Paddlemonster, I think you'd better take a real close look at the shaft before you think about cutting it down. Unless you have figured out how to remove the male insert without destroying it, I'm assuming you would be just cutting the female end. Check where that would put the joint. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I've considered it on one of my Werners and it isn't practical.

Besides, you never know when you might want a longer paddle. Recently, I've been doing some testing and I've found that at least part of the time I actually like using a longer shaft when just cruising.