Alexandra - Wavelength Paddling Magazine

now—are guiding you. Try again. This
time, keep your strokes short, light, and
gentle until you become comfortable with
the blade’s thinner feel and how your
wrists don’t need to rotate. (Some
paddlers can’t complete one all-important
first stroke without going over and having
to wet-exit the boat—or thinking that
they’ll have to.) But don’t worry: the feelings
usually go away after twenty or thirty
strokes. Repeat until you can move your
boat backwards and forwards.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Should success elude, here are a few
troubleshooting notes:
• if you release too far back, or catch too far
forward, you’ll over-commit yourself to
one side of the boat, which tends to
exaggerate the tippy feeling and fear of
flipping over
• if all else fails, (in some cases all will), try
to concentrate only on keeping your
strokes short, choppy, highly-cadenced,
mellow, and low
• should frustration strike, remember that
the stroke’s low hand position, its short,
quick rhythm, its reduced torso rotation
all serve very definite purposes. Not only
is the lower hand position ultimately more
restful but, come time to brace or roll,
you’ll discover it keeps your body in
position ready to create a brace or support
stroke.
CONCLUSION
Many paddlers like myself who favor
the Greenland paddle also soon discover
other benefits to the paddle more interesting
to talk about. For one, even though
2001 FEBRUARY • MARCH WaveLength
What they lack in width, Greenland
paddles amply make up for in ease of
use, comfort, versatility and style. The
narrower blade results in a gentler,
softer stroke.
the paddle does keep the paddler at all
times in the ready position to brace or roll;
and even though the paddle’s decided
lack of requirements for explosive power
does twist the paddler into far less committed
body positions; and even though
the paddler’s body is always oriented forward
with hands, arms, and blades close
to the water, the bottom line, at least for
me and many others, is that the Greenland
paddle is simply a blast to use!
Genuine Greenland boats are amazinglooking
vehicles of extreme length,
twitchy tippiness, and wisp-like volume.
Stunningly fast, their remarkable seawor-
thiness depends almost entirely upon the
paddler’s skills, skills so advanced no one
would ever put up with learning them if
it weren’t fun to do so. The simplest of
paddling tools, the Greenland paddle at
first asks and then wholeheartedly allows
you to conserve energy on long trips, yet
remain at all time in ready position for
bracing, sculling, rolling... or wholesale
horsing around.
Although it’s a paddle reduced to the
barest essentials, any Greenland paddler
who is honest will tell you the Greenland
paddle is great fun to use.
There’s also the Inuit storm paddle: a
short, blunt paddle whose small size belies
its power, and which offers almost no
resistance to wind in a storm. Nearly three
quarters of the paddle disappears into the
water on each specialized slide-stroke, a
stroke deployed only when the wind and
waves build and when perseverance is all
that counts. ❏
A frequent writer and teacher on kayaking
and the outdoors, Greenland paddler Adam
Bolonsky is based in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
He teaches kayak navigation and
guides kayak-fishing trips off the coast of
Massachusetts.You can reach Adam at
adambolonsky@yahoo.com ©
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