Contrarily to what most kayakers seem to believe, aboriginal kayak paddle were not necessarily short as standard modern paddles are, and some could be as long as the paddle Kevin made, and even longer. The decision about the length of the paddle depended on the owner’s plans for usage and paddling style, and sometimes on the availability of materials in the barren Arctic.

Says Kevin:

-I made a Greenland/Aleutian paddle for my W500.  So far it seems to be working out very well, and it has the advantage of being very light.  One face of the paddle is the beveled Greenland style and the other face is a flatter Aleutian style.  The Greenland face allows for quicker acceleration while the Aleutian surface shines at faster speeds.

It’s 9 1/2 feet long and about 3 1/2″ wide at the tip.  I made it from a 10′ cedar 2X4 and finished it in teak oil.   The loom (hand hold area) is 24″. I think using cedar is the key for this long of a paddle.  Using some of the other woods used for shorter Greenland paddles would make it a bit heavy.

The paddle is nearly as light as the Pacific Design paddle I use for my other kayaks, and has a very low swing weight because of the thin blades, making it easy to paddle long periods without fatigue.  The flex of the wood and dynamics of the paddle also make it easy one the joints.

I took a picture with it next to my Pacific Design paddle for size comparison:

Since I’m in Florida with oyster bars everywhere, I decided to protect the paddle tip with fiberglass cloth and epoxy.  So far that is keeping the oysters at bay.

The drip rings are made out of oval pieces of inner tube.  These are essential since the long blade surface accumulates a lot of water that will otherwise end up in your lap.

This is a fairly easy project for anyone that is game to try.  There are lots of “how to” articles to be found on the Web.  It’s also the first time I’ve made one.

The paddle can be used very well without a sliding stroke, but if you need to dig in on a turn it helps out. Also when standing, the sliding stroke helps with more speed, but is not needed.

One thing it does do is allow you to keep the paddle very low around the waist when stroking and use your torso to put the power to the paddle well.

I was going to order an extended midsection for my P.D. paddle initially, but after using this, I may just be content.

I’m going to take some GPS readings to see what speeds it will cruise at vs a traditional wide paddle.

I’ll send some more pictures of my W500 when I finally decide on how I’m going to rig this boat.
I did a little umbrella sailing yesterday and that was interesting.

Kevin