Gene,

I gave up on feathered paddles years ago and still fail to see the benefit.
I am much more comfortable with an unfeathered paddle, though if the blade
were really narrow, I guess it would not matter much. I would say that
switching back and forth is a mistake, at least for me. My muscle memory is
such that I cannot now roll with a feathered paddle without taking a long
time to consider the process and a couple of uncomfortable near failures.
Your mileage may vary. Dowd (I believe it was he) wrote that only in a
direct headwind does a feathered paddle produce any advantage. I switched
while paddling in a storm with the wind on my beam, and I never went back.

Rick

..
"Gene Cosloy" wrote in message
om...
I'm quite comfortable with a 60 degree feathered paddle and understand
the advantages in windy situations. However I've recently begun to
learn and practice Braces. would't the learning curve be quicker in
learning to brace quickly either side if you used an unfeathered
paddle? Same goes for learning to roll? I really don't have to think
about feathering with my index hand since the forward stroke has
become second nature or intuitive due to repetion. Bracing, or rolling
however is not yet intuitive and during practive I forgot to twist my
wrist on the index side and the brace failed by having the paddle dive
into the water with me following. I know the stock answer will be with
practice, the proper indexing will also become intuitive during
bracing /rolling. My point is that while I may devote whole days to
the forward stroke, I can only afford an hour or so once a week to
practice. Does it not make more sense to switch to an unfeathered
paddle for all strokes and trade off the few times wind becomes a
severe issue

Gene