Patsy, sure you can use a Greenland style paddle for surfing. If you need a little more oomph to catch the wave, try working on a sliding stroke. When surfing long boats, the GP might not have quite as much bite for a stern rudder, so you might want to try forward sweeps with an extended paddle for course corrections on less steep waves. Added bonus is not slowing down and falling off the back of the wave.

Not sure what you mean about your other questions. When I surf my Riot Boogie HP surf boat, I use a Werner white water paddle. I think it was the Quest, but I can't remember. It's a very short shaft, maybe 194cm (shorter than the typical WW paddler uses) and it has a 60degree feather. The blades are not offset from the centerline of the blade, as are most WW play/freestyle paddles are now. The net effect of a "crooked" offset of the blade from centerline seems to be that during a forward stroke, the bottom of the blade is effectively closer to the centerline of the boat, maybe somewhat underneath the boat. Also, these freestyle paddles seem to have rather more surface area at the ends of the blades. Mine has a bit of taper toward the end of the paddle, and I think this means that it accelerates very quickly when in the very early power phase of the stroke, yet the paddle still has plenty of surface area once it is fully submerged, for the remaining 2/3rds of the power phase. The 60degree feather is not a problem for proficient rollers who pay attention to shaft indexing, although I've been paddling with a GP so much over the past few years, I think a feathered blade would confuse me for a bit. My Werner still has a "scooped" or "spoon" shape over the length of the blade, but a very flat dihedral shape. Remember that more dihedral makes for a less fluttery paddle, but also less power than a flat face blade. I have found that the minimal dihedral on the Werner does not cause me much flutter, and some of that may be a result of a fairly high shaft angle while paddling such a short shaft.

Brian

: Hi everyone. I haven't posted here in ages! Missed you all.

: I've been doing a little kayak surfing of late - both short and long boat-
: and am having a lot of fun with it. I'd like to hear what folks think
: about using greenland paddles for surfing long boats. (I guess you
: wouldn't use one for a short boat?) Can you get enough quick speed and
: power out of them?

: Also, for those of you who have made or seen wooden surfing paddles with
: larger blades, are the paddles feathered? I would guess not but I haven't
: been able to tell. Also, are they scooped or flat? I suppose both issues
: are a matter of preference but I'm trying to decide where to start.

: Thanks,

: Patsy