Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => SUP General => Topic started by: Miss Adventure on February 28, 2017, 07:36:38 AM
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I'm curious. When did you first learn SUP? What got you interested in it to start with?
I'll start. I started in my late 20's. A family member bought a used paddle board and asked me to try it. I immediately fell in love!
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Early 30's, mainly as something to partner with kiteboarding. I surfed when I was younger, mainly longboarding. So, I started off on a SUP just to get my water fix on some flatwater when the wind was dead. It quickly moved to surfing again and I remembered how much I loved surfing and how much fun a SUP was in mushy, weak waves.
Fast forward 3 years, and I'm totally addicted to SUP surf, probably more so that kiteboarding. I've made multiple trips to Costa Rica, and I'm constantly swapping boards to try something new/progress. It has helped my overall fitness as well as my surfing with a kite.
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I’m 63 years old and I think I first started about three years ago. My background is in kayaking. I developed a muscle problem in my lower back and it got to the point where I just couldn’t sit in a kayak for any longer than about one hour. I saw people stand up paddle boarding on the lake I live on and got curious. Took a lesson for my first time on a board and loved it. Fast forward to today and I now own six boards and just last September took my instructors course.
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When the Dom came out a few years ago. Thought it would be something fun to do on the water to improve balance. Def was and is still a good challenge. Liked it so much bought 4 more boards. :)
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My interest in SUP was that I figured it would really help my surfing.
I used to prone longboard surf once every other week or so.
Proning, I figured I'd maybe catch 10 waves max and actually stand up for about 20 seconds a wave (if I didn't fall) or less
- so, only 3 minutes max & probably a lot less standing up per hour! With SUP I'd be standing up for 60 minutes of an hour!
Whoa did my strength, balance & surfing improve. Been SUP surfing about three days per week ever since.
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I first saw a woman standing on a surfboard with a short paddle probably back in 2003 or so.
I was longboarding at Cowells/Indicators in Santa Cruz. It was a weird day - lots of people out, kind of foggy
and pretty flat. I'm not sure if she was actually surfing but more likely she was paddling around standing up looking for someone.
She circled by several times. It definitely got me interested in the concept.
A few years later, around 2007 or so, I was longboarding at Doheny and out of the blue came several SUP surfers.
They were in very good shape and very aggressive. Thinking back on it - the reason they came out
of nowhere was probably because they came from the harbor instead of the beach. Anyways, I was very intrigued.
They disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as they showed up.
Finally, in early 2010 I saw Costco had a SUP which I purchased. It was very light and floaty & 5" thick/high.
LOL - I had more faceplants in an hour than in 10 years prone surfing. And, my ankles ached like crazy. I searched the internet
and found the Zone and asked about improving my balance for SUP - people correctly told me I would improve rapidly.
I waited a day or two to heal and went out again. Making sure to look out over the horizon, etc.
and I was able to balance much better. I cruised over to the break - what I found was I was too heavy for the board
in that it would bend/flex (it was soft foam) too much so it wouldn't steer correctly on the wave. I even tried to prone it,
but it wouldn't work right. However, yup, I was hooked. I took it back to Costco and started doing more research on SUPs.
I flat paddle demo'd a few boards at an event at a lagoon. Then at the Battle of the Paddle, I was able to demo an 11' Laird Pearson Surftech -
it was the first time I really caught a wave on a SUP & just one wave as some race was starting and I had to give back the board. A
few weeks later I was able to pick up a used 10'6" which just fits in the van.
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2010 in Waikiki. My shoulders were unbalanced (impingement syndrome) from 40 years of surfing and my morning paddle out at Kaisers was brutal. So, I borrowed an SUP and never looked back (I did give the board back).
Been really good PT for my shoulders.
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I started the summer of 2013 when I was 56.
I had surfed a little when I was young and followed the sport my entire life but never actually became a full time surfer until four years ago.
When shopping for my first board, I originally wanted to get a classic longboard which I grew up surfing on but herniated discs in my lower back and neck as well as tendonitis in my shoulder made it impossible for me to paddle prone.
I had seen a few standup boards on rivers while kayaking and wondered why they were popular. I had also seen them surfing at the beach. As it turned out, kayaking caused great pain in my back to the point where I had to give it up. That's when I started seriously looking at standup boards.
After a bit of research and without even trying one, I bought my first board, a 10'6 Riviera Select. I couldn't believe how fun it was. I could stand on it and paddle all day and not have any back pain or shoulder discomfort. After a week or so of flatwater, I gave surfing a try and it totally blew me away. I was catching waves the first day. I became immediately addicted and obsessed. Now eight boards later, I'm still as stoked as ever and healthier than I've ever been.
I'm not disappointed at all that I can't prone surf. Paddling with your hands is old fashioned and inefficient. It's also not a good workout. Standup makes way more sense.
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I'm 45 and started in 2008 after my cousins wedding in Laguna Beach. I saw a couple folks SUP surfing and then paddling down to a less crowded spot and I said man I gotta try that and thought I'll have way more fun back in New England. The thought of being the new Kook at my local break didn't even matter as I saw how quickly it spread. When I had gotten back from that trip I found a shop in little RI that gave lessons and rented boards so I scheduled a lesson and within 30 min we where catching waves.... boom sold.... bought a board and paddle then and there.....several years and many different boards and paddles later the rest is history.
Now I'm eyeing a custom SUP Foil being made by Dave Daum at King's and might have to visit his shop and go for a demo and fly home with the newest next best thing.
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Summer 2008-
My son worked at the harbor in Discovery Bay, here in the Delta. He came home with a carbon paddle, that someone left at the launch ramp. We called the harbormaster and told him that if someone called looking for a paddle, have them call us. Well it turned out it was the Doyle paddleboard rep. Since we live on the Delta waterways, we figured it would be great to have a couple of boards to play around on in the bays, in the backyard. He gave us a great deal on a 12' and 11'6". It took until the next year to actually take them out in the surf. We are about 1 hour 45 minute drive from Santa Cruz. One weekend we got rooms at the Dream Inn or whatever it was called back then. A nice swell was in. At high tide the surf wasn't very good, so we paddled out from the hotel to Cowells. The waves were not really breaking due to the tide, but the swells were nice, so we knew once the tide dropped it would be fun. When we first paddled out, I paddled for and caught a swell (can't really call it a wave unless it breaks) on my 12' board. Holy crap, I was shocked that it caught the swell and I rode that thing all the way into the beach in front of the hotel. My wife and I caught a lot more waves and had a lot of fun.
At Cowells Beach, which is one of the learning spots in Santa Cruz, longboarders will park and sit at the top of the cliff and wait until the tide drops and the waves are surfable. This was the case this day, and after watching my wife and I catch a bunch of swells, 3 or 4 longboards paddled out thinking they could do the same. Bad decision. None of them caught a swell, and we just kept catching them. They all went in after about 30 minutes to wait for the tide.
Our whole family has surfed for years, but at that time my wife probably hadn't surfed in several years. When the kids started moving out we just didn't go as much. That day at Cowells got my wife back into the waves. Although she will still paddle out on a longboard, she is hooked on stand up surfing, in spite of having two teeth knocked out last year in Kauai when her board hit her. It is great to surf with her again. And over this past year with all the wakesurfing we have been doing behind the boat at home, her surf style and skills have really improved and it shows in her sup surfing. So basically we are going on 9 years of SUP.
Needless to say that the 12' and 11'6" have dropped to a 7'4", and 8'0", and I still like shortboarding with my boys, but stand surfing is number one. The boys even enjoy it, when I make them paddle out with me.
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In 2010, I was 46 or 47 and a lifelong longboarder/kneeboarder/body surfer. My wife learned shortly after I bought a board and picked it up much quicker than I did. Shortly thereafter, we bought his and hers boards from Wardog and she's been as (or more) addicted than I am. It's what we do on our weekends and vacations, and it's what we love to do. Both kids will join us on occasion too.
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No surfing or boating experience. My neighbor took me out because I was curious on the Santa Cruz Harbor when I was 62 August of 2012. I floundered badly, and he yelled at me and basically told me I was a fat fuck that wasn't in shape. He confessed later on after I was doing it a couple of years he thought I would never keep it up. He now says he is proud of me and considers me his creation.
Practiced on the Harbor with an inflatable, lost 40 pounds (since about 15 came back). Very slow progress for somebody with basically no boat, surf or balance practice. My improvement was very gradual. At my age, I can never know exactly how much further I might take it, so it was a great mystery as I went along.
Finally went out on the ocean when I was 63, stood up on my first wave three months before my 64th birthday. Now SUP surfing for three and a half years, old kook eccentric style, with knee wave entry, prone wave entry, or standup wave entry depending on waves and circumstances. I like all three ways of wave entry, because it increases my wave count, but entering standing up is the most organic and enjoyable.
I have finally learned to turn. I am hoping I will be able to master 180 degree roundabouts sometime in the future, but with my slow progress, who knows when and if that will happen.
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Fall of 2007.....brain tumor.... :o
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I bought my first sup; a Hobie ATR-2, in 2015 when I was 65 years old, took it out to our subdivison's private lake and paddled it around for 3 hours. Then took it over to Lake Conroe and paddled it around for 4 hours.
Then took it to 21,000 acre Lake Conroe for an over night camping/fishing trip. Wanted to get a second sup for surfing (with the ability for flat water cruising) and in May of 2016, I ordered my custom Hammer which you can see in my signature.
BTW, I sold my Hobie in January of 2017. Looking now to purchase a 10'6" sup to be able to do both flat water leisurely cruising and surfing.
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6 months ago @ age 38. Addicted & upset I wasted the last 10 years not SUS'ing. Paddled in from renting a board on the oceanside, caught my first wave and instantly hooked.
10' to 9'2" to 8'6" and wondering how much lower I can go. I already want a 8'-8'2. Can definitely tell the difference in a wave from each board. Less paddle speed going smaller, but a lot more maneuverable ride.
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2011 I rented an 11' Elua Kai when on vacation in Maui. Surfed mostly westside and was absolutely giddy from dawn to dusk with the amount of fun and waves.
I had surfed/boogeyboarded off and on as a kid but it never really took hold. I never had the right surf equipment and wetsuit for around here. Plus my friends weren't into it. Surfed on vacations - longboards and foamies. I was super in to slalom waterskiing as a kid, then wakeboarding. Got into windsurfing after college for a while and then from windsurfing into SUP.
I bought a 9-2 Fanatic All-Wave (from JimK) I believe about 2013 at age 34 - and still ride it quite a bit. Getting back into SUP surfing, re-triggered me back into prone surfing. The SUP changed everything for me, with the 10X wave count I was getting I was learning so much more about how to surf that my prone surfing improved without ever going. Since getting into SUP I have gone through several prone boards (long and funboards) and am about to start the process on my first custom surfboard. What SUP showed me is that our beach break waves here in WA are not great for the long-boards I was riding, but I never got good enough to get a smaller board.
Now I have a 10' single fin that I love but hardly use and a McCoy Nugget that surfs great off the back foot. I am a little too big for it so I need a season starting board - something more buoyant (like Infinity Secret Weapon or a Blair).
Funny thing about SUP is that a lot of people say it got them in better shape. I actually put on about 15# because you can SUP and be fat. I had to stay at about 215# for my last windsurf setup, but the SUP didn't care about the 15#. I had to lose it all again to get back on the prone surfboards though. That requires much better fitness/flexibility (at least for me).
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10 years ago, saw it on the inter web, ordered 2 boards from Jimmy Lewis, the rest is history.
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Rented a SUP (in hindsight, it was more like a standup kayak!) on Newfound Lake in the summer of 2010. Loved it, and bought an 11'6 Cruiser as soon as I moved to the NH seacoast and found a job the next spring. I originally thought I'd just paddle it on the lakes but quickly discovered surfing and racing in the ocean too. ;D
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Bought a huge Dolsey in 07 for flat water. Had the paddle backwards and could NOT surf tiny waves at all.
Paddled a Nash inflatable, bought a Focus 9' Smoothie, and a Hobie. Traded the Hobie, which was not working for Tipp Wan Ken Obi, for a HUGE Hobie which was awesome.
Then went through a great many boards. In retrospect my years of short board experience messed me up initially. I knew how to surf, but my balance was not good, and then there was the darn paddle.
Four years later mo bettah fer shur dood. Figured out sub 8' boards, big boards, even race boards.
Had a near death experience which was interesting to say the least. Still chase waves all over NE in the winter.
Mahalos to the Great Spirit!
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Great and timely post Miss Adventure, thank you!!!
Life dedicated to surfing since August 1964.
Never had any interest in SUP, although some good surfers I knew, ripped on them.
I couldn't understand why they would SUP when they could ride a surfboard.
I never had any attitude about SUP in the line-up.... just baffled me why anyone would do it.
In 2011, bad rotator cuffs made me decide to get a SUP.... JUST for the small days......Never been on a surfboard since!
I wish I started 20 years ago.
It added a dimension to my surfing that I could never have predicted or even understood.
What a great ride its been, meeting so many great SUPsters from around the world on SUP forums.... including well over 100, in person, during my travels.
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The first time I tried it was about 7 years ago and loved it from the very first stroke of the paddle. The first time I saw it was Laird on TV in some commercial around the early 00s. When I saw that I was thinking WTF but figured it was Laird simply coming up with a new concoction as he is known for doing. Also I was just shocked to see Laird in a mainstream commercial (now that I think of it, might have been American Express). For the longest time I really didn’t give a lot of thought to actually doing this but finally did. Truth is, I still am not really interested in surfing a SUP (just don’t want to deal with the extra board volume and having a paddle in my possession in shore break.) I definitely admire and love watching people like the Vaz brothers, Candice Appleby, Kai, etc do their thing but for me I just like to explore flat water bays or coves. Perhaps I will someday graduate to downwinders (not much opportunity in San Diego). I come from a surfing background but due to back issues my thing these days are flatwater SUP and cycling.
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Ahhh...the good old days...I reckon SUP is like sex...everyone remembers their first time...;-)
The 1st time that I stood up on a board and paddled was in 2003 after seeing King Laird do it at Malibu...it was a 9’10” x 36″ Exocet Commando...RTM hybrid windsurf/sit-on-top with a cutoff aluminum kayak paddle...the standup fire really got lit in 2005 when I purchased www.standupaddleports.com and started working with Sean Ordonez to bring production epoxy SUPs and windSUPs to the world market...
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Oops...looks like I misspelled above URL www.standuppaddlesports.com which is probably why I also bought www.supsports.com ...;-)
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I started in 2008. Thought I would get a stand up to strengthen my “core”. I told myself if I was going to surf… I would just surf. That is until the first day I paddled into the lineup and caught 40 waves and had my peanut butter in the chocolate moment.
18,000 waves later still haven’t found my core, but here I am.
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2007-2008. But I still haven't learned.
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In 2010 I stepped out of the door of the Seattle REI store, and sat down on a bench to enjoy some unusually intense spring Seattle sun. There, in front of me, leaning against a faux tree stump, was a used demo 11'6 Surftech Universal. I took it as a sign, or close enough, and bought it.
Now, whenever think a board is tippy, I remember back to how unstable I felt those first few days on that 247 liter aircraft carrier... and get on with it.
I flat water paddle mostly, because that's what's available to me. I've been surfing for a few years, when I can... and have only gotten more and more into it. I feel lucky to have found this.
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Being a watersports person, I have been swimming, snorkeling, body surfing, surfing and windsurfing my whole life. Windsurfing in SoCal means surfsailing in generally lighter winds, so I was always looking for light wind windsurf tools. Back in 2006 Wardog told me about the new boards Sean Ordonez was building for him, a longboard style sailboard, and I ordered one. I intended to use it for light air windsurfing, now known as "Windsup". Paddling was only an afterthought! About the same time I heard about a new Mistral board called the Pacifico so I called Big Winds (who had never heard of SUPs at that point) and ordered one of those from them. Now at 68 I have had a decade of SUP, many varied boards for various SUP disciplines, and I'm looking forward to being able to keep charging as long as I can.
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Watched a lone long boarder surfing a river mouth in New Zealand in 1995 and promised myself that I would learn to surf. Surf kayaking since 1997, first with plastic river boats, then surfing 17' ocean kayaks followed by carbon Kevlar international class surf kayak. In 2009 a friend gave me his prized longboard and I tried unsuccessfully to standup paddle it. Made some headway prone surfing it in small waves. In 2014 bought a 10' Laird, followed by a 9' Fanatic Fly and then Starboard Whopper and 9'5" Widepoint. One year ago got a Sunova Skate and this was the first time that I felt that I was truly surfing. Today out for the first surf on a Sunova Speeed. I am 61 years and much of my waking time is occupied with daydreams of surfing.......what a wonderful addiction ! We are so fortunate to be able to experience the freedom, power and wisdom of the ever changing ocean.
Bob
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Started late 2007 when I was home visiting my parents for Christmas. They had gotten rid of most of their old surfboards and got a 11'6 Naish Nalu. Cutting edge at the time, had a lot of fun just paddling around. In 2008 they got a 11'4 nalu, which had way more refined rails and I tried surfing it for the first time that Christmas. in 2009 I moved back to Hawaii picked up a C4 SubVector as soon as I could. Its been all downhill from there.
Man, now that I think about it, I can't believe I've been at this for almost a decade. You'd think I'd be better by now.
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I saw these guys out at at terramar in 2010 I talked to them and thought wow pretty interesting! About the same time I began to slow down on may take offs I could catch waves but popping up to my feet was an issue to the point I had started thinking surf ski.
Once up I was just fine, usually getting pretty good rides. It was just the process of getting up then I thought :"If I could just take off standing up? "
and so in 2011 I rented a couple of old laird boards 11x28 and 10 x 28 I think and my she and I went to the lagoon in carlsbad and tried it. I emphasize try as there were a lot of jet skis going in circles so the area where we were in was like a washing machine and I fell and fell and fell some more, but finally I paddle about a 150 feet without falling until the end and that was it. a few time at baby beach on rented hobbie atr then I bought a paddle surf hawaii 10'4 in about october of 2011
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Me and a couple friends bought SUPs in 2008 to give us something to do between trips to the break (nearest surf is 6+ hours away). We mostly played around on them in lakes and rivers. We weren't interested in distance paddling, but it felt good just doing something on a surf-like board to help feed the stoke. We took them into the waves a few times back then, but never really caught the bug. For me, the boards were too big and unruly (our boards were way too big for us in the waves).
In 2011, a virus took out my left vestibular system (ie balance). I couldn't walk for a month or drive for 6 months. I got back on a longboard a year later, but shortly after broke my back. No more surfing. After some more time out of the water, in 2014, I tried stand up again and it seemed to work out OK (but again, on a bigger board). I immediately started researching new SUPs (and joined the Zone) and discovered that a bit of a renaissance was happening when it came to board shapes and sizes. I quickly zeroed in on an L41 SIMS. That board changed everything. I was completely hooked.
Do I wish I could have the option to surf? Yes. But honestly, I think I come in to the beach happier on my SUPs these days than I used to on my surfboards. And the community of people on SUPs is a refreshing change from what we often experienced when surfing. I do appreciate that as well (this forum included).
Here's a pic of how my group's quiver has evolved over the years. I jumped from the Liard (2008) to the SIMS (2015).
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My first board was a RedPaddle 10-6 inflatable which I bought 5 years ago on a trip to Scotland after paddling an 11' NSP here in Hong Kong. Being an ex windsurfer the moment I got on that NSP and fell off multiple times and then finally got going I realised this was it... I had been looking for some new activity for my 6th decade on this planet (the period between 50-60 years old) and it just ticked all the boxes. Great exercise, out on the ocean, and it also felt good to be a pioneer out here at the start of a new sport. I felt I had missed out on several in my life like skateboarding, kitesurfing, paragliding etc so I was going to make damn sure I didn't miss this one!
Starting on an inflatable was purely because it was the easiest way to get a board quickly to Hong Kong. I bought a Starboard Coast Runner 14' hard board nine months later, and downwinded it approximately 3 months later.
Wherever I travel I try to paddle preferably with Zoners. We are a friendly and open bunch of people and one of the greatest joys I get now is either teaching a novice to SUP or visiting places and paddling with others. It's just an awesome way to meet great people and see other parts of our planet from the water.
I'm also a great believer that being on and in the ocean is good for your soul. A great stress reliever, a great way to immerse yourself in the environment. And with people like Pono charging into their 8th decade I know I can do this for a long long time. Who needs golf?
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I think I started in 2006, in Maui. I was a whacked-out, totally committed windsurfer from the mid 80's on, until I ripped up my rotator cuffs playing rollerblade hockey (both sides, a year apart--yeah, stupid). I started longboard surfing as therapy, did it for a few years, but one day I was at The Ding Kings in Maui (now S.I.C. Maui) and they had this big board hanging on the wall--the hollow carbon fiber Ku Nalu. I asked Mark Raaphorst about it, and he filled me in on SUP. I bought a Ku Nalu (which was torture, 12'2" X 26") and never looked back.
Started the online SUP magazine Ke Nalu, which later morphed into the paddle company KeNalu, which I sold to my partner when it started to be actual work.
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I was a windsurfer, a not very good one. I never really liked going fast. We started seeing ads and articles for SUPs in Windsurfing magazine in 2007. It seemed okay, but my wife was intrigued. She got our first SUP, an Amundson 11'3". The thing was a present after she gave birth to our twin girls. It has a fully padded deck and rails to below the surface line. No handle, but it does have a mast track. Curved deck.
I didn't paddle it much. When we went out together, I would paddle my Kona windsurfer. Then I started using her SUP more and ore. It was a good exercise, and I wouldn't have to worry about those crazy high winds. Then one time I got caught about two miles out in a strong headwind. My technique sucked, but I managed to paddle all the way home against those 15 mph winds. It was taught, but I felt kind of proud of myself.
In 2011 I joined StandupZone and bought an NSP 11'. I liked being able to explore the Hudson river and not have to worry so much about wind conditions and getting back to my launch point. It was fun to just explore! I went to Florida that summer and didn't take my windsurfer, just the SUP. I had a great time and even caught a few waves!
After that purchase I went windsurfing exactly one time. Then I sold one rig, then the other. Only SUPs now. I don't miss those windsurfers and all those sails and masts and booms one bit. I like how simple SUP is, just a board and paddle. (Yes there's gear, but the essence is simple and elegant.) Now I'm obsessed. I like being in the beginning of a sport and writing about it. I like how casual it is. I like the workout. I also like the shapes of the boards. They look like weird fish, which is cool.
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On a kitesurfing trip to Oahu in 2005 I saw a TV show were Laird was talking about the benefits of paddle surfing. He was saying something about training for the off season. I’ve being a kayak paddler and a ‘board’ rider all my life (windsurf, kitesurf, snowboard, wakeboard, etc), so was immediately interested. Paddles + boards, looked like a good combination. But it was difficult enough to get on a plane with my kitesurfing gear, so didn’t consider buying a SUB then.
But a couple of years later our local shop brought some boards. There were 2 alternatives. The Starboard 12’6 x 30 for ‘normal riding’ and the 12’2 x 27’’ for ‘more athletic’ people. It looked like they just bought the SUBS as an afterthought when buying windsurf gear, because they didn’t had any paddles for sale. They said that I could probably use a kayak paddle or the spout of a windsurf boom, and fit a plastic blade at the end of it…
So I bought the 12’2, and went to my kayak paddle craftsman with a couple of pictures from the web, and he made me a very nice but heavy wood paddle.
I still have the 12’2, and the wood paddle is at home, on a wall over the bar as décor.
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My obsession started just under a year ago. I have been surfing a long board my whole life but i live in N FL and the waves here are bad or nonexistent most of the time. I had been interested in SUP for years but never was around anyone with them and just never tried to rent or anything. One of my friends finally got a board and started running fishing charters out of a local outfitter. I got him to give me a lesson one time and i rented a board from the outfitter. The weather was terrible but the experience was not. I immediately went back to the shop and bought a board. It has got me back on the water every week and the stoke for surfing is back like it was years ago. My health has improved and its all because of SUP. I now have 4 boards, need many more. I love getting better every time i go out and do everything i can to push myself past last weeks session. Surfing, fishing, cruising and racing are now all part of my life on SUP. It has taken over my life!
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2009. I had been sea kayaking for about 8 years and most enjoyed playing in surf. I had moved over to a real HP surf kayak about 2 years before and had been taking regular beatings in that thing. One day at Deep Hole in Nar RI I was getting worked in 3-4 foot waves and this tanned dude paddles over wearing just board shorts. He looks down at me and says hi or something, I'm sitting there wearing a catalog worth of gear- shoes, skirt, rash guard, helmet, pfd, paddle etc. he just has his paddle and a leash- so simple. He easily catches and rides a few waves before paddling off. I catch a few and get worked again, swim-in a full boat, and say "f*ck this, I'm getting one of those." Have not looked back.
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Used to paddle an ocean ski and would to see the SUP's at the local long-wave spot.
Went on my honeymoon in 2013 to Rarotonga and the resort had a Naish Sup there for anyone to use so i gave it a go... could stand on it, just, but fell in love.
Came home and bought one straight away. Now i'm up to my 6th board. DW and Surf SUP's.... got bit HARD.
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Caught 40 waves and had my peanut butter in the chocolate moment. . . . 18,000 waves later still haven’t found my core, but here I am.
How do you know how many waves you have caught?
PS: I am only at 15,464 on a SUP over 1,065 SUS sessions.
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I first got on a board in Oct. of 2015, just a few months shy of 41 years old. I really wish I would have discovered SUP at a younger age so I would have more time to improve. I want to start racing this year, and I know I have a long way to go, skill-wise.
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My journey to being a SUP addict: (This timeline will make more sense if you know that I spend the winters teaching snow skiing, and spend the summers on the ocean.)
1959-Caught my first wave on a giant longboard at Waikiki (with the help of one of the local beach boys).
1976-Moved to Maui for the summer to get serious about surfing, and surfed every day on a longboard.
1979-Moved to Santa Cruz for the summer and surfed every day between Pleasure Point and Privates on progressively shorter boards.
1980-Got hooked on windsurfing while watching young Robbie Naish ripping in Kailua, and have been teaching it ever since; first couple of years in San Diego (Baja trips every week), then on Kauai for a few years, and then on Maui since 1987. While I continued to surf most mornings, my focus and true love was/is wavesailing.
1995-Back surgeries and very arthritic hips (one now replaced) ended my prone surfing career, and I took up waveskiing and progressed to 7'5" custom epoxy high performance skis. Absolutely loved it.
2011-During a windsurfing trip to San Carlos in Baja I was frustrated in the morning glassy surf by a clunky waveski that I was borrowing. I took out an SUP for the first time and had no problem catching a few nice long rides, but the thing was 11' long, so I was not hooked compared to my 7'6" ski.
2012- During a stretch of light wind on Maui I was looking for a way to wavesail in really light winds (5-10 mph), and discovered that I could hook a sail up to a 9' SUP and have some fun in the surf when the wind was too light to high performance wavesail. I bought a 9' Fanatic Allwave for light wind wavesailing, and decided that I might as well get a paddle to go with it. I started paddling into some waves as an alternative to the waveski.
2013- I bought an 8'10" Sunova Speeed (and later added an 8'7" Flow) and was hooked on SUS almost every morning before windsurfing. My waveski has not been back in the ocean since.
2016- At age 65 I decided to try downwinding, and thanks to Jeremy Riggs and an SIC 16' unlimited, I am now hooked on that as well.
And the journey continues.....
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My paddling life started in 1981. Got serious a few years later and solely focussed on paddle surfing all the way until 1998 when I snapped my boat in half in a barrel. Then I thought - its longboard time. Spent the next 8 years prone long boarding on empty Scottish reefs (Actually pioneered a few of the best).. Until my hearing had finally gone - surfing in 4c water with minus 30c wind chill had destroyed what ear canal I had left. The only way to carry on is get a SUP.
First Stood up to single blade paddle in 2010 on my local standing wave that I had already been paddle surfing on for decades before.
SUP surf is way easier than kayak surfing and IMO way harder than Prone surfing especially if done without falling during a whole session. IMO if you fall off in surf, get on a prone board first.
Controversial view on SUP surf but who cares :)
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Like many, its been a long but not so strange path that brought me to SUP...
- Spent every summer as a kid playing on the Carolina beaches in the 60's watching and trying to mimic surfers on my little foam surfboard.
- Started prone surfing in Rhode Island during college 1979-1983. And then continued off and on for a number of years. Total kook - but I remember my first successful ride pumping down the line after 100's of failed attempts like it was yesterday.
- 2013 Decided it was time to get back into the game given military retirement right around the corner. Was intrigued by standup paddle board so bought a 11'2" Tava and paddled flatwater. Fun but wanted to surf. So, after a couple of session in small waves I knew I needed something I had a chance of turning without going to a low volume performance board. Bought a 11' NSP that was half the weight and much more fun.
Since then I've discovered this forum and have/continue to meet super folks. I've bought a couple of other boards since and have at least one more in my sight this coming year!
Total addict!
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Always great to meet face to face - everyone I now know in person from this forum and others are usually great people. They are never as they seem online. Sometimes the exact opposite. More folk should meet up and actually do stuff rather than virtual reality paddling. Forums are great but they don't show body language. Almost every single post of mine is slightly tongue in cheek but that never comes across online.
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Gerry Lopez sharing Laird and Dave Kalama's first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJjmUDOqPZ4
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I started about 3 years ago and I'll turn 61 later this year. I got interested in SUP while camping at San Elijo and watching these guys slowly paddle up and down the coast just outside the surf line. I don't remember seeing too many actual surf on their SUP back then but I see quite a few now days. I kept telling my wife & son how "zen" that looked and that I'd have to try it some time. That Christmas they gifted me a good ole Costco foam board and that was enough to get the addiction going. I'm a budget oriented person so after a year I upgraded from the Costco board to a used Isle Glide. I mostly paddle in the southern part of San Diego bay but this summer I'm going to finally man up and try out the open ocean - might even do it up at San Elijo when we're camping there!
Just to mention it, this site has been a great help in learning just about anything I needed to know to get deeper into my addiction. Thanks to all who have answered my questions and posted their adventures!