone ends on their
paddles, both of which no doubt contributed to the shape of their
paddles.
For whatever reason, Greenlanders also developed the art of rolling
to a higher degree than any other arctic culture, and the Greenland
style paddle in my opinion is unsurpassed as a rolling tool.
If you choose to make a paddle to Lew Plummer's drawing keep in mind
that the thickness dimensions are optimal for red cedar which is a
very light wood. If you use a more dense wood, you may end up
slimming the thickness down some or you will end up with quite a
heavy paddle.
Wolfgang
http://www.wolfgangbrinck.com/boats
Make Yahoo! your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
-- Baidarka Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's permission Submissions: baidarka@paddlewise.net Subscriptions: baidarka-request@paddlewise.net Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b27 : Fri Apr 01 2005 - 01:30:01 EST