Hey, Charles, the pollen thing isn't much of a problem for me at any time. For me, it's the dreaded snow mould. I spent Friday in bed instead of at work. All weekend I have felt as if the weight of the world is on my shoulders and today doesn't feel much different. Ugh! Happens every spring...I refuse to take antihistamines as they make me feel worse. Try to move toward a carbon fibre paddle if you can. They are pricey but way lighter. You have mentioned a very interesting idea. I have to refinish the VJ after my Hudson Bay trip next year so perhaps I will sand her right down to the wood and reglass her in 4-oz or even leave off with the glass and just finish the deck up with a nice coat of epoxy. The deck rarely gets any punishment so not having glass on it shouldn't be a problem. Speaking of home-made wine, using wild berries is my next step. Got batch no. 3 stewing now and batch 4 waiting in the wings. So far I have had wonderful results with the wine kits I have used but now I want to get into wild berries like blue and saskatoons. Saskatoons are sweet like ripe blue berries but have a modestly different taste that kinda leads you to want to eat more and more.

Robert N Pruden