With the sport of seakayaking growing very quickly in the United States, manufacturers are making kayaks in different styles to capture or open up new markets. Some are made for just tooling around the local lake, lagoon, calm river or bathtub, and this is great as long as they only use them within their design parameters. It gets people out on the water and into the sport. Others are made for expedition use where we can take it all with us including two weeks of food, the spouse, Fido and the kitchen sink. An increasing number are being designed along the lines of Greenland kayaks used for thousands of years. Why? Is this just another fad or is there some legitimate reason? With all our modern technology it’s very easy to forget who originated and developed the ocean going kayak and paddle. Maybe we ought to examine the Greenland equipment and techniques a bit for potential use by modern kayakers.

Kyak, Kyack, Kaiak, Kajak, Qajaq, Qaannat or Kayak are some of the ways the word appears in literature and it means ‘hunters boat’. To a Greenland Inuit, his Qajaq meant survival. There wasn’t much time for recreation. To obtain food for his family he had to hunt in conditions that we dare not go out in. As with everything, success creates imitation. Other hunters would copy the techniques, kayak and paddle designs of the person who consistently came home with the most game. This ‘natural selection’ has resulted in extremely effective equipment and skills.

Hunting equipment carried on the kayak included a harpoon with a detachable head attached by rope to an inflated seal bladder float, a javelin, bird darts and a knife. The harpoon was propelled by a throwing stick (Norsaq). Small game was placed under the deck lines or tied to the rear deck of the kayak. Larger animals were either butchered on land and stuffed into the kayak or air was blown into the animal, sealed with a wooden plug and towed back home.

Greenland kayakers wore a type of paddling jacket made of sealskin called a Tuvilik [Too-E-Leek]. This was usually worn over a thick sweater for insulation and buoyancy. It is similar to an anorak except that the hood and wrists were tightly tied to prevent water from entering and the waist was long enough to be tied around the cockpit to keep the water out. You are probably thinking, "If it was tied in place, how did they do a wet exit"? Simple. They didn’t. It was considered suicide to come out of the boat. They had no protection from being immersed in the icy cold water, no buoyancy aid and the most compelling reason; most did not know how to swim. What did they do? They rolled up if they knew how. The few who could not roll were forced to rely on others in their group to bow rescue them. The number 1 rule with non rollers was; don’t go paddling with people who don’t like you.

Of all the groups of Eskimos, it was the Greenlanders who have elevated rolling to an art form. Rolls and sculls that we think of as ‘tricks’ were mostly based on actual survival techniques. The hunter may have been hurt by a wounded animal or have their hand tangled in the harpoon line. This required they roll up with the shaft in the crook of the elbow or by using only one arm. If they broke or lost their paddle, they could roll up with the harpoon, lance, throwing stick, seal bladder or even their hand if need be. They have learned to roll up with a knife in their hand, not so much to use as an rolling implement but to keep from dropping it. If they capsized while coming down the face of a breaking wave in the stern rudder position, they would roll up from that position while laying on the back deck, since it is almost impossible to bring the paddle to the bow for a normal setup while in the turbulence. A chest scull was used to keep the head above water when capsized and being towed by a wounded animal. Other rolls, sculls and braces were used just to build confidence.

Kayaks varied in shape from area to area but most had similar characteristics. Greenland kayaks were narrow, low volume boats with little rocker and a smallish cockpit. The fine bow and stern ends were upturned quite sharply. They had hard chines and were well suited for rough water. They fit like a glove so that the Paddler could control it. A loose fitting boat spelled disaster

The kayak frames were made at first from driftwood and later, when available, from dimensional lumber. They were anthropometrically sized for each individual and fit very tightly; usually three armspans long with the beam being the width of the hips plus two fists. The frames were lashed and pegged together and were usually covered with the preferred skin of the bearded seal but some used caribou or split walrus hide. The kayak was waterproofed with oil which had to be reapplied every week or so. It also had quite an odor. When in use, the kayak had to be allowed to dry out once a day. As the seas froze over, the skins would be removed, repairs made to the frame and stored until the there was open water again when new skins would be sewn on.

THE PADDLE

The Inuit paddles used were narrow bladed being between 6 feet long for a Storm paddle up to 8 feet for the normal paddle. They usually were 3 ½" to 4" wide at the tip tapering down toward the oval loom. Some, such as the Newcastle were willow leaf shaped. Many were edged and tipped with bone or ivory.

Narrow bladed paddles for ocean application have been used for centuries under the severest of conditions. Two great sea kayaking cultures, the Aleuts and the Greenlanders have developed remarkably similar paddles though separated by great distances. If they are so good how did the wide blade ‘Euro’ paddle used today by most paddlers come into use? Simple. It started in river kayaking which evolved from river canoeing. Early paddlers were using open canoes, eventually decking some of them and then developing river kayaks. With the reemergence of the seakayak, it was natural to carry the use of the wide blade, feathered paddle over to the sea since everyone was already utilizing it. Thus, the Euro paddle became the standard for those who followed into the sport.

This type of paddle is very appropriate for river paddling and also has been used in many major expeditions and crossings. There is no doubt that it works but we just can’t dismiss the virtues of the Greenland style paddle without giving it a fair shake. They are well suited for touring and long distance paddling, not to mention sculls, braces and rolls

Kayakers are strongly divided over the paddle issue and I don’t want to fuel it anymore but it is important to note that almost all seakayakers who have switched over to a narrow blade have started out paddling with a wide bladed paddle, myself included. The reverse is not true. As John Heath, a long time student of traditional kayaks and techniques has said, "Quite simply, to attempt certain rolling and rescue techniques with a feathered, wide-bladed paddle is like trying to thread a needle while wearing boxing gloves-with one glove on backwards."

WHY IT WORKS!

For a given area and all other factors being equal, a flat shape with the highest coefficient of drag gives the best grip on the water. When various flat surfaces of equal area are pulled through the water, a round shape gives the least drag and a long rectangular shape, such as a Greenland style, gives the highest drag or best ‘bite (which is what is desired)’. A wide blade paddle falls somewhere in between these shapes. When a paddle is pulled through the water, the water on the working blade moves outward to the edges of the paddle and curls around forming an eddy or vortex on the back side These are shed alternately and is the reason for the zigzag motion felt at certain speeds. It is these eddies that create the ‘push’ on the paddle. Only with a narrow paddle is this vortex shedding noticeable because the vortex is large in relation to the blade.

The opposite is true for the non working blade. In hydrodynamics, the rectangular shape has the highest coefficient of drag but aerodynamically it has one of the lowest. This coupled with the lower Greenland stroke makes the effect of wind on the blade minimal. With feathered paddles, as the working blade is pulling through the water, the other is edge on to the wind. This may be a slight advantage for wide paddles when heading into the wind but what happens when paddling with a beam wind. A sudden, powerful gust may catch the unprepared paddler and capsize them. The working blade is edge on to the water and will offer no support to counteract the effect of the wind.

Where a wide bladed paddle is useful for quick, powerful strokes such as would be needed on the river or in racing, it can be very fatiguing for touring. Similar to a mountain bike in low gear for going through dirt and sand versus a touring bike in high gear. Initially, a narrow paddle will offer less power but after a kayak is at cruising speed it makes no difference.

Another consideration is that a narrow paddle gives less muscle shock since it develops resistance more slowly. Wooden paddles flex more, acting as shock absorbers in the beginning of the stroke and giving back the snap at the end.

USE OF THE PADDLE

Using Greenland paddles require a different technique and it may feel strange at first. The Inuit style kayak and paddle complement each other. The main differences are:

1. The arms are held low near the cockpit.

   The stroke is a low horizontal arc with hands held shoulder width apart, elbows close to the sides. The paddle is at a shallow entry angle to the water and further out than with a wide paddle (editor-it becomes more vertical as the need for sprinting or speed increases)

2. The stroke is shorter

   The length of travel should move between 18" and 24" at the tips. (This depends on the length of the paddle itself.) The stroke should not extend beyond the hips. (editor- this is real debatable most think it's a longer stroke coming out nearer the stern)

    

3. There is minimal use of shoulder rotation.

   This is not to infer that the arms do all the work. With the arms holding the paddle near the paddlers lap, rotate the torso. You will notice that it is possible to move the paddle tips the required distance without moving the arms. Now as you rotate your torso, move the paddle up and down to get the blades in the water.

4. The cadence of the stroke is quicker.

   With this low, quick stroke, it is easy to increase the paddle rate or cadence. A good starting rate is about 60 strokes a minute (one, one thousand, two, one thousand, etc.) Increase or decrease this slightly to suit your own body build and paddle length.

5. Use the whole paddle.

The intent of the Greenland paddle is to use all of it to meet the conditions when paddling, sculling, bracing and rolling.

This is the basic touring stroke. It is very efficient and allows a kayaker to paddle longer distances with less effort. When a power stroke is required, the blade can be placed close to the gunwale similar to a forward canoe stroke. You may notice the vortex shedding phenomenon or ‘flutter’. This is normal and none of the effectiveness is lost. In fact, there is belief that this blade ‘zigzagging’ through the water actually spreads out the time and distance the blade spends in the water allowing more pull for the same effort.

Another way of gaining power is to use the sliding stroke. This stroke is always used with a Storm paddle but is frequently employed with the regular paddle. The hands are held toward the center of the loom. As the stroke begins on the left, the left hand remains on the loom and the right hand is allowed to slide out to the edge of the paddle. The left hand pulls, the right hand pushes, the torso rotates to the left and the left foot pushes off the footpeg to transfer the energy to the hull. At the end of the stroke, the paddle is swung to the other side as the right hand returns to meet the left at the loom and the motion is mirrored on the right side. In actual practice the hands do not usually touch in the center and the blade is usually grasped a comfortable distance and not necessarily at the edge of the blade.

This stroke gives you the duel advantage of a much longer lever with no blade in the wind although is takes a while to get used to using it. Depending on how well your kayak tracks, perhaps 2 or 3 strokes can be taken on one side before switching over.

Greenland is not the only way to go but neither is ‘Euro’ blade. I sometimes paddle and practice with a Euro feathered blade because as a BCU and ACA certified instructor, I am required to teach fundamental classes using feathered wide blade paddles in order to meet the course requirements. This is not to say that I can’t add a block of instruction on Greenland style paddling as an alternative and allow the students to make up their own mind. Relearning the old ways is often quite revealing.

As for you, give it an honest try and maybe you’ll be another convert. If not, you’ve lost nothing.