Project Icarus Journal #2 : Data & info gathering

I chose paddling as my topic for this project because I wanted to go into depth of my passion. I wanted to know more about the spiritual and meaning behind a paddle, canoe, and most importantly, team! I wanted to learn how to turn; or as I learned “uni” , the canoe. As a paddler in the 15 girls crew for my club Olelo O Keola, we are now moving a level up in our races. We were always racing for a quarter of a mile but this summer we will be paddling a half mile. This causes us the need to learn how to turn the boat. 

When I first chose this topic, I knew who I wanted to interview and use as my  mentor. I needed someone who has been at the sport for a very long time and that is very close with the club. I decided to use my coach as my mentor. He has been a coach in paddling for over 25 years, which opens a huge door for me as in getting to know everything I need to know about being a paddler and the skills it requires. 

During the practices that we’ve been having, I’ve been writing down certain things he says about turns. The stroker (seat 1) has to stick her paddle on the right side of the boat, near her knee. Her arm needs to be locked so that the paddle was as if it were glued to the boat. This is to help turn the nose of the canoe to the left. Seat 2 has to kahi. This is basically paddling in a sidewards direction, pushing water under the boat. seats 3, 4, and 5 keeps paddling their hardest to get the boat going. seat 6 is the steersman so that person needs to know when to tell seats 1 and 2 to stop the “uni” and to paddle. 

Learning this technique didn’t only teach me a new skill, but it taught me how to understand how each person in the canoe feels as they are paddling as a team.