That is more or less what I had in mind. I was thinking that if I put a generous amount of thickened epoxy (ketchup consistency) in the hole then pushed a dowel into the hole, put tape over the opening and left the paddle to sit holey blade down. I figure that the epoxy that would get pushed up into the shaft can run down around the dowel and fill any gaps that are left.

I like the wood shaving idea to hide the repair.

Thanks for all of your help.

JJ

PS here is a picture of the kayak progress

: There is more than enough wood surrounding that to maintain the strength. You
: might pop in a short section of dowel just to fill the hole. Plane that
: down when the glue hardens and you'll have a fairly close match to the
: wood grain.

: Or, go for a cork. Even a glob of wood filler would do. Whatever you chose,
: if you top it with a wood shaving and carefully sand that, you'll hide an
: ugly spot.

: PGJ