Hi,

I'm reading as much as I can, while getting some time in SOT's which isn't the same thing I know, but it's as good as I can do while I'm getting ready to build my Night Heron. 

Last weekend I went out and got in my first real bit of ocean paddling. I was with a few friends. One of my mates was griping about how his paddle had too much flex, so we tried trading. I forget what model I had before, but the one I went to was a hobie. The prior was a symetrical, feathered, very stiff paddle, which weighed noticably more. The Hobie was unsymetrical, not feathered, and very light, but I soon noticed that unless I was completely on my technique (which I'm still learning, obviously)  then every time the hobie would leave the water, the blade would "pop" back into place and the pop would reverberate all the way up the shaft, and down my arm... every stroke. Even when I got my technique better, it still only minimized the problem, it didn't stop it. 

So, I have a few questions. 

1.) Is this just my lack of proper technique, and once I spend a few hundred miles on the water with an eye towards fixing my technique, it won't be an issue any more?  or is this part of chosing a paddle? 

and

2.) How have you gone about chosing a paddle, and what should I look for when I'm doing the same? 

Thanks. :) 

-- James