A Slice of What?
If you don’t mind, I’d like to ramble a bit on a favorite stroke of mine. One I first learned the value of some 56 years ago as a kid of 14 on a trip to the Boundary Waters out of Ely, MN. We stopped at old dock for some lunch and a couple guys paddled up to talk for a while. During this talk one of them was holding his canoe in place just off the dock with this simple stroke. I was mesmerized watching this paddle slicing through the water so cleanly.
The slice. Not a slice of pie, but a slice of a paddle. Most think of it as a quick way to go swimming. I like to think of it as another stroke to have in my quiver. It’s a very good way of moving your paddle through the water without having to lift it out of the water. I use it often when in tight places like mangrove tunnels down in Florida where there isn’t much room up above. In our case in tight marsh channels. Pull your kayak through the water and then slice the paddle back forward for the next stroke. It also works well when as your moving through the water, holding the paddle vertically to your side to pull the kayak sideways to get you a bit of clearance to avoid something. Now grow this stroke a bit and add some feathering to it. Now you get a sculling stroke. This stroke alone can move you quietly through the water. A sculling stroke is most commonly used to pull a kayak sideways and you can also use it to push your kayak away from something. You can combine it with a draw stroke. Why lift your paddle from the water when you can simply slice it back out for the next draw. Push, pull? What about a rudder stroke? It’s effectively an angled slice through the water off your stern. Same as a bow rudder used to pull you around a bend in the creek. All these are simple variations of a slice, that dreaded stroke that can so quickly send down into the drink. Don’t dread it though, play with it whenever you get out and hopefully, you’ll soon find its value beyond a quick swim.
When I talk feathering, I mean a slight angling on the blade as it slices through the water. Too much can cause the paddle to stall and takes too much energy anyways. Start small and add more angle. You’ll soon feel what I mean by stalling. A little feathering with a higher stroke rate works quite well.
Now, get out and practice some and Merry Christmas
Dan