Understanding how paddles are built and why they are built a certain way can greatly help with a deeper understanding of stroke efficiency. Building your own paddle will give you a greater appreciation and respect for paddles. Not everyone is capable or interested in woodworking, but I will leave that part to you. I learned by building my own that any paddle should always be treated with respect for the craftmanship that created it and it should never be used as a tool for anything other than paddling. The following article describes making wooden paddles in a makeshift woodshop that was formerly called a garage.

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Most outrigger canoes are stored on the beach or in a rack and do not need to be tied up, so rope skills are little known. However, knowing how to tie a few simple knots is part of contributing to a crew and the jobs that need to be performed and will be invaluable in an emergency. This article is part one in a series of useful marine knot tying skills. This article is about the Bowline (pronounced Bow, like in a bow and arrow) plus Lin, (sounds like chin). LEARN TO TIE THIS KNOT by clicking READ MORE>>>

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