All that steel and stone
is no match for the air, my friend
what doesn’t bend breaks
– ani difranco

Thanks to a sudden bit of warm weather and a few hours of hard wind, the ice has cleared from my local lake.  Finally I can once again go paddling just a few minutes from my front door. My first local paddle of the year was made even more interesting because I had a new kayak and a new paddle and both were happy to just go with the flow.

First I have to say that as much as the new skin-on-frame boat gives me hell when rolling, it tries it’s best to make up for it as a cruiser.  It’s a fast and sturdy little craft.  While you can feel a slight flexibility in the hull, my sense is that it’s much more sturdy than the more modern folding kayaks I’ve paddled.  A kayak with too much flex can feel mushy and awkward to control, while a stiff hull tends to bang into waves and feel almost combative in the liquid world.  A well made skin on frame, I’m told, should simply feel one with the water.

Those of you new to paddling who have already received the “bulkhead & flotation” speech, (that’s “flotation” and not, “flirtation”) may be wondering about  just this subject since a SOF kayak has no bulkheads.  Well, you’re right to wonder.  If I didn’t do something to fill all that space, I’d be in trouble if the boat filled with water.  As it happens I have 2 big inflatable flotation bags, one stuffed in each end.  They will stop the boat from filling up, simply by taking up space.  Still even with the bags, the kayak would become unwieldy and probably impossible to paddle. Still, it wouldn’t sink and you could tow or maybe swim it into shore.. The kayak also comes with a sea-sock which is sort of like a half-sleeping back made of canvas.  The sea sock ties around the combing of the kayak and has just enough room for you to slip your lower body into.  If you get water in the kayak, the theory is that it would only fill the sock and not the kayak.  I haven’t tried it to find out.  I can say that the sock is certainly cozy when paddling on ice cold water.

The second bit of new kit is my new Novorca carbon fiber greenland paddle which as I mentioned earlier is a bit longer than my old one.  The new one is an 86 inch, the old one was 83.  The new one is also flexible, while my old 83 is rigid.  Do these minor changes make a difference?  You bet.  The longer blade grabs the water better and gives me more speed.  Most traditional or “Greenland” paddles take a bit more time to get you moving  (depending on design) than a standard kayak paddle, but the longer blade does help a bit.  Of course I knew that was coming.  I know folks who’ve done long trips with traditional paddles and they all tell me they’ll use longer blades for big trips.  I see why.   What I was more curious about was the flex.

When I was in the pool with the new blade wrestling with rolling the new kayak, I was taken aback by the flexibility of the new blade.  As much as you try not to put any pressure on the paddle when doing Greenland style rolls, you can’t help it when you’re failing miserably. Suffice to say, it was the perfect situation to sense the blades flexibility.  Honestly the jury is still out for me regarding rolling with a more flexible paddle.  On the other hand, when paddling the flexible blade wins hands down.  The advantage of Novorca’s flex is that you have a bit of a shock absorber right at that split second when you initiate the stroke.  It just feels better.  I switched back and forth between my older stiff blade and the new one and was really impressed with the better feel.

I was asked if the flex would effect the power of the stroke and my first impression is no.  You see, the blade is not “overly” flexible and you’d probably never notice unless you had a very rigid blade in the first place.  Most  well done wooden paddles have a degree of flexibility anyway.  Secondly, it has to do with how I learned to paddle with a Greenland stick.  We could do  (and may yet do..) a whole other post on that, but the general idea is that while the power with a Euro or standard blade stroke comes at the beginning, with a Greenland paddle the power builds through the stroke peaking just as the blades exits the water.  Because of this, that little bit of flex is already “flexed” when you are fully engaged in the power phase of the stroke  (I hate using words like “power phase, btw”).

Alrighty then.  I think that’s it for today.  Now just between you and I.. there have been strange noises coming from my secret lab the last couple days. You see, it all started with my trusty pencil, a narwhal and a talkative spirit.. But I’m not allowed to… OH NO!  HERE HE COMES!!!!!!

Related Posts:

1. You Can Put Your Hands Down Now. . .
2. Thin Ice & The Forward Stroke
3. Quick Tip
4. the paddle test
5. Jewel