Gettin' Snug with an Octopus

Sitting around in a wheelchair is something I have pretty much grown to accept. But sitting still is not something I do well so while driving around town one day I found myself spending some time with my friend Sam Sallee.

When two outdoor Bloke's come together you can be assured the topic of conversation will sooner or later come around to activity in the outdoors or at least how to get there. This particular conversation turned outdoors sooner than later. Sam asked me if I had ever thought about getting back into paddling. I told him, "yes, but have shrugged it off for lack of a support group willing to help make it happen for me."

A couple months later a friend of mine from the Adirondacks of New York said I was going paddling if she had anything to do with it. That was all the nudge I needed so I headed to Outdoor Experience where canoes and kayaks are sold. Who owns the store? Sam and Heather Sallee. I started drooling all over myself considering the possibilities of a kayak that would get me back on scenic waters.

Sam ordered a Necky tandem without charging me before first trying it out in a swimming pool. He made arrangements to have a crowd of guys at the pool to help insert me into the kayak. I came having done my research for keeping my non-gripping hands attached to the paddle shaft. The method of choice and most affordable was to use strips of bicycle inner tube and zip ties.
Test day came and I was in the kayak. Slipping my hands between the inner tubes and paddle shaft proved to be an unsatisfactory challenge. I kept slipping out from under the inner tubes which significantly limited my ability to contribute to the paddling momentum. That experience turned on the inventive processes in my head in favor of a better grip system for the paddle so I bought the boat.

The first thing I tried was having the hook portion of Velcro stitched to the palm and grip side of the fingers on a pair of water ski gloves. I had long strips of the loop part of Velcro wound around the paddle shaft where I desired my hands to be placed. Getting my curled fingers into those gloves was a major battle for anyone willing to help me. The job description required whoever helped me to have a major element of patience. Once the gloves were on I found them to be extremely effective for scratching what itched... if I could come loose of the paddle. Not being able to open or close my hands challenged the proper placement on the paddle shaft. It was kind of like hugging an octopus when I came near the paddle shaft with my gloves.

Each pull of the paddle rendered me less stuck to the shaft and also feathered the blades ineffective for forward momentum. But I was on the water and it felt good. It was a good thing I was paddling tandem with Susan who had an effective grip on her paddle. The next prototype was coming together "upstairs" with each ripping sound of Velcro.

The grips I put together next were made out of aluminum. I designed them while I was involved with my CAD classes and had access to a program called Inventor.

After carefully measuring angles where I intended padding to press against the back of my hand and across the top of my fingers distal of the first knuckle I drew something I thought could work. Rather than painting a word picture I'll let the actual pictures contribute to the explanation how they worked.

The whole idea was to slip my hands between the paddle shaft and the padded brackets such that would hold my hand in a "grip" position onto the paddle shaft. I first tested my hands-on position in my bedroom with the paddle blades against my foot board of the bed. My hands seemed like they were going to stay. The true test came on a section of the Hiawassee River that included class I and II sections of white-water and a final class III that showed my brother Darron and me the kayak remains on the surface even with it completely submerged with me still seated in the kayak… sort of.

Before getting in the kayak at the put in, I requested sunscreen be slathered over vulnerable sections of skin as a sunburn preventive. The sunscreen on the backs of my hands proved to be a bad idea when the water splashed on my hands. Each time I pulled on the paddle my hands were slick as grease and they came out from under the padding like a fresh watermelon seed being squeezed between a finger and thumb. I spent most of the trip down the river reinserting my hands under the padding.

I decided that padding needed to be thicker so that it would create greater force against my hand. Larger pieces of padding were cut and glued into place after returning home from the Hiawassee trip. I tried using this arrangement twice. The challenge was getting my hands in that tight squeeze. It took somebody helping me to get my hands in place. Once they were in place the squeeze was so tight my hands started going numb. Fortunately the trial was no longer than 30 minutes at which point it required some serious tugging to get my hands free.