2 months ago
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Theory of hardness
Bucket and float set-up
Bucket and float out for a tow!
The theory of hardness, more accurately, Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness, is a system which characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals. Its on a scale of 1 to 10 with talc as 1 and diamond as 10. There's another definition of course where hardness is based on relative difficulty.
Paddling on calm water is easy whereas paddling into a strong wind is more difficult. Taking someone in distress under tow also adds to the degree of difficulty.
Recently I've rigged up a float and a bucket to add to the difficulty of paddling practice. The float keeps the bucket close to the surface and the bucket adds resistance. I find that the addition of resistance allows me to concentrate more on form and is good towing practice.
Practice easy and you end up with talc; add some difficulty and you end up with diamonds. And you'll know you have diamonds when you take the resistance off because the boat just glides effortlessly across the water. I guess its like life, you have to have some difficulty in your life to know how good the "good times" are. That last part was an afterthought, WOW!