Water in my Paddle?

[Senorjacob]

I have the same problem.  I have a Quickblade paddle with water in it.  You're not the only one!  What to do, what to do...

[jd]

It seems QB is aware of issues with water in the paddle.  Here is what they have from their FAQs section:

Q -It appears that I have water in my paddle, what do I do?
A -Paddles are made to be 100% sealed making them waterproof to most all normal wear conditions. In the rare occasion that you have contracted water within your paddle please follow the following steps:
Find out where the water is getting in by drying the paddle off while in a cool place then immediately putting it in the sun or warmer place to get the air inside to expand a bit. While this is happening, turn the paddle both upside down to get the water to go where the hole may be. You should be able to find out where the leak is by where it may be coming out. Usually it will be abound the top end of the shaft where the handle was bonded in.
To drain the water, drill a very small hole (about 1/8") at the top of the handle and stand the paddle upside down for a day until all the water has drained out.
Seal the area where the paddle was leaking with a small amount of epoxy resin.
Then inject about 3 grams (1/4 teaspoon) of epoxy resin into the hole, tape over the hole and stand upside down again to allow the resin to fill the hole you just drilled.

I would just call QuickBlade to discuss the problem.

[bean]

Per the QB FAQ above, "You should be able to find out where the leak is by where it (water) may be coming out. Usually it will be around the top end of the shaft where the handle was bonded in."

QB is rightly focused on the handle joint since they have no control over the quality of this bond. 

If you suspect that this is where the paddle is leaking, before you drill a hole in the handle, consider applying a heat gun to the joint and separating the handle from the shaft.  Cleaning up and properly re-bonding the joint may be a better approach because as pointed out above, a surface repair will not likely be a lasting solution.   

Before you try this, make sure that your particular paddle shaft and handle can take the heat.  For example some of the QB handles incorporate a layer of EVA foam.  Also, if you find that the leak is at the other end, keep in mind that the blade plug may have a foam core which should not be subjected to extreme heat.