Chip,

I made a kayak paddle out of basswood once, and I broke it due to basswood's weakness, and my downsizing the diameter to make it more comfortable. My ash canoe paddle is good tho. It's funny you should mention paddles with attachments, since I have been writing a list of all the possible attachments I could think of, with plans of making a screw socket to accempt them. An Ice claw is high on the list, as is a fish spear....Crazy huh?

Scott