I am planning to build a unfeatered paddle and I don't have access to a bandsaw so I am planning to do the following. Am I on the right track?

I plan to use a clear 1.5 x 1.5" laminated board for the shaft then glue pieces on either end of the shaft to make the blades. The pieces that I glue on will be 1.5" thick and I will just have to hack out the curve in the blade with a plane/spokeshave etc. I then plan to cover the blades with fiberglass for extra strength. I gather that the shaft won't need glass, just epoxy to seal it. Am I missing anything?

I have never been able to find stitka spruce so I was going to use either douglas fir or mabye hemlock? for the shaft. Any thoughts?

Has anyone ever made a hollow paddle shaft from a harder wood ie maple or mahogany then covered it in glass for extra strength (just thinking out loud now...)?

Thanks,
JJ