Submitted: 12-05-2006 by cooldoctor1
It piddles! It paddles! It makes your deltoids skeedaddle! It tears your aching limbs off if you don’t show it respect in the form of a practiced yet strong torso rotation. If being in the doghouse is a sign of being a bad paddle, this carbon 220 cm Molokai is the resident rabid Doberman Pincher at the Werner kennel. Agreeing wholeheartedly with reviewer Sploosh below, I strongly advocate this paddle for a powerful paddler who is “one” with his (no “hers” need apply to team Werner Molokai—it’s not you, it’s the paddle) latissimus dorsi and serratus anterii (i.e. the trunk muscles). I'm a high angle paddler but this behemoth paddle can turn my shoulders into a slithering mass of black cherry Jell-o if I show it a hint of “arm”. Keep to the torso, and we are talking about a paddle that will accelerate with the best of them. Why wouldn’t it--the blade is the size of a snow shovel. Perhaps they should have called it the Werner Snow Devil.
Lightweight, my all carbon, bent shaft model is a pleasure to look at. It grabs a washtubful of water per stroke but exacts the toll from your shoulders; you can definitely feel it’s wrath after about 20 minutes of paddling. I would not recommend this paddle for an all day sojourn unless you’re name is Popeye and you remembered to put a can of spinach in your day hatch. I've learned to use a lower paddle angle for self preservation, but a Werner Camano would likely serve anyone better overall for a long tour. I use the Molokai with my lickety-split Prijon Barracuda as a workout paddle and it does excel if you will be on the water for a short time (30-60 minutes) and wish to develop a torso like Michelango’s David. If you are more the Jacques Cousteau-Marlin Perkins animal observer type, you will want to get no closer to Molokai than a trip to it’s namesake island.
Werner has, as of this writing, discontinued the Molokai. Too much liability with dislocated shoulders, perhaps. I own a large bladed Werner Corryvrecken fiberglass, which I enjoy soundly, and when I compare the blades, they are only slightly different in geometry, and about the same size. I am certain that the transparent, thin fiberglass weave of the Corryvrecken (still my favorite overall paddle) allows just enough “give” to make paddling it a pleasure. For even more ease of high angle paddling, I own and recommend the smaller bladed Werner Shuna—particularly promising for female and youth paddlers. |