Archive for the ‘Traditional Paddling’ Category

Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms.
Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?
Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon.
I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you. – clapton

In Greenland rolling an essential technique, and the foundation of a variety of rolls is called the balance brace.  This little maneuver is basically the act of floating your upper body on the surface of the water, while remaining in your kayak and WITHOUT falling over.  Sounds simple enough eh?

The real challenge of the balance brace is that with your upper body in the water, the kayak wants to follow you in (or roll over on top of you). So to counter this, we have to position our bodies in a particular way to “balance” the boat against the weight of our torso to remain on the surface.  Yeah, it’s tricky. While we’re going to talk about the balance brace for at least a couple posts in this series.. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to be successful at it, to have an effortless roll.  Read the rest of this entry »

So, this paddle was displayed in the Field Museum in Chicago.  Anyone hazard a guess at the origin of the art work?  Yup, no prizes or free subscriptions will be offered as a reward for your historical prowess.. but you will be allowed to feel superior to your fellow man all day… Which won’t mean a thing if you already do…

Scratch, scratch, she’s clawing at the door
Whoa, no, I can’t take it anymore
Crack, crack I’m feeling so sore
I never should asked for black leather
- guns-n-roses

Now this is some thick leather!  As I mentioned, we actually have a large leather craft shop here locally and a couple tack shops as well. (You’d think it was Wyoming..) But no one had leather cord that looked thick enough to me to last on a skin-on-frame kayak.  Thankfully Bruce Stitt referred me some on Ebay which was just what I was looking for.  Now to honest I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m reading and learning as I go.  Now that I have the cord, I have to figure out what sort of stops I want to use.  The old wooden ones seem, well.. bland.

Watching the painter painting / And all the time, the light is changing
And he keeps painting / That bit there, it was an accident
But he’s so pleased / It’s the best mistake, he could make
- k. bush

Ok, so there’s this whole vanity thing.  (Disregard anything I may have implied in my last post!!).  No, I didn’t suddenly buy another skin boat.  This is the same beast with a new doo.  Next comes a glass of  red wine, some fine paint brushes, some leather, and a carving knife… I think I’m re-discovering my inner artist. Still, chances are even that I could end up selling it when I’m all done.  We’ll see.  But for the moment there is a certain joy in having a kayak that I can fiddle with. This canvas boat has become, my canvas.

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Couldn’t you just
Let me go down and do my stuff?
– fleetwood mac

The email from Nancy Thornton came in today to remind us all that it’s just about time again to register for Qajaq Training Camp for 2010.   You can register for the August 27-29th traditional kayaking event online April 1st.  This year they will be offering a paddle making workshop with Don Beale of Beal Paddlemaking. Guests will include Adam Hansen who is actively promoting Greenland as a travel destination and Heather Lamon, and emerging US star in rope gymnastics.  Our friends Turner Wilson and Cheri Perry will be there as well as all the regular suspects.  I’d like to attend this year myself, although I don’t know in what capacity.. or what boat for that matter. For more information and registration go here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
– coldplay

Let me begin today’s story by saying again, I’m not a “Greenland” kayaker.    Whew, I’m glad THAT’s out the way…. Which brings me to yesterday when I drove over to Milwaukee to take a look at my friend Silbs skin-on-frame kayak. The boat is a bit special, at least to me, in that he built the kayak himself in 2005 at a class with Mark Rogers of Superior Kayaks.  Honestly I knew I’d buy it.. Well, if I fit.

Read the rest of this entry »