Is there any reason why it would be not wise for me to use one of my ww paddles for surf and rock gardening with my sea kayaks?
I usually paddle my sea kayaks at 215 while my ww paddles are 197.
NO!
ww paddles work great for sea boats.
steve
Yep, use mine all the time.
Dogmaticus
WW paddle works fine w/ sea kayak
I found that my WW paddle also works better than my touring paddle when I’m volunteering as a triathlon safety boater. The shorter paddle feels better suited to the maneuvering and sprinting required when working close to swimmers.
although
i’m betting you will find that your river paddles, at nearly 20 cms shorter are uncomfortably short and don’t provide the leverage you are used to for horsing around a sea boat, likely they are heavier as well. i’ve tried it and find the boats the paddles are suited for are too different, the strokes totally different, so i just use my long boat paddles, and get used to them contacting the rocks, ah well…
huh???
“the strokes totally different”
really???
steve
I appreciate the faster cadence,
the less feather, the beefier construction for the environment. I don’t have a boat that needs to be horsed around, too much anyway, so when it is an active day and not a miles day the ww paddle comes out.
Dogmaticus
Don’t argue with experience Flatpick.
Never tried horsing a boat around … off to give it a try.
start with a good bridle…
Steve, the ‘strokes different’ referring to the strokes in a river kayak, compared to a sea boat. personally i find a substantially shorter paddle, which is ideal for the relatively choppy strokes used when in rapids, too short for the longer, smoother strokes and leverage i prefer for handling the long boats. especially for the forward stroke and a good forward catch. at least this is my experience.
ok
but the pure physics and bio-mechanics of moving a boat are identical.
sometimes the long smooth stroke and the short choppy one will work in either boat. don’t limit yourself.
steve
Choppy strokes in rapids? Huh? Like uh,
you wanna try and rephrase that? If my strokes in a drop are choppy I’m going to get pushed and that is a sentence of a beatdown at minimum. Precision in whitewater is mandatory to stay healthy and “choppy strokes” ain’t part of that.
Dogmaticus
Boats, not paddles.
WW boats are more maneuverable and controlling spin momentum is important. Some strokes are different as a result. The forward sweep, for example, typically does not come completely around to the stern. But this does not mean a WW paddle cannot be used to good effect with a sea kayak. If you really need more leverage than the shorter length of a WW paddle gives you, just shift to one of the extended paddle positions. And note, the shape of most WW paddle blades gives increased power over the shape of most sea kayak paddles.
Dog
– Last Updated: Jan-23-08 11:55 AM EST –
the last post summed it up well in the first couple of sentences.
Try boating a horse around instead
EEK.
fwd sweep
the fwd sweep in a sea boat doesn’t come all the way around or it would be a FULL sweep. fwd is fwd, they’re exactly the same.
steve
y’think?
i find the forward stroke in the ww kayak requires more body english, and more bending of elbows to keep a stroke that runs right along the side of the kayak to prevent the boat from turning. in the sea kayak, i paddle with straighter arms generally, especially the low (pulling) arm where the blade ends up making more of a V from the start to finish, rather than focusing on pulling it right along the boat. i’ve known some excellent river kayakers, who can paddle a sea kayak fine, but who have terrible, and inefficient strokes. they rarely use their torso on the forward stroke and bend their arms excessively. they don’t spend much time in forward propulsion…
well now…
you state “they don’t spend much time in forward propulsion…”
seems to be my experience that I DO spend some major time “in forward propulsion” mode when I’m in a ww boat. In fact it’s quite a job keeping a ww boat propelling forward. hense MY need for an effecient fwd stroke, in MY case, not at all unlike my fwd stroke in a sea boat.
steve
197 Way for fun to use once you are
’there’
The only thing I would have ( or am ) said -ing is if you have to go a long way from point A to B to get ‘there’. Carring a spare ? Obvious… y’ got both.
Only one ? Bias paddle choice on percentage of intended use for the day. Thinking about a new one for dual sport ? Maybe + 8cm on the WW length for all round, back and forth.
Adjustable lengths are great here : )
Hate hearing it but love saying it. It all depends … : 0
Very well said, Flatpick.
When one is trying to move a slow little boat across very fast moving water to avoid obstacles like holes and rocks, a bad forward stroke will punish a paddler severely. People get away with less than great strokes but some of the best paddlers I know in WW have fantastic foundation skills, forward stroke included.
Dogmaticus
If I had a boat
I’d go out on the Ocean.
And if I had a Pony.
I’d ride him on my Boat
and we would both together
go out on the Ocean
Me upon my Pony on my Boat.
-Lyle Lovett