Thank you both. At best I'll have it a couple of times a week for a couple of hours out on the water if that, so should not be too bad in terms of UV damage. But it will probably get a yellowish tint fairly quickly if totally unprotected - I have used some epoxy for small areas on the kayak I use least and they began to change color already. Not sure if that matters or not structurally too much, but I think an automotive clear coat or two would do the trick for the paddle. The "stuff" I need to do the sleeving is on its way, so hopefully I'll have the paddle ready in a week or two. If the finish and the whole process turns out as straightforward as I hope it would, I may repeat with another paddle but take some of the wood off it before sleeving and replace with a foam core for shape and weight savings...

: The UV additive isn't an additive you can add, it's something the
: manufacturer has to come up with when they are making the epoxy.

: Most UV damage results from long term exposure to the sun, unless
: you leave your paddles outside when you're not using them they
: should be fine.

: Bill H.