"Julia De Silva" ) writes:
Hi there everyone.

Recommendations for wooden paddles please. I've currently got 2 plastick
paddles which came with the canoe, and I'm looking to move on to wooden.

1. What's a guide to the correct length ?

5' is standard, 6' if you stand up much. I paddle solo style kneeling low
on the bottom of my home made boats and 5 ft is good. If I paddled
sitting up on a seat I'd want 6 ft, especially when pushing along off the
bottom in a current. I find in shallow water I kneel high or stand to get
a better look at what's in the water ahead. The 5' paddle isn't realy long
enough for that.


2. Which wood is best ?

ash wood has the advantage of a twisted grain so the shaft can be more
flexible without breaking, and the paddle lighter weight. for distance
paddling it helps to have some spring in the shaft. personally I don't
paddle far enough to worry about it.


3. Which design / make of paddle is best ?

sort of depends on what sort of paddling you do.


We mostly go on smallish rivers, flat or grade 1 water at the most.

I do the same and use a cheap Canadian Tire paddle on which I've sanded
off and fibreglassed the tip. That tip has to be touched up once a year. I
don't want to spend more money on a paddle and them be worried about
scratching it on a rock or from pushing off the bottom. In spring when the
current is swift I've poled my way up a shallow creek with a paddle. No
way I'd do that with an expensive trophy paddle. If Canadian Tire sold a
6' paddle I'd probably go for it but they only sell 5' paddles and that's
good enough.



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