Fighting the wind

[yellowcanoe]

Ending the stroke at the knee minimizes yaw and lessens need for correction. Keeping the top elbow(grip arm elbow) straight keeps the paddle shaft vertical to the water. The shoulder never enters into the equation unless you pull the paddle in back of the frontal plane of the torso. You might review ACA paddling concepts. Its good to go over them from time to time.

Charlie' referring to keeping a powerful stroke. Most paddlers in tripping situations let their grip hand wander in board, but not so much as before thinking vertical paddle. Vertical really forces you to use your body to pull the boat past the paddle and mitigates shoulder and arm cramping.. Its been years since I had the dreaded shoulder blade cramp after a long day.

 

[Guest]

Different strokes, literally. I emphasize taking care of the shoulder in my classes. I won't go into it because it's pointless and I'm not interested in arguing. Just have a look at what's called the "paddler's box" in the McGuffins' book "Paddle Your Own Canoe" and consider what happens to the shoulder if the elbow gets outside the box, and then consider how the untrained paddler paddles, and you'll see why I teach shoulder care.
And the only time I paddle with a straight grip-hand arm is to demonstrate torso rotation. Otherwise I keep my elbow bent. My shoulders are much happier that way.
Different strokes ....

 

[yellowcanoe]

Of course we use the paddlers box.. The elbow is not outside it. I'm an ACA instructor like you and its ingrained.. Elbows arent outside the box in a vertical paddle placement.

I teach torso rotation with the invisible beach ball.. The trouble with the grip hand inside the gunwales is that bent elbows can lead to horrible tendonitis if done to the extreme. All of us on trips have slightly bent elbows.

We're on the same side of the argument Gav.. The one time I see shoulder danger is from the paddle being brought too far back..Then the hand is way behind the box.

 

[Fritz]

I learned something yesterday about trim, paddling my Kevlar MR Explorer on a local lake in variable moderate wind. I have a home made sliding bow seat that allows me to paddle solo with my weight just aft of the middle of the canoe facing what would normally be the stern. I was carrying two containers of water as ballast as I knew if I didn't and any wind came up, I'd have difficulty with directional control. With just me in it the boat skates in down wind. I had one container behind me that was maybe about 35 lbs. the one in front was probably close to 50 lbs. When I was paddling into or quartering the wind and the wind was up, the 50 pound ballast needed to be nearer the bow. When the wind died, the ballast needed to be nearer me. Bow down in the wind allowed me to make headway with less correction. Bow down without much wind meant that the boat wanted to turn away from the direction I wanted to go. A useful practice run with lessons to be applied in the future.

 

[Guest]

I'm tempted to say the issues were/are ballast related, but I can't for the life of me understand why one boat can tolerate more bow weight and one can't.

It just seems the Kee needs or rather wants much less bow weight that the Eagle. It seems to help a lot. I think the sliding bow seat is going to go - it's extra weight that never seems to help.

 

[charlie wilson]

Swift's Kee 16 is slightly Swede form with differential rocker. The Curtis NorthStar, from which Eagle was splashed, is a symmetrical in hull form and rocker, so it has fuller bow quarters. Properly trimmed, Kee is faster and tracks better. Improper trim results in adverse performance. Bow sliders are the easiest way to adjust trim without gear aboard but can confuse some.

 

[ppine]

The proof is in the paddling. The theories aren't that important. Trust your own judgement. Trim is everything in the wind. I like a wood kayak paddle when going solo in the wind.