Back paddling with a feathered kayak

paddle.



I was wondering if I should turn my kayak paddle around to back paddle? Since the power face is designed for propulsion and not the back face, wouldn’t it make sense to turn it around? Should I be using a feathered paddle at all to do a backstroke? How about the offset, should I use an offset to back paddle?

back to basics
use the back face.use torso rotation so that you can see where you are going. Even changint the feather 10 degrees can have comical effects on a paddler who is uset to a certain feather angle. for me this is the only part of adaptation to a different angle from usual that is not even close to automatic.



When you get good at paddling backwards you can stop in two strokes from a good forward pace.

I had to chuckle when I read your post
since a couple weeks ago I had one of my many senior moments.

I had been paddling for about a half a mile and went to do a little back paddling to get back to my wife and noticed that I seemed to have a little more power. Then it dawned on me that I had my paddle backwards.

I paddle feathered too.

After I finished laughing at myself I decided to play around and keep it backwards for a bit.

since we were just doing our “nature watching” pace, It seemed to make no difference at all, and I could have paddled all day long with it backwards.

During my play I tried some power strokes, and that is when I could feel the wrong way slip of the water off the ends of the blades.

The paddle was a Epic touring one.



Cheers,

JackL

The senior monents make life more

– Last Updated: Mar-26-06 8:08 AM EST –

interesting. I was thinking about some of my senior moments in paddling. Like the time I walked through a bunch of swarming bees. Another time when I forgot to bring water on a day trip. Now I keep a ready bag, which helps a lot.

Thanks for the laugh and the lessons