Paddle Articles

The following submission was made as an entry to win a OC1 from an amazingly generous donor, who wanted to see the canoe truly enjoyed, rather than turn a profit. Entrants were asked to submit an essay answering the following:

• Part 1: “Describe how paddling has changed your life.”
• Part 2: “How do you plan to use this canoe, and perhaps someday pass it along?”

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Justice Martin, California

Paddling makes me happy because I’m with family and friends. Paddling also makes me happy because I learn different positions in the canoe. Such as steering calling when to switch sides, engine room, and the person who sets the pace. My favorite position is called steering because I’m multi-tasking. My second favorite position is calling when to switch because it helps me with my cardio. My third favorite is engine room because I learn to put in power.

I have a lot of paddling experience in paddling because I paddled for 7 years it’s the awesome coaches that taught me everything I know about paddling. Paddling is the best sport in the world.

The water changes me because it makes me calmer and it clears my mind.
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I have the secret…and I am going to share it.

In the past, I had the privilege of coaching outrigger canoe, and one of my favorite drills would be introduced pretty early. I have also found it to be a drill that has worked for my own paddling. It is THE most effective drill for any type of paddling, and I would stake my reputation on it.

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Paddler friends, I know that everyone gets hungry. But only paddlers know the NEED to FEED. That animal that lives in your belly – a mangy wild wolf that appears after a long distance paddle. The hunger wolf is an insatiable beast who commands you to put anything remotely edible into your mouth and down the hatch, keeping his ferocity at bay, lest it go wild and consume me whole.

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Ok, so maybe you’re looking at this and thinking, really? A blog on pooping? Yes, because we all do it, it’s a natural occurrence and we all have had our moments on race day when the clock to the race is ticking and your stomach is not cooperating with the event. Yes, pooping is a topic that people tend to run from.

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(If you liked, "an oc6 paddler on race day", consider this the humorous follow up)  - So, maybe the title is a little misleading, though the beer garden or after-party for some could make it true. But sometimes after a long day at the beach, in the canoe, and journey to the far-off place called ‘the race site’, we can feel pretty beat up, scarred, chaffed, dehydrated and haggard. A little hungover if you will. So allow me to share some of those post-race whinings and whimperings many of you are possibly feeling in between checking all the FB photos, race results, and looking up what D.O.M.S. means.

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