Wooden boat oars come in various designs, including canoe, rowboat, and kayak paddles. They are preferred by many boating enthusiasts for their weight and feel. Hardwoods like ash and maple are commonly used for their durability. Different designs are used for different types of boats and water conditions.
There are many types of wooden boat oars, from the common canoe oar to the long wooden rowboat oar. Whether used for propulsion or steering, wooden boat paddles use a common design theme, with flat-bottomed ends affixed to long, smooth handles. Many boating enthusiasts prefer wooden boat blades over aluminum, carbon fiber, or fiberglass units because of the weight and feel they offer the user. An important distinguishing feature between common wooden boat paddles and performance design paddles is the angle at which the paddle extends from the handle. The common wooden trowel design has a straight blade; however, the performance paddle will have the blade attached to the handle at a certain angle that the user has determined to help propel the craft through the water at the highest speed.
Some of the earliest oars used to propel a boat through the water were made of wood. While a wide variety of woods have been used to shape pallets, hardwoods such as ash and maple are often used for their durability, as well as ease of woodworking and craftsmanship. Wooden oars are commonly used by a person who sits back in the bowl and pulls the oars towards her body in a rowing motion. Therefore, the wooden paddle uses a rounded grip at the end of a long handle for increased leverage and features a long, flat blade to cut through large amounts of water with ease.
Canoe paddles are generally shorter than oars and feature a thick, wide handle that fits comfortably in the user’s palm. Wooden boat paddles of this style use short, wide blades that can operate in shallow water while providing a large amount of water contact area to create propulsion through the water. Designed to operate in tight confines such as narrow streams, canoes require wooden boat oars that can be used close to the canoe and in often rocky and rough water. By manufacturing short handles, these paddles take advantage of the user’s body strength and leverage to control the direction of the boat.
Another style of wooden paddle is used by kayakers to navigate shallow and deep water. The typical wooden kayak paddle is short with a broad blade at each end of a thick stock handle. In creating these shapes of wooden boat oars, the blades are turned slightly at an angle to each other to account for the natural sweep of the human body’s shoulder movements while powering the boat.
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