My paddle was stuck after storing it for the winter, it wouldn't extend. I of course had not cleaned it properly after using it in the salt water and thought it had corroded. I tried all the suggestions I found on the net and nothing worked. The my plumber friend happened to be by and he inspected it from all angles and tells me that it's not corroded but vacuum sealed. He suggested drilling a small hole at the top but then noticed that one end had a plastic stopper on it to keep water out, he popped that off and then with a firm tug it slid apart. I joked that I had already loosened it for him by putting ever kind of oil down it and been yanking on it for 3 weeks.

Try to avoid yanking on it for 3 weeks.......you might run out of oil;-)