I think you've raised a valid point about racers vs tourers. I did not realize
that this paddle was for the former or that they made paddles for the latter.


Per Brian Nystrom:
You may be making a bad assumption here. The tighter the tolerances in
the joint, the less they will tolerate salt and/or mineral buildup
before they begin to bind. This rinsing requirement may simply be a
reflection of tight manufacturing tolerances, which would indicate a
solid, wobble-free joint. Other paddle manufacturers have very similar
instructions.

Good catch. The two pieces are a very tight fit - difficult, even. And I
windsurf (i.e. I know all about two-piece masts that get stuck together from
sand/salt).... in light of that, my comment was extra-dumb.



I think you're making too big of a deal out of this, but if you don't
like it, return it and buy something else. Once you start screwing with
it, you own it.

I'm starting to come around to that too. I'm one of those people in whom
Buyer's Remorse often kicks in with a vengeance. I've purchased some high-end
products that I was happy with from day 1 (e.g. a SevenCycles bike, a couple of
HP printers, an ASUS motherboard...) but by-and-large I tend to rant for awhile
at the obvious deficiencies of anything I buy.

I think I'll try doing some kind of exchange. Also, upon hearing my
size/weight, the supplier sent the "VII Max" paddle instead of the "regular"
size and there's some concern in my own mind about shoulder damage with the
larger blade area.
--
PeteCresswell