Depends on her wingspan
if only I wasn’t halfway across the country, I’d just give you 3 of mine different lengths to try out !
Do you by any chance have a neighbor there at the lake with a 240 ?
Oh well. 230 might work. Take what you have, take a kayak out, stay near the shore, and try both length paddles one at a time, have the other person hand you the other one to try, and see if you notice a difference. Then have her do the same thing.
Dip the paddle.
Push with the foot on the same side the paddle just went in the water.
Push the paddle shaft with the opposite hand.
Lift out.
Repeat on opposite side.
Dip.
Push foot.
Push on shaft with opposite hand.
Lift out.
Some people will tell you to really try to power the boat with turning your torso center side to side… don’t try that yet, do the basic stuff and see if you get your kayaks tracking first. This is why I am saying just push a bit with your foot if you can sync it with the blade dipping, but if that’s too much going on, just dip the blade at first and then push a bit with the OPPOSITE side hand on the shaft.
Not pulling hard on the side with the blade side in the water is counter-intuitive, but pushing is going to do all sorts of good things for you in not fatiguing your fingers/hands/arms.
Dip, push push. Don’t try to muscle the boat. Boats usually want to go somewhere anyway, just try to work with the water.
Wear the pfds. You’ve got them, right ? Hopefully they are comfortable.
You should be able to do this test paddle without messing them up too much. It is not a crisis if you don’t have the absolutely best length at first, it is just sort of annoying, and someday you borrow another paddle and it’s muy bueno.
If she’s banging the sides a lot, get an exchange of lengths… this is going to depend on her shoulder width and how high she’s sitting.
If the kayaks are consistently going off to one side, check that you are not hooking the paddle blade out of the water at a funny angle when bringing it out because you are favoring one side.
Pungos are very stable and forgiving, and you should be fine with these once you get the paddle tricks set.
Paddles
Thanks for the help! I wonder if I should just return the 220 and get a 240. I called the company and they said 230 and 240 are what I need. They seemed to think the Sunrise fiberglass paddle was a good one to start with but I’m still not sure if I should have gotten a carbon one.
First time out
I just went out for the first time. They are great! Only thing is I think the 220 is too short for my wife and the 230 is too short for me. My wife does much better with the 230. I think I’m going to exchange the 220 for a 240.
Sounds like a plan
Dry storage area
Is to normal for a few ounces of water to get into the try storage area? I thought they were mostly dry, but somehow water got in my dry storage area.
Check the O rings
A few ounces is not that unusual, but you should check the O ring seals to make sure they are seated properly. Common wisdom dictates that you put nothing inside those compartments that you wouldn’t want to get wet. If there is something that absolutely has to stay dry then put it in a dry bag inside the compartment to be sure.
As to the paddles, you want the shortest ones you can comfortably use. There is no advantage in swinging extra weight. But, read up on high-angle and low-angle paddling styles. As you gain more experience you’ll probably settle into one of those styles and high-angle typically uses a shorter paddle than low-angle.
Also, your next boats will probably be narrower than 28" wide Pungos and again a shorter paddle will be more appropriate. Of course, you’ll probably want to upgrade your paddles then too.
While you’re at it
you should try to sell him a 2016 model miniature car, aka glorified golf cart, with roof racks incapable of holding the weight of two kayaks…
Two tall people in wide, deep kayaks try to use paddles, the Forces of Shrinkatude keep chiming in that they should “go shorter…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque
this is Bear River
when you happen to disagree with him.
yes. we’re all salesmen from China.
By now, if badger can read, he’s probably clear on who not to ask for advice.
BearRiver
I’m lost now
Just ignore him