ISSN: 1946-4657 A qajaq in Aasiaat, Greenland Photo: Adam Hansen Contents In This Issue, ii Editor’s Letter, iv Greenland Kayaking, Argentina Style, 1 Deconstructing Greenland Kayaks, Part III: The Mighty Keelson—Results of Destructive Testing, 7 Deconstructing West Greenland Kayaks Part IV: Hull Design Part One: Form Follows Function, 21 The “Hand of Pavia” Rescue – Defined, 35 Greenland* Moves Southward *Greenland paddlers, that is!, 39 Adam Hansen Qajaq Models, 44 Deconstructing Greenland Kayaks: Form Follows Function, Part 2, 46 Indexes, 75 Acknowledgments, 88 Summer 2015 IN THIS ISSUE This issue begins with Joanne Barta’s account of her trip to Argentina in the Spring of 2011, when she participated in the first South American Traditional Qajaq Symposium. She documents her experiences with lively text and wonder- ful photos. Even when the spoken languages of the participants are different, they have the language of kayaking — building and paddling — in common. Ralph Young again applies an engineer’s perspective to his study of kayak design, which he supplements with mod- el testing. His first article documents destructive testing of two kayak frames — one with a keelson, one without — conducted at the 2013 Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat. Ralph makes the case that the keelson is central to the strength of the kayak frame. His second article explores hull design, and the third follows up with testing of scale models of a variety of watercraft done at the 2014 Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat. Ralph submitted each article to a number of people with experience designing boats or extensive knowledge of Arctic watercraft and provides their feedback and his responses to it. The articles aren’t without controversy, but Ralph’s willingness to report the comments and offer his responses are a model for scientific research. If you’ve been to one of the Qajaq USA events over the last few years, chances are you’ve seen a variety of assisted rescue demonstrations, among them the Hand of Pavia rescue, a term used to refer to the variation of the “Hand-of- God” rescue that was taught by Pavia Lumholt at SSTIKS 2005. John Doornick and Henry Romer allowed us to reprint their informative article, along with instructions for making an Oscar rescue dummy to use for practice, during those times when a living victim is unavailable or unwilling. The newest Qajaq USA event, the Traditional Inuit Paddlers of the Southeast, or TIPS, was conceived by Fran Symes and Fern White as they drove to the Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat on a cold, blustery weekend in October 2013. In her article, Fran describes how the idea came to fruition the following May at Camp Bob Cooper, on the shores of Lake Marion, in Summerton, South Carolina. Adam Hansen, resident of Aasiaat, Greenland, and frequent guest at Qajaq USA events, here graciously shares pho- T h e M a s i k | Summer 2015 | www.qajaqusa.org ii tos of some of the models he has made over the winter months in Greenland. We are proud to feature one on the cover. Rounding out this issue are two indexes to every article published in The Masik, excluding this issue. The first groups articles by 13 categories, ranging from accessories to travel, chosen to reflect the content. The second lists articles by author’s last name. These indexes show the great breadth of articles published since the first issue of The Masik came out in 2003. iii T h e M a s i k | Summer 2015 | www.qajaqusa.org EDITOR’S LETTER I’ve been thinking about how the traditional paddling community has evolved during Qajaq USA’s existence — how what was once a far-flung group of paddlers linked by the Qajaq USA forum, the Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat, and the Masik has become connected through Facebook, personal and business websites, and numerous Qajaq USA events. Editor Bobby Curtis’s wonderful first issues of the Masik captured the enthusiasm of builders and rollers who wanted to share their knowledge, back when there weren’t any DVDs or YouTube videos detailing all the competition rolls and rope maneuvers. Later issues offered book reviews and interviews with people who had, and have, strong con- nections to Greenland kayaking, as well as personal reflections on individual kayaks and analyses of kayak design. The upside of this is, with so much information readily available via the World Wide Web, anyone having an Internet connection has unprecedented access to knowledge that 15 years ago required travel to get. And the Qajaq USA forum archives are a more focused resource, having over a decade’s worth of Greenland-kayak-related information available via the search function. The downside to this is that both the Masik and the forum seem less vital parts of the traditional paddling commu- nity than they once were. From my perspective as editor, content has been harder to come by. I used to solicit a few articles per issue, and several unsolicited ones would be sent to me. This issue isn’t an exception, but the difference is that what used to take a few months to gather has taken over a year. At the same time, the number of posts on the forum is down, perhaps because many building and paddling techniques have been so well described on the forum itself or elsewhere, there just isn’t as much to talk about. Or perhaps these conversations are still going on, but on Facebook and other websites. On the other hand, there are now six Qajaq USA sanctioned events: Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat, SSTIKS (South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayaking Symposium), TIPS (Traditional Inuit Paddlers of the Southeast), HRGF (Hudson River Greenland Festival), Michigan Training Camp, and Traditional Paddlers Gathering — which suggests that the tradi- tional paddling community is healthy and growing. T h e M a s i k | Summer 2015 | www.qajaqusa.org iv So how does the Masik stay relevant? I think that it needs to be published more frequently and be more connected to social media to better capture events as they happen. What it will look like will be up to the next editor, as this is my last issue. I’m proud to have been a part of the Masik these last ten years. Working on it has been more satisfying than nearly everything I’ve done professionally. I’ve especially enjoyed collaborating with the authors — it’s difficult to express how grateful I am to work with people who truly care about their subjects, except to say that their passion has been inspiring. In closing, I’d like to say thank you to Bobby Curtis and Tamara Hanks, the Masik’s first editor and art director, whose standards guided me; the art directors I’ve worked with, Thomas Duncan, Alison Sigethy, and Helen Wilson, each of whom put their own stamp on the design of the Masik; and proofreaders Bill Price, Wes Ostertag, Jane Taylor, Alison Sigethy, Len Thunberg, Bonita Martin, Helen Wilson, Ginger Travis, and Tracy Coon, all of whom improved the articles they read. My wife, Alison, our friend James Song, and I went to Greenland for the competition in 2006. Near the end of our stay, our new friend Najannguaq said, “I won’t say goodbye because maybe I’ll see you again.” To everyone who reads this, these are my thoughts as well. Qujanaq, Tom Milani May 2015 v T h e M a s i k | Summer 2015 | www.qajaqusa.org NEWSLETTER o f QAJAQ USA — t h e AMERICAN CHAPTER o f Q A A N N AT K AT T U U F I AT Greenland Kayaking, Argentina Style by Joanne Barta Background In the spring of 2011 I traveled to Argentina to participate in the first South American Traditional Qajaq Symposium. I had heard about the event, or plans for such an event, about six months before that when my friend, Don Beale, was invited to teach a paddle-carving class there. There was to be a week-long class building skin-on-frame kay- aks, led by Eiichi Ito from Japan; ropes and rolling sessions taught by Dubside; and an ACA Level 3 IDW and ICE (an instructor development workshop and instructor certification exam that is part of the American Canoe Association series of instruction; (see www.americancanoe.org for more information) led by Christian Fuchs and Fabio Raimo. Then a large celebration on Saturday and Sunday to showcase the kayaks, paddles, skills learned, and of course lots of fabulous food. T h e M a s i k | Summer 2015 | www.qajaqusa.org 1 The event was organized by Rony Maier, with support from Paul Deiner. Rony had traveled two years before to at- tend The LoCo Round Up, a week-long paddling symposium hosted by Ginni Callahan and Columbia River Kayaking in Skamokawa, Washington. He returned to Argentina inspired. Here was an incredible opportunity for me to do the two things I most like doing: traditional paddling and travel. What’s more amazing is that the symposium exactly coincided with my elementary school’s spring break! It seemed meant to be. The symposium was held at a beach along the Las Aranas river, a branch of the Parana River, in the town of Valle Ma- ria, a few hours’ drive northeast of Buenos Aries. The Parana river is wide and warm, with a very fine silt suspended in the water giving it a chocolate color. One day it would be flat, the next day white caps would provide some excite- ment for paddlers. I was met at the airport by two avid paddlers and their kayaks.