Scott,

I learned to live with the drips, if your cadence is right with the GP there aren't that many to start with. Smaller bite on the water means somewhat higher cadence.

My GP though has a somewhat larger width than most, I've got big hands and can still grip the blade. I carve mine from WRC 2x6's, though the blade end isn't 5 1/2" wide more like 4 1/2". The wider width lets me choose on the wood blank where the grain works best and minimizes problem areas. Harder to find a nice perfect 2x4. That said, I've got 4 or 5 nice WRC 2x4's waiting to be carved into paddles in the shop.

I'll have to post pictures of my paddle carving horse again, makes carving a GP easy.

Bill H.