Double paddle canoe paddle

[Saint]

Just got my 13' open crusing canoe on the water. (From John Gardner's book) Built it lapstrake ala the Tom Hill method. Very happy with the results. BUT, how do you keep from having the paddles rain water all over your lap?! I'm using an 8'6" long paddle right now. Drip rings don't really help, the water still ends up in the boat. I've made the blades quite long/thin, in a greenland fashion - sort of.

I was very inspired by the story of the Atwood traveller (WB115). There is no mention of 'Uncle Pete' having soaked legs after his travels. There has to be a way to do this without getting totally soaked.

[Lance F. Gunderson]

You may have to make some sort of spray skirt like Harry Byran uses on his Fiddlehard canoes. Or, like me, you can just suffer the infernal drip; I dislike using a spray skirt unless conditions are really rough. Lately I've been wearing fleece pants which seem to dry out quickly and absorb the drips somewhat. Kokatat makes special paddling pants, but they are insanely expensive.

[landlocked sailor]

I put a turk's head made of cotton cording on the shaft. It works well enough & looks salty. Rick

[Brian Palmer]

I have a double paddle canoe (Hill's Charlotte, 11 1/2 ft) and the drip rings are the only thing with a prayer of keeping the water out of my lap.

The paddle needs to be long enough so the rings are well outside the gunwale, otherwise the water just falls in a more concentrated stream into the boat. Mine is just about 8 ft, and I still get water on my lap.

If you are really raising the top blade up (as you will if doing a nice stroke with lots of torso rotation), it is hard to keep water out without a skirt. I just wear quick drying shorts or pants.

-- Brian

[Dan Miller]

Use a longer paddle and learn to use a more horizontal stroke. We are paddling a canoe after all, not a kayak... :D

My own paddle is 9'9".

Cheers,
Dan

[neilm]

How do you like Hill's Charlotte, 11 1/2 ft? Can this be built traditional with clinch nails or rivets? How much does it weigh?

Neil

[Steve Lansdowne]

Charlotte is designed for glued lap, but you could build it otherwise. Look at Fiddlehead for a clinch nailed canoe if you're interested.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Glued lap paddleboats don't ususally have any interal bracing. No ribs, no bulkheads. That's the beauty of glued laps.
If you try to build the exact same hull by clinching or riviting you will have succeded in doing what no other canoe builder, including the great Henry Rushton, was ever able to accomplish.
Post pictures, please.

[Todd Bradshaw]

You might try using two drip rings about 1" apart on each end of the paddle. There are also some 2-piece, screw-together, cup-shaped drip rings available that look like they might work better than the typical flat-ish kind, but I haven't been able to google them up yet. In any case, they do need to be outboard of the gunwales during normal paddling, which means you'll need a pretty long loom on the paddle.

[Paul Scheuer]

Not sure I can explain it, but I think it's in the stroke. I've developed a sort of a flick as the blade comes out of the water that keep the drips off as long as I'm making good headway. I still get a few drips when I have to maneuver. I use a one piece, feathered paddle that's about seven feet long, with no rings, (gloss varnished maple, if that matters).

edit
The boat is a 15 ft Folbot rigid Sporty, with a relatively low deck.

[Three Cedars]

As mentioned earlier you need a sprayskirt . No other solution.

[Brian Palmer]

How do you like Hill's Charlotte, 11 1/2 ft? Can this be built traditional with clinch nails or rivets? How much does it weigh?

Neil

I like it a lot. Paddles straight and is nice and stable, once your butt is situated.

Mine weighs about 29 lbs.

I would not bother building it with clench nails and rivets unless I was building it with solid wood planking and ribs. The glued lap is very clean inside and easy to paint and varnish. Penetrating it with unnecessary fastenings would just weaken the plywood and allow water penetration.

-- Brian

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

I double paddle a pirogue. The first time I paddled it I used a kayak paddle. The paddle was so short I had to raise the off blade high in the air and got coverd with drips. A paddle 18" longer helped but drip rings were needed. I was in a hurry so I cut some circles out of the black plastic trays that come with Stouffer's Frozen Entres and taped them on with electrical tape. They look very homespun, work great and defy damage from ill-trearment.