Thanks Mick,
I had my first experience of paddling in ice this morning. It was fun crashing through the ice, but where the ice was thicker it became obvious it could be a hazard.
The novelty wore off when it took more work to break the ice. Leveraging off of ice can go wrong, so a very light grip on the paddle seems sensible, also it's tempting to put the blade right in close to the boat where there is water, but again it's possible to get the paddle caught beneath the ice, wedged between the boat and ice. Probably the key take away is to take your time and be careful when exerting force on the ice, just because there's support for a moment doesn't mean it will be there at moment + time T. It's ice.