Paddling is Physics

I was sitting on the iako taking pictures of the pretty scenery as my lovely teammates paddled me towards diamond head.  After a while the pictures all kind of seemed similar so i began noticing the physics in paddling.  First i saw everyone's strokes.  Everyone had their bottom hands close to the blade.  Then i remembered that whenever my hand is not near the blade it becomes harder to paddle.  I realized the bigger distance between the bottom hand and the top hand or center of rotation creates better leverage.  Increasing the lever arm also increases the torque.  Another thing i noticed was how the `ama is placed at the end of the iako.  The `ama is used to keep the boat balanced.  Placing the ama at the end of the iako increases the moment of inertia making it harder to rotate.  The boat resists rotation because of the large moment of inertia, but once the `ama is in the air after bouncing off a wave, it is hard to stop and the boat flips over.  If these conclusions are correct then paddling IS physics!  Therefore, if paddling is fun and physics is paddling, then physics if FUN!