Coastal Kayak Paddle

As the two previous reviews have said, the Mitchell coastal paddle is a fabulous touring paddle. It is sleek, light, and the design easily allows for both deep and sweeping strokes with equal grace for both. I have a 17' wooden touring boat and use it to complement it. I have taken the coastal out on some fairly long paddles -- the longest a recent eight-miler that I did in just under 2 hrs. -- and the paddle is partly the reason I made it so fast. I could still have kept going if time had not intervened.

I have the solid paddle. It is permanently flared at right angles. It took me some time to get used to this, but I got it for fairly inexpensively and it's changed my distance paddling. While probably not good for much else, it is probably unbeatable as a touring paddle. the coastal is light, is well-made, with a nice finish. I love it.

Excellent touring paddle -- hardwood (ash, I think) shaft with laminated cedar and spruce blades. Blades are fairly narrow at the tip, but flare out at the mid-point. Interesting design that allows me to get a pretty powerful stroke if I dig deep, but also allows me to use the paddle Greenland-style (and with the length, I can get some pretty impressive sweep strokes in...) I have the take apart model, but solid models are also available. I think Mitchell is a pretty small shop -- my e-mail to them was returned promptly by one of the owners, and went right to my question w/out the usual marketing hype. If you're looking for a versatile wooden touring paddle, take a look at this one.