Some time ago Ed wrote on my weblog the question: "What's going on, why no new tests on your website?"
I mailed back that I was just starting up again after the winter-period. May-be a weak excuse because I could also write in winter time: reviews about f.i. AnasAcuta and Nordkapp as I have these kayaks in my fleet.
Anyhow, after exchanging some mails Ed asked if I was interested in testing a Greenland paddle; he made 3 paddles himself and offered one of those for testing
Ed
At first I felt a bit reserved because the few times I tried such a paddle from a fellow-paddler it did not give me much confidence for heavy weather. But: after some thinking I concluded that this was the opportunity to evaluate a Greenland paddle in a better way than paddling one for 15 minutes.
So I proposed to Ed having an evening paddle together to try and to choose one of his creations.
Last Wednesday we crossed "het Hoornse Hop"; starting in Schardam and accompanied by 3 greenland -paddles.
Just in case I did not feel at home, I also took a "normal" paddle with me. Although this paddle could be handy to compare well.
- The 3 paddles were significantly different :
- A paddle with a somewhat tapered end and rather big blades
- A paddle with rounded tips, widening till the tips
- A similar one but 25% narrower and a bit longer. It felt awful narrow in your hands; like a skewer.
The challenge of the evening was to determine which paddle I liked most, but also to get an impression how to paddle with them.
I dare not mention the underlying question if I could have confidence and feel safe: that question feels rather unnecessary as lots of people are using Greenland-paddles. Not to forget our "ancestors", the Inuit, who survived with these paddles. So why couldn't I?
First I concentrated on learning how to paddle.
- Although Ed advised to turn the blades a bit while pulling this felt quite strange and I started also to experiment with other strokes :
- Just pulling straight backwards, as with a "normal" paddle was no option as the blades started to flutter.
- I sliced the blades outwards while pulling; just as with a wing-paddle. This functions quite well; at least I could keep up with Ed at 8km/h. However, it required quite a lot of trunk-rotation. More than was convenient to do that for miles.
- Than I started slicing the blades towards the kayak, having dipped the blades in the water approx. 50cm aside of the kayak. This worked as well; and with much less trunk-rotation. I could reach easily 8km/h but was not able to any faster
- Then a combination: slicing outwards while pulling and at the end of the stroke slice inwards. A kind of double stroke. This felt quite relaxed at slower paddling-rate, reaching again 8km/h
- At last, when feeling more familiar with the paddle, I tried the turn the blades as Ed mentioned. This requires a rather precise way of paddling as the blades like to slice under the kayak, and that's not what they should do. Here the design of the paddle shows having effect in being more or less sensitive to slicing.
Having paddled with the biggest blades until now, I started switching. I now only paddled with the blades a bit turned, with only a bit of trunk-rotation, as this turned out having the most powerful propulsion of the tested strokes.
The big blade was not very sensitive to under-kayak-slicing but has a rather thick- and a bit square shaft. This caused my hands to cramp a bit.
I felt rather surprised how this paddle bit itself in the water and how much force could be applied. It was possible to reach 10km/h with it. Paddling my AnasAcuta that speed is not bad at all.
Than the paddle with the round, wider tips: this felt very natural in my hands but could slice away more easily. This paddle also bites itself to the water when pulling.
The narrow paddle, with which Ed was paddling until now, gave also enough propulsion. More than that: using it Ed could keep up with 10km/h.
So, for propulsion the size of the blades does not make much difference. Amazing, isn't it!! The only thing is : the narrower the blades, the less convenient they felt when making sweepstrokes. And also when making a brace the smaller blades gave less confidence.
But this is something I will have to investigate: will confidence grow when getting more familiar with these kind of paddle.
At the end I took my ordinary paddle. This felt very, very strange after having paddled a few hours with Greenland-paddles.
Of course it is not a honest comparison yet, because I am much more used to my conventional paddle, but now I easily ran out on Ed while using less energy. If a Greenland paddle is less or equal or more effective, I can not conclude yet. That's what I will have to find out.
I guess that, having read my comments above, you will not be surprised that I chose the paddle with the middle-size blade for testing.
Other strokes, like rolling, I did not try yet and will write about that later.
But therefor it is nice to have the paddle for some time at my disposal.
More will follow.