Just finished my latest Greenland paddle, using the Ponderosa Blue Stain Pine I asked about early last week. It really came out nicely. As I learned, the blue stains are a two-step process. First, tiny boring bugs eat very small tubes through the wood, and then a fungus grows in the tubes and stains the surrounding wood. The information I found indicated that there was little or no loss of strength, which is what I saw in the finished paddle.

The new paddle is a little stiffer than my WRC/Redwood laminated paddle of the same dimensions, and much stiffer than my all WRC storm paddle. I can hardly bear the thought of getting it all scratched up like my other paddles, but we'll see.

I'm building up quite a paddle collection. Not much more room in the shed storage area. I may just have to go into business selling GPs, just so I can continue to indulge my building obsession;-)

Mark