Shark ate it - That’s Awesome!
Great Story Greyak!
Actually, that is the kind of freak thing that worries me more than simply breaking a blade or even snapping a shaft in two. So what, paddle home with half a paddle.
If a shark bit my paddle, I would have to hope the wind would blow me to shore cuz I aint hand paddling or going in after it.
Never needed a spare but
always carry one.
My time on the water is too valuable. It would make me sick to loose a few hours of paddling time because I didn’t bring along one of my “extra” paddles if I had a problem with my main one.
It’s also nice to have one for friends who don’t carry a spare!
Tripp
Spare paddle story
First, like some other posters, I have never needed the spare in my sea kayak, but I like carrying a GP and a euro for the change of pace.
The story: Canoing on the Lehigh River in 2006, my well used Werner Rec first made an unsettling crunchy sound, then further down the river snapped in two during a draw stroke. I threw it to the bottom of the canoe and grabbed my spare, so everything was cool.
Further on in the same rapid, a tandem in our group got stuck on some rocks. It looked to me like they were only a little stuck. So as I am going by, I reached out and, with the t-handle of the paddle, snagged the grab loop on their boat, thinking I can give them a tug and we’ll all be on our way. Well, NO, that tandem didn’t budge, and then my canoe was about to get swept out from under me, so I let go of the paddle.
Great. I’m now in the middle of this rapid with no paddle. So I grabbed the stub end of the Werner and flailed away and at least made it to the pool below this rapid where I stopped and hoped to collect the paddle I dropped.
Another guy in our group saw the paddle, swooped in and picked it up. Only he thinks it belongs to somebody in the group in front of us and takes off down the river trying to catch them. I’m yelling, but you know how a rapid drowns out sound. So there I was, flailing away with the stub end of blade again, but there was no way I could catch the guy with my paddle.
Fortunately, good ol Bill Walsek (third time mentioning his name on this board this week–rule of threes?) comes along and saw my plight. He loaned me his spare (a Norse, what an ax that thing was) and I used it for the rest of the day. I recovered my spare at the take out.
I replaced the Werner Rec with a BB Expedition Plus. Nice paddle, but I snapped it on the Madawaska this summer. I think that one was my fault…caught it on a rock. But the Werner, the fiberglass just gave way after 8 years of hard use.
Spares are good.
~~Chip
Twice
Once on an evening paddle, snapped my GP in half showing off, admittedly.
2nd, after launching in mild surf I stuck my paddle under the forward deck lines and didn’t secure the blade end closest to me. I watched in amazement as the blade swung out to 90 degrees and stayed there, just out of reach. Had to scramble for my spare before getting washed onto rocks.
As for making it to shore with half a paddle in conditions severe enough to have broken your paddle in the first place, good luck with that.
If I’m paddling alone I always carry a spare. If I’m with a group and I see lots of spares on decks, I might slip mine back into the mighty minivan before heading out.
Three of us were leaving a harbor
on a fairly rough day. As we exited the breakwater, a large wave came up and hit all three of us. I was first in a line of three and was capsized as the wave broke on top of me. My buddy behind me also was capsized.
I had one shot to roll up before being pushed into the breakwater and of course blew the roll. When I wet exited, I found the 2nd in our line of three was also swimming.
He tried to roll up and snapped the blade off of his Lendel paddle. His spare was a 2 piece on the back deck and he couldn’t get it to roll up with.
Our other friend towed both boats and swimmers away from the rocks and proceeded to do an assisted re-entry with both of us. The paddler with the broken paddle, then grabbed his spare and we continued our trip.
IMHO, spares are good.
simple paddle repair kit
If you don’t have a spare paddle and yours needs a quick splint, try two pieces of flat moulding, oak or other hardwood, each about 5-6" long with some duct tape wrapped around a small tube.
Esp good for support if where the blade meets the shaft.
After my friend’s mishap (above) I made up my little kit and keep it with other safety/repair items in a 3L drybag in my cockpit.
Yes, during a BCU assessment
I embarrassingly let go of my paddle while trying to clip into a tow, in pretty rough water. Luckily, I had a spare, and I just needed to pull it off my front deck, put it together, and keep going. And I was also lucky that my Ikelos washed up onto the beach just moments after I landed.
You won’t need one paddling with me.
– Last Updated: Nov-30-07 5:58 PM EST –
I'll have one for you. Of course odds are you WONT like it much AND you'll have to wait a while for me to catch up to you! :)
Since you use a wing, I can understand your aversion to spares - as a wing can be a pain to stow on deck. Even with a two piece and a decent deck rigging setup they can catch a lot of wind and wave. Much more likely to be knocked loose than other types. Weight/minimalism isn't the only reason few racers/fitness types carry them. I rarely see a spare on a race kayak or ski. Part cultural, part logistical, but the sea holds a LOT of freak potential...
Checked my spare tire recently
Winter weather is here, so I checked my car out, including the spare.
Although I haven’t used a spare tire for 30 years…
Gotta say, sort of a silly question. Starting with the basic approach of never wanting to arm wrestle with Neptune, the question of carrying a spare paddle has less to do with likelyhood, and more one of ramifications.
Broke my first Epic wing on its maiden voyage, surfing a surf ski. Yeah, used one half as a canoe paddle to get back to shore, but if I had been farther away from shore, it would have been sketchy.
Just did a 140 mile, 10 day trip in BC during Sept. If I had broken a paddle, and not had a spare, “getting back to shore” with the half paddle would not have gotten me out of trouble.
Not sea kayaking
But in WW I have given my spare to someone else 2 or 3 times. In one case the person caught their paddle on a submerged rock and it came back to hit her in the teeth and dislodge her braces. After we collected her and her boat we never found the paddle. Losing a paddle in WW is more common in my experience than breaking one.
Never in about twelve years of
kayaking and a life time of canoeing, but any time I kayak off shore I bring a spare and any time I am doing a marathon canoe race I’ll bring a spare.
I have seen an occasion in the Arctic NWR where a spare canoe paddle saved the day for a fellow paddler on a 15 day wilderness trip.
We were a zillion miles from civilization and just pulling into a rocky beach in a class II river. The paddler placed his paddle between the gunnels across the bow, and a wave bounced the paddle into the WW where it immediately got carried away in the current with a bunch of us running along trying to get a throw bag around it.
We didn’t, and luckily we each had a spare paddle.
In another instance a friend who is a top notch canoe racer broke his ZRE in a down river race and his spare saved the day for him.
If I am on the local lake, lots of times I’ll leave it in the vehicle, but on a long distance paddle I almost always take a spare.
Cheers,
JackL
What you see is a real man who
– Last Updated: Nov-30-07 7:08 PM EST –
knows how to solve problems.
Gloves...you've got to be kidding.
ps....I still don't carry a spare.
Spare paddles and PFDs are matters of personal choice. I opt out on both.
If the DCNR men had not previously planned to meet me I would have finished the trip with the 1 x 4.
I’ve broken two paddles
I’ve broken two paddles. One was standing on the beach before we launched for the start of the trip. Glad I had a spare.
The second was on the water and I didn’t have a spare. I managed to get back to the car, but I wished I’d have brought my spare.
needing a spare paddle
One time when I was by myself, and some what in experienced I had a problem.
Before rounding a breakwall, I stopped to secure my skirt. My paddle fell off my lap, I ignored it due to my relaxed practice in pools.
The wind blew me away from my paddle. It lead to some hard hand paddling. If there was more wind there would have been a problem. You may not make this mistake but a in experienced friend may.
After years of experience, I like to have 1 spare in a group. Light weight carbon paddles in rock gardens are likely to be a problem.
I put a greenland paddle on my desk. It does not take much space.
More than likely you will surive without a spare.
But it could ruin some fun.
I’m thinking of a full backup system now
I’ll bring a second kayak and all and just tow the balmed thing – and a spare tow rope!
Jim 
especially
when they use their paddles
similar
I was outside the surfzone with two other paddlers watching a student connect up his tow rig to an injured cohort,and he lost his paddle while connecting up. I fetched his paddle but that was his time to rescue someone,and he lost his paddle. He didn’t have a spare. If the scenario was real, they both would be screwed.
Nice pfd…lol
Just don’t hit me with your 2x4!
What I see is a real man…
– Last Updated: Dec-01-07 1:13 AM EST –
... with no carving skills! I have to asume you had a knife or something...
double blade as back up
I usually paddle with a single blade, but when I’m in a kayak I usually carry a double blade as a back up in case I need to speed things up a little.