roo wrote:

I cant speak for Charlie directly but I think that he probably meant
"little more". Sounds like the blades were a bit more than a stick
flattened at each end? ;-) If they were "nothing more" wouldn't he
have described a stick flattened at each end that he conce tried to
paddle with.....

Sounds like a description of at least some Greenland paddles to me! ;-)

Explain the extended grip to me for use with these paddles, please.

Slide the paddle through your hand before turns (or rolls) so you're
holding it well away from the end that handles the action. This way the
paddle can be used as an outrigger as well as extending the sweep of the
blade considerably, so you get more turn and more stability in radical
(or at least radical for a long boat!) turns.
This is very, very handy with any sort of paddle in open water, I'd
imagine it would be rather less so in white water...

Extended grips aren't in any way limited to Greenland paddles, though
the high natural buoyancy coupled with long length and no real blade to
get in the way does make them especially suited.
I once saw a criticism of cranked paddles saying it prevented use of
extended grip, but that sounds like tosh to me: my main sea paddle is a
Lendal Mod Crank, and I use extended grip on most of my leaned turns in
the sea boat.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/