: No doubt I didn't get the best carving done. The last 5-6" of the blades
: worked out pretty darn flat, and the tapers went towards round quicker
: than I'd like. Some of that I can fix, since it's about removal, some is I
: can't, because it's tough to add on.

Personally, I prefer to leave a bit more meat in the paddle than Chuck's instructions suggest. In particular, I start with ridge that goes all the way to the tips, eliminating the flats you speak of.

: Oh well, at $1.98, it's no big deal.
: Cutting the main tapers with a handsaw is a bother. Just picked up an
: antique drawknife. Don't know that it will be any faster, but it will be
: more satisfying.

I would think so. Frankly, I'm not fond of the roughing out process, so I use power tools for that. A jointer makes short work of the main blade tapers. A power planer would do it too, for a lot less money. Once that's done, I break ou the spokeshaves and have a field day cutting the rolling bevels.

: I'm 6'1", 185. Boat is an Osprey Standard, so 24" wide by
: 15'8", and 12" or so a the cockpit. Worked out a 92" length
: based on a 'standing finger curl'. Works out pretty darn close (90")
: at armspan + cubit. Squared paddle ends. Started side taper 4" from
: end, but it got worked to somewhat less than that. Loom is 23 1/2",
: in part to accomodate boat, in part because that's how it seemed to fall
: to hand. Loom is rounded front and back, flats abt. 3/4" wide on
: edge. Blade is 3 1/2" wide, predictably enough.

That all sounds good to me.

: Have been trying to do the canted stroke, but I don't think I have it right.
: Certainly not consistent. One pull acts like a flat-bladed 'plonk',
: another dives towards the bottom, slipping fore and aft as it goes. I can
: chain some relatively good strokes together, but then my shoulders and
: wrists start to complain. I believe that's mostly about having the loom a
: little too large (or perhaps too square) for my hands, and so holding my
: wrists in a downward cant.

The simple way to do the canted stoke is to keep your wrists straight, which automatically cant's the blade if you're holding the paddle with your thumbs and forefingers around the loom and your other fingers on the blade roots. If you're grabbing the loom with your whole hand, you'll have trouble getting the correct cant.

Also, if you're used to a Euro paddle, you may be reaching too far forward with your GP. A GP strokes starts further aft (~mid-shin) and ends well behind the hip. If you plant too far forward, you'll lose the cant and may even end up with a reverse cant angle.

Does any of this make sense?