There are two continuing controversies about Greenland style paddles, First is the blade shape and secondly the finish.

BLADE SHAPES

People swear by their blade shape, and all of them are right. This picture from the boathouse in Nuuk, Greenland shows that it is an issue there also. But to simplify the scenario a bit in this country we have settled on three basic shapes. First is the tapered shoulder style used on our INUIT, the sharp shoulder style used on the DAVIS STRAIT SPECIAL, and finally a long tapering blade with no transition which I don't make.

Which way is better? Most paddle makers will tell you that their style is absolutely the best. They best way is to try them. If your interested I have a package with one of each in TAP version for ease of shipping that I can send to you, I will need a credit card for deposit and the shipping cost is $20. The TAP version does not preform as well as a one piece, but you don't want to try to deal with shipping one piece paddles back until it is absolutely necessary.

I also have a STORM paddle that is normally mounted to the front deck although a few people use them as a primary paddle. The STORM is a fixed length of 68” with 30” blades giving a 8” loom. A sliding stroke must be used with this paddle.

CONSTRUCTION

I use a laminated construction rather than a single piece of wood as I get a better combination of strength, stiffness, durability and weight. In comparison a paddle carved from a single piece of cedar is very light around 28 oz, very flexible and extremely fragile while one made from Douglas Fir would be about 40 oz, but very tough Ours normally weigh in the 31-33 oz range while being more durable than the Douglas fir paddle. The paddle shaft is laminated with a core of western cedar and outer plates of black willow. On the INUIT and DAVIS STRAIT SPECIAL the center section of the shaft(loom) is hollow which provides a weight reduction with minimal reduction in strength. The blades are made from western cedar with an alder outer edge as the cedar is too soft for any abuse. The Dynel tip wrap is the most durable product available. Finally the paddle is sealed with two coats of epoxy resin and the blades protected with a layer of light fiberglass. As an aside the purists think that a laminated construction is just not right, but they enjoy building 3 or 4 of their own paddles every year, I believe they can be light, strong and last a decade. The DAVIS STRAIT SPECIAL has blades made from a single piece of black will on each side of the shaft, the hight taper is too dangerous to cut on a table saw and then glue an edge on it. The STORM paddle has a 1 piece shaft laminated from 3 pieces of western cedar with outside plates of black willow. It does not have a hollow shaft. The blades are 3-1/4” wide and built the same as the INUIT.

FINISH

The true aficionados and home built paddle makers continually discuss finishes. They maintain that either no finish or a simple boiled linseed oil finish is by far the best and only true finish. My research into finishes tells me that linseed oils is the least water resistant finish available( you have to be careful with it on indoor fine antique furniture) and that the only good oil finish is Tung oil(gun stock oil). Unfortunately, it gets hard and gummy if too much is applied.

My solution is to use a minimum of 3 coats of varnish over the epoxy and fiberglass. Some of my paddles are14 years old and still going so it must be working reasonably well.

IT'S NO LONGER ONE SZE FITS ALL FOR GREENLAND PADDLES

Our original Greenland style paddle, the INUIT, is designed to follow the lines the late John Heath described years ago in Sea Kayaker Magazine as the most common style of Greenland paddle found.

I later had help from George Ellis, who passed away several years ago. He was a native paddle specialist from Florida who helped in refining our paddles and determining some standard sizes. He always said the should be custom sized, but I resisted. Well, we're there now, lengths in the last 3 years have ranged from 78” to 90” with looms from 18” to 24”. The most common sizes these days are 86” and 88” with about 30% the old standard 84”-19”. I don't keep many in stock as the last 84”-19” stuck around for several months as a variety of others went out the door. The width has changed from the old standard of 3-3/4” to 3-1/2”but the older size is still available on request. A normal minimum width is about 3-1/4”. With the methods I have developed to create paddles make custom sizing the norm rather than the exception.

Take-A-Part paddles are available also. I have made them for years on request, but have shied away from advertising them as a couple of early ones (mid 1990's) broke when they were used incorrectly while rolling. I then added a Kevlar seam tape to the connection which strengthened it sufficiently and have had no reported failures since. The TAP joint is our standard black fiberglass ferrule system that I have used for years. The fiberglass ferrule makes the paddle not perform as well, but if your flying to Alaska or even Greenland they are much easier to take along.

The newest paddle is the DAVIS STRAIT SPECIAL . Designed and named by Mark Molina for use by him at the Greenland paddling championships, it took a couple of tries, but worked out very well. The DAVIS STRAIT SPECIAL features a sharp shoulder from the loom to the blade, then a much faster taper out it's 3-1/2” width. The blade has a more rounded tip for and easier grip. Again, lengths, and looms are variable.

The STORM is our complementary spare paddle. It is 68” long with an 8” loom.

PRICING

All shipping subject to change as UPS seems to change their pricing frequently.