An older friend of ours found out that we purchased a kayak recently and told us that she had a paddle from when she used to kayak and she’d love it if we’d take it. (She stopped kayaked many years ago.) We met her today and she gave it to us and it clearly has a lot of sentimental value for her. She made kind of a big deal about how happy she is for us to make use of it, etc.
It turns out that she used to do white water paddling, and the paddle is an older wooden paddle from Grey Owl. It’s a one-piece with a 90-degree feather and metal guards on the ends of the blades. It seems to be 207 cm.
We’re not going to be doing white water at all. We’re just looking at recreational/light day touring, most likely low-angle paddling. We have a kayak with a 25" beam and the recommended paddle lengths are generally 220-230 cms.
I was wondering if it might be possible to cut the paddle and add a ferrule to make it a two-piece and be able to change the feather? (Maybe add a bit of length?) And maybe reshape the end of the blades a bit to make them less square?
Would that be a stupid idea?
Thanks.