: Rob,

: Where is your hand placement when you are holding the Greenland paddle? How
: wide is the loom? Assuming that you did not copy a shorter paddle meant
: for a sliding stroke, your thumbs and forefingers should be on the
: shoulders (transition from shaft to blade) with your other fingers on the
: beginnings of the blades. Thus for a traditional SW Greenland paddle you
: don't place all of your fingers on the shaft (or the blades either).
: Generally, the shoulders are the only places where the cross-section is
: nearly round. I am not sure which area you are referring to as having
: "excess wood", but the fullness of the paddle just outside of
: the transition (beginning of the blades) allows the paddle to fill the
: hollow of your palm, for comfort and a secure grip (and also adds to
: buoyancy). This sizing/paddle design will cause the top edge of the paddle
: to tilt forward naturally.

: Keep in mind that the windier the location, the shorter the overall paddle
: and loom. Some of the paddles are designed to be used with a full or
: partial sliding stroke. For a "cruising" paddle, not requiring a
: sliding stroke, I prefer an 87.5" length with a loom of 22.5".
: This works out to be a length of an armspan plus a cubit (or just able to
: curl my fingers over the top of the blade), the loom dimension is my
: shoulder width (stand with arms relaxed, then bring your forearms
: horizontal to ground and parallel; make a circle with your thumbs and
: forefingers, these mark the shoulders).

: Hopefully this helps, but ultimately you will have to experiment. Good luck
: and enjoy!

: BTW, "Contributions to Kayak Studies" is a great book,
: unfortunately I lent my copy away and it disappeared. My favorite passage
: in the book is where the custom of "consoling" your kayak after
: making love to your wife is mentioned. The belief was that if you didn't,
: your kayak would take its jealously out on you by breaking up at sea. My
: wife still hasn't asked why I keep sneaking out to the garage ... ;^)

: Greg Stamer

I worked from the very small illustration on page 103 of the paddle shown there. With such small illustrations it is hard to get a real feel for the subtle details. I definately made the loom small in refrence to this picture, perhaps 12" and find my hands wish to rest on sections well along the flattened blade.

Ah, first try. It looks good. Now who was it that said "it is better to look good than to feel good?"

Next one will be better.

Rob