Is a hand-held boat paddle an example of a third class lever?

Yes, a handheld boat paddle is a good example of a third class lever. 

A lever can be thought of as a device or a simple machine, that allows us to multiply our effort and thus, move loads through longer distances. The levers are classified according to the relative positions of the effort end, load end and the fulcrum (or the pivot). If the fulcrum is between the effort and load end, the lever is...

Yes, a handheld boat paddle is a good example of a third class lever. 

A lever can be thought of as a device or a simple machine, that allows us to multiply our effort and thus, move loads through longer distances. The levers are classified according to the relative positions of the effort end, load end and the fulcrum (or the pivot). If the fulcrum is between the effort and load end, the lever is termed a first class lever (such as seesaw). When the fulcrum is located at one end and the effort at the other, we have a second class lever (such as door or a wrench). A third class lever is the one in which fulcrum and the load are on opposite sides, while the effort is applied at the center. This type of lever actually uses more effort than other two classes of levers.

A handheld boat paddle used to paddle the water at one end (load end) and the effort is applied in the middle, while our other hand is used as a fulcrum. Thus, handheld boat paddle is a third class lever.

Hope this helps.