POWER OPTIONS FOR PUDDLEDUCK

Image Gallery

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

MOTHER'S WOODSHOP, PART II

On the open water with wind, motor, or muscle.

by Will Shelton

Classic Paddling

PuddleDuck is designed to be muscle-powered with a kayak-type twin-bladed paddle. You can buy one for $20 or so in plastic or (for more money) in wood. The illustration shows such a paddle you can make for about $3 worth of 1/8" to 3/8" plywood and a length of clotheshanger hardwood dowel from the hardware store. The WoodenBoat Store (see SOURCE LIST ) sells a two-part stainless-steel ferrule you can install in mid-shaft so that the paddle can be split in half for easier transport and storage.

Design your paddle to suit the arm length and strength of the paddler. A 6' length is good for small kids. An 8' to 9' total length from blade-tip to blade-tip gives an adult more purchase.

Easiest to use is a paddle with both blades set in the same plane. You just reach forward and dip one paddle in, pull that arm back, dip the other in, pull back and so on. More sophisticated is to arrange blades at 90° angles to one another. Here you must feather each blade: dip one in, pull back, drop hand at wrist to feather the blade to a horizontal position while flip ping it back and out of the water ...which sets the opposing blade at an angle to dip in ...and so on.

Make single paddles of 4' to 6' length the same way. You'll need a palm-grip at the end. Easiest is to epoxy a 4" length of dowel into a blade-parallel groove cut in the top end of the shaft with a rasp and sandpaper wrapped around a length of dowel. Carve or sand the "cross-T" to shape your hand. You can drill through the "T" and into the shaft and insert a long screw for extra good measure if you don't quite trust epoxy alone.

Before attaching blade to shaft, plane and sand 8' of the paddle-end of the shafts to taper gradually to half their thickness. Round the tips.

Attach blades by cutting a slot out of the middle of the shaft (you need pa tience and a good Japanese hand saw or some pretty sophisticated power equipment). Or cut the shape of the pointed end of the shaft out of the topcenter of the blade. Or combine the methods into the most elegant (and laborious) mechanical attachment of all and cut grooves in the shaft sides as well as a narrow slit in the center of the blade so that sides of bladeslit fit into slots in the shaft. Either way, wedge blade and shaft together with epoxy in all joints. Make an epoxy/wood-flour putty and lay fillets in the grooves. The smoother you make the paddle, the better it will function. Epoxy—"saturate" all over with one or more coats.

For more effective paddles still, before cutting slots in the blade, you can soak the lower end of the ply in a large kettle of boiling water for several minutes. Then place blade on a sturdy table, place a length of 2x4 over the end 2" and clamp 2x4 to the table. Then, wedge blade-wide boards under the other end to put a gentle curve into the blade. A propane torch applied just enough to heat, but not singe the wet blade, can help persuade the ply to bend. Let cool and dry overnight (at least) in the clamps. Sand the water-raised surfaces smooth before finishing the wood.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print