Carving begins

Over the last few days I've managed to make some progress on this one-piece otter tail canoe paddle in ash. It's my first paddle so I've approached it with some trepidation, but I'm feeling a bit more confident now that I have a feel for the wood, which is harder than I'm used to.

A family canoe camping trip is coming up in a couple of weeks, so it's become a bit of race against time. It will be touch and go whether it's ready but I will try to resist the temptation to rush it as the day approaches. 

After a lot of cutting and marking out, the grip is almost finished and the next step is to rough out the blade shape before the more refined task of cambering it with a spokeshave.