Understanding how paddles are built and why they are built a certain way can greatly help with a deeper understanding of stroke efficiency. Building your own paddle will give you a greater appreciation and respect for paddles.

Not everyone is capable or interested in woodworking, but I will leave that part to you. I learned by building my own that any paddle should always be treated with respect for the craftsmanship that created it and it should never be used as a tool for anything other than paddling. The following article describes making wooden paddles in a makeshift wood shop that was formerly called a garage.

This article details how to build your own double bend outrigger canoe paddle. When complete, this paddle weighed 17 ounces (1 to 2 ounces heavier than a Kialoa carbon fiber hybrid paddle. This article was originally published in April 2009 at http://learning.vivaa.ca

Read more...

How long should the cord be cut for OC6 canoe rigging?

A common rule of thumb practiced by the Keauhou Club, for one, and probably a great many others is the 7 - 11 rule of thumb. Having nothing to do with a chain fast food convenience stores other than its easy to remember. of course there are as many rules of thumb in rigging outrigger canoes as products sold in a 7-11 store. As Nappy Napoleon is reported to have said, "As long as the buggah doesn't come off", being the premise of good lashing to hold a canoe together.

For the iaku-to-canoe wae lashing, 66 feet of cord works well. So where does 7-11 come in?

Read more...

Keeping paddles in good shape takes just a bit of effort but its more of a tradesman kind of thing. "A good carpenter keeps his tools sharp," and all that. Having a paddle in good shape is part of paying attention to the details.

Once water gets to the inside of a wooden paddle, or worse inside a carbon-fiber paddle, nature is starting to win the battle. Nicks or dents should be sanded out and refinished.  Broken varnish surfaces should be resealed. If a crack appears in a wooden paddle it is often not the end.  I have found that Titebond 3 is the best glue for paddle repairs.  Standard carpenter's glue: white glue, yellow glue or Titebond 2 are NOT water proof and will bleed out of the crack with any prolonged exposure to water.

Read more...

I have used several Garmin Forerunner wristwatch style GPS models over the years and have found the Forerunner 310XT to be the easiest to operate and the most useful GPS for competitive outrigger training. Of course, it is one of the more expensive but truly a good value. The GPS is $379.95 CAD ($419.95 with the optional heart rate monitor) online from GPS City in Calgary. The 310XT is obviously designed after the largely successful 305 and the 405 with unique features of both models. Garmin appear to have taken the best features of both models, left out the ones that were not so great, added some improvements along the way and incorporated the lot into the 310XT.

I purchased this model with the heart rate monitor right after it was first introduced in 2008! I would buy it again it in a heart beat if I for some reason I needed to replace my existing 310XT.

Read more...