Kullorsuaq Kayak paddling Lars Jensen 1995

Interesting details about kayaking for hunting

Gail Ferris

gaileferris@hotmail.com

www.nkhorizons.com/KullorsuaqLarsJensenKayak.htm

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000 Kullorsuaq Nikolaj Jensen, Jetta Bang portrait In Kullorsuaq Greenland on July 20th, 1995 I visited Nikolaj Jensen because I had been told that he is a most extraordinary kayak builder.  Nikolaj’s sons who actively hunt by kayak are Lars and Nathanial.

I communicated my interest in kayak design to Nikolaj by sitting on the floor demonstrating kayak paddling and showing him some of the measurements that I was interested in obtaining. 

               Nikolaj shared with me several extremely important aspects of kayak and paddle design.

               Neils Møller of Upernavik said that the paddler is measured with the feet pressed back and the legs straight out. 

Lars Jensen, Nikolaj’s son, said that the distance is measured with the feet straight up and the legs straight out.

               The kayak paddler sits with his feet splayed in a V to the sides rather than straight up.  This is one of the physical discomforts that a Greenlander must adapt to for kayak paddling.

               In Kullorsuaq the Narwhal whale is hunted by kayak because the silence of the kayak allows the hunter to approach more closely.  The paddle is designed to be as quiet as possible by having the surface finely sanded or scrapped as smooth as possible with a piece of glass so that the paddle does not create any noise by dripping water. 

               Website which shows the measurements of these paddles is located at

 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/Building/GailPaddles/GreenlandPaddles.html

 

 

01 Nikolaj Jensen with his oldest son, Hans, in his kayak note the paddle Jette Bang photo The circumference of the loom is not measured with the thumb and index fingers meeting, instead the loom is measured by the thumb and index finger including an opening of about 2 cm to allow the thickness loom to have sufficient strength.  He mentioned that it is very important for the cross section of the paddle is a diamond or rhombus, which means that the paddle has a rib.  He greatly prefers to make his paddles thicker than many of the other paddles I have seen in this area so that the paddle is strong.

               Therefore the paddle should have a rib down the middle of the blade so that the paddle will not flutter in the water, especially during the initial moments of hard paddling to accelerate the kayak.  He makes the loom rectangular but does not make it thicker on the flat blade side he makes it thicker on the cross section side this is the opposite of all the paddles I have seen elsewhere in Greenland south of Upernavik Commune. 

The loom is carved where the blade starts with a 45° angle as a step up.  I carefully measured one paddle used by Nathanial Jensen, which had a distinct rib and another paddle used by Lars Jensen, which happened not to have such a distinct rib.

 

 

02 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen carrying kayak to water

 

 

03 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen with my translator Lone Christiansen preparing harpoon line on his kayak

 

 

04 Kullorsuaq Jensen white kayak side view note chines Nikolaj showed me that he measures the length for the foot to the back by bending the feet back as far as comfortable with the heels together with the legs straight out and the feet splayed in a V to the sides rather than straight up. 

 

 

Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen balancing in his kayak

 

The height of the cockpit above the knees is planned so that the knees will be bent slightly upward to firmly touch the knee support cross beam, seeqqortarfik ajaaq, with the feet to be extended forward pressing against the foot support cross beam, tukerumiaq ajaak during rough water conditions and the knees must be well braced to execute the roll. 

This does not take into account the distance between the kayaker's buttocks and the back support cross beam, isserfik ajaaq which I am not sure about.  Probably the kayak paddler is sitting firmly against this crossbeam to maintain sufficient leverage. 

 

 

05 Kullorsuaq 1963 Christiansen kayak frame used in 1963

 

 

06 Kullorsuaq Lars & Nathanial Jensen kayaks Nathanial's kayak had the chins set so that it is a flatter broader kayak than Lars kayak.  Nikolaj told me as is to be expected that every kayak he builds is different because it is planned according to the paddler’s body dimensions.

 

07 Kullorsuaq other Jensen kayaks showing deck and hull with rifle scabbard that are below kayaks on the rack above

 

 

08 Kullorsuaq hunter preparing to hunt narwhal with his kayak the paddler takes his kayak in a motorboat to the area the whales are then he uses his kayak to stalk the whales and harpoon them Kullorsuaq and Tasiussaq are where the Greenland kayak is used only for hunting the Narwhal, because it is on the very edge of Melville Bay Narwhal come to this region.

 

 

09 Kullorsuaq summer motor boat w kayak towing motor boat

 

 

10 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen swinging his kayak around Regarding paddle design, the length of the loom is slightly greater than the width of the kayak.  The loom length is the width of the kayak and the knuckles of the closed hand.

The paddler has enough room to paddle with a stroke that extends the paddler's arm of the opposite side ending the hand at the waist of the paddler.  Nikolaj said that this stroke is only used on calm water and I immediately agreed that when the water is rough a much shorter stroke is best.          

The paddle length is determined by the combination of the length of the loom and the blade the loom at the left side the blade out to the right side ending with the arm extended out on a 30  angle the hand out flat.  I'm not sure at all about this and to try to better understand this I had Lars measured.

 

11 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen accelerating kayak note the submersion of the stern and the rise in the bow

 

 

12 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen hunting kayak gliding

 

 

13 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen kayak stern is just about under at full speed

 

 

14 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen full speed in kayak

 

 

15 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen throwing harpoon

 

 

16 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen throwing harpoon in water

 

 

17 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen throwing avatak

 

 

18 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen deploying avataq after harpoon throw

This avataq is a unique design of Nikolaj Jensen, Lars father.

The avataq that is made of a seal skin is first deployed then the drogue which is made of wood square shaped with skin stretched across it.

 

 

19 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen adjusting avatak float

 

 

20 Kullorsuaq Lars Jensen preparing to deploy the drogue

 

 

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05 Kullorsuaq 1963 Christiansen kayak frame used in 1963

 

 

stern deck view positions #0/1/2/3/4

 

 

stern side view position #0/1/2/3/4

 

 

bow deck view beam position #7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14

 

 

side deck beam starting from stern position #4/5/6/midship/7/8

 

 

bow deck beam stern position #14/15/16

 

 

side xsections starting with stern #1 - 5

 

 

vertical side chine measurements heading toward bow positions 8 - 14

 

 

Bow side view parts drawn and dimensions

 

 

xsection views 7 & 8

 

 

xsection views 9 & 10

 

 

 

 

detailed bow xsections which do not reflect what might have been a hollow bow as the Jensen kayaks have area 14 to the bow tip

 

 

xsection of #6 and 200cm mid section

 

 

xsection of position #11 and 12

 

 

xsection of #13 and 14

 

Actual dimensions taken of Deck Beams from intersection on the Keel:

 

Position in cm

1st group

Beam #1 @ 37.5 cm

Beam #2 @ 65 cm

Beam #3 @ 92.5 cm

Beam #4 @ 120 cm

Beam #5 @ 145.5cm

width

7.75

12

16.1

19.5

21.8

Center to

13

13.75

14

15.75

15.5

Bottom thickness

2

2.00

2.0

2

2.0

keel

15

15.25

16

17.25

17.5

 

Position in cm

1st group

Beam #6 @ 168 cm

Midship @ 200 cm

Beam #7 @ 230 cm

Beam #8 @ 244 cm

Beam #9 @ 268 cm

width

23.5

25.0

25.25

24.5

23

Center to

15.5

15.5

16.0

15.5

15.5

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

17.5

17.5

18.0

17.5

17.5

 

Position in cm

1st group

Beam #10 @ 292 cm

Beam #11 @ 314 cm

Beam #12 @ 335 cm

Beam #13 @ 361 cm

Beam #14 @ 375 cm

width

20.6

18.5

15.6

11.75

8.1

Center to

15.5

16.0

17.0

18.0

20.0

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

17.5

18.0

19.0

20.0

22.0

 

2nd group

Position in cm Vertical distance

Beam #1 @ 37.5 cm

Beam #2 @ 65 cm

Beam #3 @ 92.5 cm

Beam #4 @ 120 cm

Beam #5 @ 145.5cm

Center to

11.0

12.0

12.25

13.5

14.0

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

13.0

14.0

14.25

15.5

16.0

 

Position in cm Vertical distance

Beam #6 @ 168 cm

Midship @ 200 cm

Beam #7 @ 230 cm

Beam #8 @ 244 cm

Beam #9 @ 268 cm

Center to

14.5

14.0

14.0

14.0

14.0

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

16.5

16.0

16.0

16.0

16.0

 

Position in cm Vertical distance

Beam #10 @ 292 cm

Beam #11 @ 314 cm

Beam #12 @ 335 cm

Beam #13 @ 361 cm

Beam #14 @ 375 cm

Center to

13.5

13.0

13.0

12.0

11.5

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

15.5

15.0

15.0

14.0

13.5

 

Actually the drawings should be consulted to see where the ribs leave off because the 2 cm bottom thickness is just the thickness of the ribs!

 

of the 3rd group

measured on an angle from center to (2nd) chine

Position in cm

Beam #1 @ 37.5 cm

Beam #2 @ 65 cm

Beam #3 @ 92.5 cm

Beam #4 @ 120 cm

Beam #5 @ 145.5 cm

Center to

11

13.25

14

15.5

16.5

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

13.0

15.25

16

17.5

18.5

 

Position in cm

3rd group

Beam #6 @ 168 cm

Midship @ 200 cm

Beam #7 @ 230 cm

Beam #8 @ 244 cm

Beam #9 @ 268 cm

Center to

17.5

18.0

18.0

18.25

17.25

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

19.5

20.0

20.0

20.25

19.25

 

Position in cm

3rd group

Beam #10 @ 292 cm

Beam #11 @ 314 cm

Beam #12 @ 335 cm

Beam #13 @ 361 cm

Beam #14 @ 375 cm

Center to

16.75

15.75

14.75

13.0

13.0

Bottom thickness

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

keel

18.25

17.25

16.75

15.0

15.0

 

Top and bottom of gunwale to show canting.  Bottom of gunwale forms the 1st chine.

Position in cm

4th group

Beam #1 @ 37.5 cm

Beam #2 @ 65cm

Beam #3 @ 92.5 cm

Beam #4 @ 120 cm

Beam #5 @ 145.5cm

Gunwale top

7.75

12.0

16.0

19.5

21.8

Gunwale Bottom

7.75

9

13

16.75

19.37

 

Position in cm

4th group

Beam #6 @ 168 cm

Midship @ 200 cm

Beam #7 @ 230 cm

Beam #8 @ 244 cm

Beam #9 @ 268 cm

Center to

23.5

25.0

25.25

24.5

23.0

Bottom thickness

21.25

22.75

22.8

23.25

20.75

 

Position in cm

4th group

Beam #10 @ 292 cm

Beam #11 @ 314 cm

Beam #12 @ 335 cm

Beam #13 @ 361 cm

Beam #14 @ 375 cm

Center to

20.6

18.5

15.6

11.75

8.1

Bottom thickness

18.5

15.75

12.8

8.0

5.2

 

Gunwales 8 cm high and 2 cm thick