: For what it's worth, since I had already taken cuts, I continued.
: May end up with an oddity but oh well :-) I'd like to know for
: next time though. I have a feeling the text is right... the
: diagram 10-2e should show the glue joint dashed line, not 10-2d
: Rich

Richard,

There is no reason that the two sides of the end of the shaft cannot taper toward the end. However they must be a flat plane so the edge of the blade pieces can glue to the surface of those planes. I have the 1997 edition and Figure 10-10 views the power face during glue up of the blades. The long axis of the shaft oval is perpendicular to the blade’s face. A right hand feathered paddle allows the right hand to never let go of the shaft during the entire stroke. The left hand only lines up with the shaft when the left blade is in the water (really a little before the entry) and is loose to rotate on the shaft the rest of the time. So if you hold on tight with the right hand the top of the left hand must rotate away from your body to align with the shaft. The most common feather angle is 60 degrees so start there for your first feathered paddle. A really high paddle stroke will be more (I use 75 degrees) and a low stroke can use less. With zero degree feathered paddle you must switch grip hands when the paddle is horizontal in front of the paddler during the stroke to avoid up and down wrist flexure.