The Fenn 3 is a great paddle, but there are a lot of other good paddles out there.
they come up on craigslist and surfskiracing.com all the time. Also check out the
"ORCA OUTER". I have the "INNER" but had to reinforce/repair it when it cracked.
The outer looks stronger. Also check out
www.fastkayak.com/. has some great
paddles right in central Cal.
There will be plenty of boats and paddles available to purchase and test drive at the US Surfski champs on Aug 15, demo day, at Shorebird park, Berkeley marina.
And yeah, Joseph is right! Don't over think it and go paddling!