Name: Ben Tucker
Location:Hobart Tasmania
Website: http://www.pangolin.co.nz/snow_petrel/index.php
Years paddling: 5 years
Favourite Paddle Craft:Plywood Homemade 3 part 17 foot Merganser (Eric Shade design)
Greenland Paddle Supplier:The Local Timber Shop, and a bit of enjoyable shaping. I am still playing with shapes, but have a heavy swamp gum paddle, and a lighter king billy/myrtle plus a baltic pine and tas oak storm paddle.
Why do you like the GP: I find it fun to use, low impact on my dodgy wrists, I like to be a bit different and enjoy the traditional elements. Also Its cheap to make and tough. I love the unfeathered small blades for strong winds and the ease of indexing the blades when underwater. At the moment I am getting into rolling and have got my basic foward and backward and sculling rolls plus my layback crook of the elbow rolls and behind the neck rolls working but am stuck on the spine roll, ballance brace and norsaq rolls… but there’s always next week.
Favourite place to paddle: Any unspoilt part of the world, currently Tasmania, I love exploring those little uncharted inlets and rivers, to find what lies around that next corner, for fun playing in rock garden in a gentle swell, for excitement surfing on a beach, for a technical challenge the pool sessions with my stick and the rolling list.
Most memorable paddle: A brush with a Leapard seal in Antarctica will never be forgotten. But for pleasure a 3 day trip round Lake Peddar.
Most embarrassing paddling incident: Ending up stranded 1 meter up on a small island after a badly misjudged attempt to get through a gap between the island and some rocks, while being assesed for my sea skills. It took a few waves before I was completely washed back down… The first big wave only got my bow into the water so I was kind of perched with my bow under water and my stern 1 meter up, and sculling madly so as to not capsize until eventually another big wave enabled me to ungracefully paddle off, everybody was looking concerned and working out how to “rescue me”. I was sure I had failed at that point.
What is your dream paddle trip: Paddling around Flinders Island, in Bass Strait. Or maybe the Queensland Coast.
Final Comment: I would love to learn some more greenland rolling with any other people interested. There is a bit of a scene starting here in tassie, with a few other tassie sea canoe club members having built SOF boats, and greenland paddles but it would be great to have an australian greenland rolling and paddling event, maybe as part of some other paddling event. Or maybe there already is?
