We started practicing at 10:30am or so on Sunday. Maybe we passed each other without noticing it.
It's not a bad idea to get a wooden paddle either, as it'll be much cheaper and whatnot, but it still will feel different. For your shoulder strength, just hit the gym. :P Sometimes we just gotta go with the popularity, so don't give Kialoa the colde shoulder yet; I know that some of my teammates would rather to have Kialoa. (One of them want to consider the OC6 steering paddle, which Quickblade doesn't have.)
I wouldn't count out Pemberton in the competition for the second place, as they'll be pretty much home on the fresh water unlike us False Creek teams. We're going to be racing with a newer, lighter, but less-experienced caller, so we'll have to see how it affects the race since we usually tend to be one of the most easily distracted teams. (Okay, so
I'm easily distracted.)