Mad_Mat wrote on Aug 18^th, 2009 at 1:19pm:

just for grins, I'll muddy the water a bit. why limit your double blade paddling to a solo boat ? - if the double is so much better, why not use two in a tandem ?  I've seen that once, with an aluminum rental on Quetico Lake.  Yet, many of the same people who recommend a double blade (not necessarily on this site) have never recommended the use of double blades in a tandem canoe that I have ever seen.

Funny you should say that ;D
The first year I used double paddle, I only had a week, and hit really windy weather. Wound up getting as far as Jean Lk, and stayed there 2 days fishing it, Little Jean, and Ceph Lk.
When I hit the little bay after the portage into Jean, the wind was bad out of the East, and Jean was rolling in Whitecaps. I camped on makeshift site in little bay, as the popular point site was taken. Crossed over next morning before the wind whipped the lake into whitecaps again.
While lounging in my hammock, I looked out to see a tandem canoe going East down Jean, into the whitecaps at a unbelievable rate?
 I couldn't make them out very well, but something looked "amiss"?
Using my binoculars, I was pleasantly surprised too see the guys in the tandem were using 2 double paddles!
I use a cruising type stroke, they were using the big windmill type stroke you see kayakers use in certain conditions. They were perfectly in sync, and obviously had double paddle experience.
From the shore, it looked like they had a small motor on that canoe.
Turned out they were staying at the 5 star site on the point on west end of bay too. I didn't see any kayaks among the canoes of the group camped there, so I'm assuming they were using the double paddle like I would, and probably had singles as well?
I would of paddled over too ask, but it was late and the chop was up.
I crossed at first light, and never got a chance too see them or ask how they liked the double paddles?
I would be willing too bet, that 2 guys using the double paddle that had experience as kayakers, in a tandem canoe into the wind would out paddle 2 single paddlers assuming skill levels and loads were the same ;)