Sepik region club.

[David]

Originally Posted by fearn

Getting back to the issue of standing while paddling, I'm looking at Stand-up paddleboarding as a western analog. The major advantage seems to be that you're higher off the water, so you can see further. You can also see down into the water, which might be useful for things like spearfishing.

Because you're higher off the water, stand-up paddling also seems to be confined to relatively calm waters. There's an exhibit at the Field Museum where they show a number of Oceanic paddles, from standing paddles to deep-water paddles, with the statement that you can see the influence of the environment on paddle shape. Examples include having a flat tip on the paddle so that you can pole with it, having the long handle and small blade of a stand-up paddle (for calm waters), and so forth. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a picture of that exhibit online.

Best,

F

Fearn, i think you are on to the real reason for the standing positions with this. I also did a bit of on-line reading that talks about the extra rowing power that you get from this position. These boats must move rather quickly through the water with all these standing rowers applying all that extra upper body strengths that can be applied from this position over a seated one.

[tribalarms]

Paddling standing up in Congo up allows for better sight, which is essential for survival (driftwood, hippos, etc) and also allows a less wide canoe (better speed, less weight than the big dugouts used for transportation of goods).

It also makes it easier to navigate thru dense vegetation and swamps by occasional poling.

For Sepik, I don't know - how is their waters?