[Paddlewise] intro and lightning paddles??

hi, i'm new...thought i'd intro myself.  kathleen, 45, surviving the 
adolescence of my 2 adolescents, love cats and dogs and my husband and the 
kids (notice the order. oops) , new kayaker (2 mos.), buying a perception 
sierra, husband surfs longboard and wants to learn surf kayaking.  i want 
to poke around and see birds and otters, etc.  i'm in the s.f. bay area and 
intend to explore every creek in my town and the next 2 or 3 over.

i need some paddle advice.  not as in paddling, but as in buying a 
paddle.  by profession i'm a violinist so very protective of my hands 
(anyone in the sf bay area here, i play with marin, santa rosa, oakland, 
and am concertmaster of vallejo sym.  c'mon down!).  i'm looking at LIGHT 
paddles.  i'm strong, but a beginner.  i found "lightning" paddles out of 
oregon on the web and in the back of a book we have (www.paddles.com) and 
they have a 21 oz. one i am fantasizing about.  can you guys enlighten 
me?  is there such a thing as "too light" a paddle? when i rent them 
sometimes they are so heavy my hands tingle.  yuck.   i am not planning on 
surf.  just the occasional chop and wakes.  i don't expect to go out for 
more than 8 hours and at this point 4 is my upper limit.  i don't camp (i 
consider motel 6 camping, but that's another story) so i won't be 
circumnavigating the aleutian islands, or anything like that, ever.  just 
rec. day trips.  and moonlight paddles, maybe.

thanks for any pointers 'n' advice and best wishes to all.

kcd


kathleen comalli dillon~friend, mom, wife, musician, violinist, writer, 
ailurophile extraordinaire
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We can do no great things; we can only do small things with great 
love."-Mother Teresa~~"I find a lot of people like chubby 67-year-old 
girls."-Beverly Sills~~"I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat 
are not the better for it."-Abraham Lincoln~~"Prepare to be 
assimila-----OOOOOoooooo, jelly donuts!"-Homer of Borg~~"I am Boris of 
Borg. Moose and Squirrel are irrelevant."~~


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