Well, for years, I used a Grey Owl Sagamore paddle and lemme tell you, that thing stood up like a jewel, despite years of being used for things paddles were never meant to be, poling, pushing off, prying roots up....Well, it finally was retired to a place of honour at the cottage (read we couldn’t re-re-revarnish it yet again)and the replacement was needed...Well, I found good ol’ Ray Kettlewell’s shop after getting the good word from a few guys who I admire. Picked out the Quill after talking to Ray about what I liked to do and my physicality and that of my boat....
Tried out the Quill and after a while, it was like it was made to be my new stick. Granted, this is not for everyone and it does take a while to get used to, as it’s designed to recover underwater and works best when the boat is heeled over...but, once you get past the learning curve, it’s like you could go forever with this paddle....Thank God that there are still craftspeople out there that work for love of the art and not just a quick buck...10/10 only because I can’t rate it higher...