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Kayak and paddle design in Kullorsuaq Greenland an
interview with Nikolaj Jensen Interesting details about kayaking for
hunting Gail Ferris www.nkhorizons.com/NikolajJensenkayakpaddle.htm
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In Kullorsuaq
Greenland on |
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000 Kullorsuaq Nikolaj Jensen, Jetta Bang
portrait |
www.nkhorizons.com/KitditStormPaddle.htm from Aassiat area www.nkhorizons.com/Ilulissatkayakpaddles.htm from www.nkhorizons.com/NeilsMoellerPaddleUpv.htm a new paddle made by Neils
in the 1990’s in Upernavik www.nkhorizons.com/CurvedShaftPaddleUpv.htm an interesting purposefully
bent shaft kayak paddle in Upernavik www.nkhorizons.com/ManitsoqOdenseStormPaddle.htm www.nkhorizons.com/NathanialJensenPaddle.htm from Kullorsuaq, Upernavik
area www.nkhorizons.com/KullorsuaqKayakLarsJensen95.htm watching Lars demonstrating
hunting from his kayak www.nkhorizons.com/NikolajJensenkayakpaddle.htm detailed drawings of
paddles in Kullorsuaq www.nkhorizons.com/DisabledKayakLaunch.htm images of how I launch and
how Lars Jensen a Greenlander launches using his paddle |
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I
communicated my interest in kayak design to Nikolaj by sitting on the floor
demonstrating kayak paddling and showing him some of the measurements that I
was interested in obtaining. Nikolaj
shared with me several extremely important aspects of kayak and paddle
design. |
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001 Kullorsuaq Nikolaj Jensen with Hans his
eldest son sitting on his lap, Jetta Bang portrait |
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The paddler has enough room to paddle with a
stroke that extends the paddler's arm of the opposite side ending the hand at
the waist of the paddler. Nikolaj said
that this stroke is only used on calm water and I immediately agreed that
when the water is rough a much shorter stroke is best. Regarding paddle design, the length of the
loom is slightly greater than the width of the kayak. The loom length is the width of the kayak
and the knuckles of the closed hand. The
circumference of the loom is not measured with the thumb and index fingers
meeting, instead the loom is measured by the thumb and index finger including an opening of about 2 cm to allow the thickness
loom to have sufficient strength.
He mentioned that
it is very important for the cross section of the paddle is a diamond or
rhombus, which means that the paddle has a rib. He greatly prefers to make his paddles
thicker than many of the other paddles I have seen in this area so that the
paddle is strong. |
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drawing made in 1995 by Gail Ferris in
Kullorsuaq |
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Therefore the paddle should have a rib down
the middle of the blade so that the paddle will not flutter in the water,
especially during the initial moments of hard paddling to accelerate the
kayak. He makes the loom rectangular
but does not make it thicker on the flat blade side he makes it thicker on
the cross section side this is the opposite of all the paddles I have seen
elsewhere in The loom is carved
where the blade starts with a 45° angle as a step up. I carefully measured one paddle used by
Nathanial Jensen, which had a distinct rib and another paddle used by Lars
Jensen, which happened not to have such a distinct rib. |
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drawing made in 1995 by Gail Ferris in
Kullorsuaq |
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The
paddle length is determined by the combination of the length of the loom and
the blade the loom at the left side the blade out to the right side ending
with the arm extended out on a 30° angle the hand out flat. I'm not sure at all about this and to try
to better understand this I had Lars measured. Kullorsuaq
and Tassiusaq are where the Nathanial's kayak
had the chins set so that it is a flatter broader kayak than Lars kayak. Nikolaj told me as is to be expected that
every kayak he builds is different because it is planned according to the
paddler’s body dimensions. Nikolaj
showed me that he measures the length for the foot to the back by bending the
feet back as far as comfortable with the heels together with the legs straight
out and the feet splayed in a V to the sides rather than straight up. The height of the
cockpit above the knees is planned so that the knees will be bent slightly
upward to firmly touch the knee support cross beam, seeqqortarfik
ajaaq, with the feet to be extended forward
pressing against the foot support cross beam, tukerumiaq
ajaak during rough water conditions and the knees
must be well braced to execute the roll.
This does not take
into account the distance between the kayaker's buttocks and the back support
cross beam, isserfik ajaaq
which I am not sure about. Probably
the kayak paddler is sitting firmly against this crossbeam to maintain
sufficient leverage. Neils Møller of Upernavik said that the paddler is measured
with the feet pressed back and the legs straight out. Lars Jensen, Nikolaj’s son, said that the distance is measured with
the feet straight up and the legs straight out. The
kayak paddler sits with his feet splayed in a V to the sides rather than
straight up. This is one of the
physical discomforts that a Greenlander must adapt to for kayak paddling. In
Kullorsuaq the Narwhal whale is hunted by kayak because the silence of the
kayak allows the hunter to approach more closely. The paddle is designed to be as quiet as
possible by having the surface finely sanded or scrapped as smooth as
possible with a piece of glass so that the paddle does not create any noise
by dripping water. I also learned about stone hammer handles are
scraped with glass to smooth them no finish is used on these handles. Gail Ferris |
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