Paul, could you post a picture of this? I'm building a Firestar and may want to do the same.
: :

: Hi Vivian,
: A very important concern which I have addressed very sucessfully,I
: believe....
: I built a Rob Mack's Firestar with a dropped deck detail just rear
: of the cockpit that allows my GP shaft or blade to slide in and
: semi lock with NO movement.It can be a twist and pull action
: that creates a very effective outrigger.As people have said,it's
: important to be able to whip it out[the paddle] afterwards.I
: built my first and only GP to do this thing and then built the
: boat cockpit to suit the shapes of the blade etc,so it is handed
: to my prefered get in side[from a wet exit]The lip hides the
: underneath tapper[female GP blade cavity] so it looks like a
: symetrical deck but isn't when you look closely[under the
: lip].The deck drop feature, is FLAT for no rock and the, very
: strongly fixed, combing traps the blade temporarily.I use this
: detail every time I get in or out with absolute confidence.Also
: ,the back of the cockpit is fairly straight[and comfortable] ,so
: the paddle also does not swing in the horrizontal plane.There is
: much strength around this detail built in so I don't stress this
: area with the usual misshappenings when in use.Also,The GP
: [Cedar]is so bouyant and the blade is pushing through the water
: when fixed like this.This makes for a very slow rolling boat.
: The idea of building safety into your boats would be a great thread
: for this forum.I have done a few other things to help with
: safety at sea,I haven't got round to sharing the pictures 'cos I
: am interweb challenged with url's etc. cheers from Paul NZ.