I've been working on building Greenland-style paddle according to the dimensions described at http://seacanoe.org/grnpadle.htm and it's almost ready for finishing. I have a couple of questions:

1. I used what I had on-hand which was a clear piece of Aspen I picked-up at Home Depot. It seems like it will work ok. It's pretty flexible, in fact maybe a little too flexible. I hate for it to break, so I thought of covering the blades with some 2oz glass, but that seemed like overkill. I thought I could run an inch wide strip of glass down the center of each blade and that would give it a bit more rigidity and reduce the chances of it breaking. Any thoughts?

2. I could use epoxy to waterproof the paddle, but I understand a less slippery surface is more appropriate. What's a good coating for doing this?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ross