First step in new boat project: finish the previous boat project.
This paddle has been in various stages of completion since roughly about 2006 (I tend to have a habit of doing that - when I built my chesapeake boat, I bought the kit and proceeded to move house with the kit in tow twice before I actually built it - sigh). It’s a pretty basic unfeathered kayak paddle, following the (rough) design from the back of The Strip Built Sea Kayak.
I think I bought the wood in roughly 2006. I glued up the paddle blanks probably right around there, and then discovered that I needed a bandsaw able to cut a pretty tall (roughly 5") blank, which I didn’t have. So I kept the blanks with me for many years.
Around 2015 I finally got the blanks cut when I discovered my friend Jim Glynn has one hell of a shop in his garage. Turn on the automatic dust collection machine, fire up the industrial grade bandsaw, and a couple of minutes later I had the blanks cut up.
Did I finish the paddle right then and there? No, of course not! I decided instead to build two standup paddle boards (this image is of them right after I fibreglassed the tops - I don’t think I have photos of the finished products. Maybe I should take some and post them…) So the cut up paddle blanks sat in my garage for a while.
Finally, starting late in 2019, I decided it was time to finally get the thing built. Really, I decided I needed the garage space back from the project if I was going to start building a larger boat. So with the aim of finishing the paddle before my sailboat plans and kit were ready for pickup I started in.
I almost succeeded in finishing it before I picked up the kit. Almost..
Anyway, this is a 135cm paddle, unfeathered. I can’t remember what wood the shaft is built out of anymore, but the paddles have some purpleheart in them as well as some oak and cedar. The blades are completely encased with fiberglass (extra layer on the edge) while the shaft doesn’t have any (I wonder if the shaft won’t snap the first time I sit on it trying to get into my kayak, I guess I’ll have to be careful!) I also made the blades slightly narrower then what the book suggested, as they seemed too wide otherwise. I loosly modelled them on the shape and size of my excellent Werner Kalliste paddle.
Used some Petit Captain’s Spar Varnish that I had laying around, about 5 coats worth (unthinned, so it should be fine).
Honestly I’m not sure if I’ll ever use it (I bloody love my Werner Kaliste and how light it is) but it sure is purdy!