2 wing paddles have snapped at the blade-shaft joint while paddling at 100% sprint power to catch a wave. One did not completely separate and I repaired it.
I also delaminated a carbon canoe paddle by taking a hard stroke on a sneaky sandbar / shallows. This was repairable.
I also cracked the shaft of a carbon canoe paddle by doing a hard draw right into the boat. This was a dumb move on my part. Also repaired without much trouble.
Basically you will break paddles in open water with strength or a brace. In shallow water they’ll break from ground contact with power behind it. On land you’re most likely to step on them or have something heavy land on them.
aluminum shaft and plastic blade, think it was a Carlisle ? got it second hand and no branding visible. It worked for 3-4 years, then was paddling hard to try to get up onto a surf wave, and it snapped in two a couple inches above my bottom hand…
luckily I had a spare secured to the deck behind me, was able to get it out before flipping in the hole downstream… but it was a busy minute.
I fly my folding kayaks to places and paddle there. I check it in as luggage, then pick up and go to my destination. Coming back from one of such expeditions, I noticed a big tire print on the kayak bag… meh, I thought to myself, they must have put it on top of the wheel, that’s what happened.
To my surprise, both the frame and the paddle had been damaged. The frame was bent a little (fixed), but the paddle was broken. They must have run over the bag with a truck or something.
I only found out the paddle was broken when I was went on another trip, in the middle of the lake. What a bummer!
Well, I can count three but not in BIG water. 1) That was a bad idea DUH 2) Oh, this isn’t my heavy wood blade anymore and 3) stuff happens over time
Betsie Bay GP - these have a flat blade and a thickener laminated to the shaft for the loom. Thought I’d try a paddle float re-entry on my one at the Lake. Stuck the blade under BOTH decklines. Loaded it heavy with poor technique. Heard a crack & determined that I should recheck the local fish. Not hard to re-epoxy but …
Ruth & I in the Cruiser out down to Smithville Dam counting turtles. No reason to look for stumps just under water … right. Ruth thought she would push us off with her Christmas present. 8oz of 6 deg GRB Carbon. I had Tom Cannon confirm that there was no major problem so a strip or 6oz carbon cut on the bias added a little more than 1/2 oz & good as new.
Pushing up a shallow slot around the Potter Park spreads on the Red Cedar in mid-December with my 14 yr. old ZAV Rec & it felt wrong all of a sudden. Pulled it out & switched to my old Cricket & continued. Got home & checked it over. A good crack but, also the seams had split I the foam core seemed to have failed. Cleaned it out & dried it for a week then filled with epoxy , glued the seam, and then a patch like Ruth’s. Maybe closer to an ounce added. Now going strong in it’s 16th season
My son and I did a surf safari in Hawaii the summer after his freshman year in college. I was watching out the window and the baggage handlers put our waveskis (in paddled carrying bags) on the roof of one of the baggage train cars that hold the luggage to load on the plane. I thought jee-whiz he’s going mighty fast driving that thing and making tight turns and my waveski flew through the air from the top of one of the baggage cars. Fortunately it was a beat up ski I use for travel and it’s easy to buy epoxy and fiberglass on Kauai. Next day day she was patched up and on the water by sunset.
If it 't’wer stain glass would’ve been about my Sixth or Seventh Station of the Cross-Up, and we’re gonna need a bigger chapel, nay, cathedral, because my Cross-Ups number in the several dozen.
Alas, the splintered, copper capped bottom floated away out of sight, so I guess I littered, though unintentionally. I held on to the other, knobby-ended staff piece out of sentiment, i suppose, but was implored to “get rid of it” by the misses during the Tool Shed Purges of 2019.
