Bill
I built a Guillemot strip boat from Queensland Pine - that is Hoop Pine. While its lighter than most woods we can get here in Australia, its much harder than cedar and so more work to sand. Oh yeah. Its a bit blotchy under epoxy too. I'll never build a boat with it again as strips but have built boat with Hoop Pine plywood and would do so again.

However, I reckon it would be pretty good for paddle shafts. It s light, hard, flexy and yellow/white.

You have probably already seen these but also check out the NSWSeaKayaker website and Vol 30 of their magazine has an article by Norm Sanders on making a Greenland style paddle using very light carbon fibre tubing from Brisbane.

Im also interested in the hollow wooden bird's mouth tubing for shafts. There are a number of posts on the board about it. see www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/paddle/birdshaft.html

I was thinking that a composite or WRC and Hoop Pine might be OK.
All the best
MORT