The Beauty of Koa

I had the honor of making a paddle as a retirement gift for a good friend who was retiring after 45 years in Government service, including a career as an Army aviator as well as a civil servant. This guy is the last guy you'd ever figure was a no-sh!t steely eyed helo driver from 'Nam, but he was. I call myself a helo pilot because I have a few thousand hours and have done some stuff. THIS GUY is a real helo pilot. Anyhow...

I got some decent Koa and went to town on a Foti-style steering blade. I've cracked the code on getting a nice gloss on epoxy (it's no secret...let it cure and sand progressively up to 2500 grit, then rubbing compound, then polishing glaze).