Last week I acquired a Lendal Seamaster spare paddle. My idea was to replace the Schlegel Ozean paddle as this is very heavy. The Lendal has a carbon shaft and is indeed much lighter. Just as the Schlegel the Lendal blades have a slim symmetrical shape that is not that different from a Greenland paddle. I changed the lock on the shaft so that I can paddle it with zero degrees blade twist to get the same feel as with a Greenland paddle.
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| Seamaster blade |
Last evening we made a trip on lake Gooimeer to sail a bit and to try the Lendal Seamaster paddle. The first impression was that it is not as refined as my Greenland paddles. The entry did cause a lot of noice and spray. It was also more difficult to add a sidewards slide during the stroke. However after a while I get used to the paddle and the action improved quite a lot. The forward stroke is powerful enough, even with a simple straight stroke with body rotation. The light weight makes it comfortable to use. Strange was that the oval shape on the right side of the paddle did irritate my hand now. As the paddle is symmetrical I could happily use the paddle backwards where the shaft has the normal round shape. My first conclusion is that the Lendal Seamaster will be a useful spare paddle. It can be fitted on any boat. Especially on the Skarabee where the front deck is cluttered with sailing lines that makes it difficult to take a spare Greenland paddle on it.
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| Good fit on the Skarabee's rear deck |
About the sailing: again we miscalculated the wind. The first part with the wind in our back the wind was almost gone and sailing did not help much. During our break however the wind increased but on the way back we had to go against it. I did sail to windward but the Skarabee has not that much lateral resistance causing some draft. I did make progress (sog) but not as much as the non-sailing members of the group. So I lowered the sail and paddled the last leg home in the dark.
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| Evening on the Gooimeer |
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