: Does anybody have an opinion about the Aleut paddle as compared to the
: Greenland paddle? I know that it use a different stroke as compared to the
: Greenland Paddle. Does the ridge require a groove or would a solid ridge
: be just as good.

There is really not enough constistancy between paddles collected from Aleuts to draw any conclusions. Some are very similar to Greenland paddles others are quite different. The book "Qajaq" alone shows 3 very different paddles made by Aleuts.

With regards to the groove in the ridge. Some Aleut paddles have the ridge without a groove.

: Has anybody had problems with the paddles warping due to being exposed to
: water and then drying? Does the finish help prevent this?

Warping is usually only a problem when the wood gets wet unevenly. I.e. if you finished it on one side but not the other you would probably have warping problems, but as long as you use well seasoned wood and leave it unvarnished it shouldn't warp (much).