My twig is 91.5 inches by 3 and an eighth and more of a speed stic in my hands. Bill took his time measuring twice, heck three times but I had to draw the line at my inseam. (what was that for anyway?):) That was a joke, never happened.
Mine is a sweet paddle a little longer than most due to my height but perfect for me right down to the loom because he measured my hands three times too.
I try not to shout his praises too loud because quite frankly, his product speaks for itself. My brother is a Master Carpenter on a par with Norm and can build anything and experienced in carving and shaping. I showed him my paddle last week to get his opinion and he marveled at it. He said he thought maybe he could do as nice a job but not likely.The symmetry is superb he said.
I’m not finished…Before and after delivering my paddle Bill not only loaned me a GP, he taught me to scull and roll too.
Sorry for bragging of you Bill, but you are da man
One of my kayak buddies is a professional carpenter. He wants to know where Bill gets his WRC because he's never seen such top quality wood around here.
My buddy has built quite a few GPs recently and says he'll never build another laminate from two different species of wood again. He said the paddle felt "dead". Different strokes...
yep, no laminated paddles but he can do spruce special order. also, unless he had a change of heart recently, no varnish, epoxy, tip inserts etc. if you want one for the summer, best get an order in. i’ve been trying to get him out kayaking and (other than pool roll practice) all i hear is “i’m behind, got to make a few more paddles.” maybe i should bad mouth the paddles, say that it just as easy to carve your own, suggest trying a wing, ride a bike, or get one of those hobie peddle thingys…
the inseam is very important a lot of people measure a paddle based on height. However, when you are sitting down the amount of height your legs (inseam) contribute is negated. It is my understanding that a ‘tall’ paddler with long legs will need a shorter paddle than what they think based on standing height.
I am sure he also measured your ‘wing span’ to take into account if you had long or short arms.
I have a three local lumber yards that I prowl when I need cedar. My experience is that ~2-3% of what they have will be suitable for paddles. I'm very picky about grain orientation (I suspect Bill is too), but it's worth the time and effort as the result will be a light, yet durable paddle that looks nice, too.
I had an email exchange with Bill recently (he actually bought a copy of my paddle making book) and he seems like a really nice guy with a commitment to making a high-quality product. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to meet him someday.
