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I've been eyeballing a run from gloucester to hull.....would suck to commute through the city and would need a decent group but the NE winds line it up well and would make a good run.

GH to plymouth might work on a NNE

Launching from Green Harbor and head for Plymouth Beach, grab the edge of browns on the way....going to be HUGE out there with some deep troughs on the outgoing tide.

Is that a reliable run on a Northeast blow? Good stretch of distance.

IMO, shark attack probability statistics are just plain silly. There are too many variables, and most of those variables are not binary.  But I get it, folks like to compare and evaluate their safety, so statistics sells...

Immature GW's eat fish. Mature GW's eat mammals. During the transition period, mistakes happen. Adult GW's are rediculously selective eaters. If you have a population of young and adult GW's, the two food sources, variable water clarity, and swimmers/surfers, there's always potential for mistakes.....but it could bappen to the surfer that has 10,000 hours on location, or the surfer there first time, or to both, and neither.

GW's are amazingly pretty fish....so refined.

PSH 12' Ripper-Gun

That'll keep you buzzing for days...

Stoneaxe, ever since I saw Browns break during a blizzard last winter (or could've been 2 winters ago), I've wanted to target it on a big swell....will keep my eye on it this week if we get the wrap. When all the right elements line up that place looks world class.

Absolutely doable, and absolutely SUP!

You wouldn't want to do it on your 10' All-Rounder.....

What size was  Slocum's skiff? And tbose oceangoing rowers....

Just one good moment that I can bring back to the beach.

No, I was an early adopter so I never had the chance.

But I was a longtime longboarder and didn't like longboarders who didn't let good waves go unridden for short boarders sitting inside....so when new paddlesurfers arrived and didn't realize their responsibility to let lots of good waves go by for others (give more than take)  I avoided them and paddled to empty breaks.  Now those empty breaks have other paddlesurfers doing the same thing (avoiding prone surf breaks) so I'm not so uptight about it.

But hypocriticaly, paddlesurfers creep me out....they look like planet of the apes (70's era) when paddling over to where I am.... I usually blast out of there to another wave...LOL!

I really look like that?

Consider it "Patina" and paddle on...

It's more simple then all that, what class do you want to race?

These boards ain't cheap; they're an investment (well, a consumable really, but nevermind the economics of it all. Passion is cash-blind...).

In that, look for a board that you can train into to be fast, not necessarily the board you are fast on now. If you want to be competitive you don't want to spend the next 6-months training only to realize you're stuck in a class you don't want to be in.

So IMO, first question is what class you want to race in; Stock, 14', or Unlimited.  Best way to figure that out is look forward at the races you'll be entering and have a look at last results to see the popular classes. If there's a large class you have lots of competition (ie: fun!!). On the other hand a class with only a few entries often provides more opportunity to podium. After one season you'll know better what class you want to focus on (and probably your eye on another potentially faster board)

If all your pals race stock, it's a no brainer - buy a stocker. If they do 14's, go 14. If UL...go all in.

All the charts, theorems, and coefficients of friction are not garbage, but as PB illustrates, the longer board has higher speed potential, and in my experience, much better glide...even for 1.5' additional length. A longer board with better glide is also easier on the shoulders, once you reach competitive fitness, weight, and technique. As for the length that fits your waves...well, you really don't want to be surfing straight into the trough in front of you anyway, but I've been out of DW's for a few years so I'm not up to speed with that. For me, going faster, even .5-1 Kt. is more fun.

Good luck, enjoy!

I feel like a slacker. I just leave them lying outside on the patio table/chairs.

Overachiever; I leave mine in back floor of truck until family can't stand the smell, then I toss them in the bed to get rinsed from next rainstorm.

Firstly; recommend living outside the city either north or south and closer to spots.

<1hr (traffic dependent):
Winthrop & Nahant to the North
Hull, Scituate to the South

>1hr:
NH/ME to the North
CC/RI to the South

Any surf app like MSW or Surfline will name spots where she can start until getting to know some folks who will open up about others.

Swami's is an awesome wave and I'm glad to see all the posts that are intimidated because it is best for SUP's to find all the other great waves in the area that's happening when Swami's starts firing....leave it to the proners please you are not welcome there. Not every wave has to be for everybody. You don't see proners or standups at Boomers...(well, it's unlawful...but that's not the point...

[how]

Having seen the proliferation of Stand Up through the years, I've also seen the "Certification" programs that inevitably latch on to any industry... hey, I can't knock somebody for trying to earn a buck, but I do [unfairly, I admit, but not without experience] roll my eyes when I see them.

Instructor ability and credibility always comes down to the individual, regardless of who they paid to get the paper. That said, any organization that focuses primarily on teaching how to instruct regardless of the activity usually produces much better teachers.

Your Vets have been through dozen's of training programs & schools throughout their careers as warfighters; they can sniff out an unprepared instructor in seconds...they're just wired that way they can't help but count the um's and ah's and pregnant pauses....many of them have been through multiple weeks of professional instructor training themselves.

I've heard good things about the ACA and have used their material teaching canoe paddling to novices; it's good stuff. It's a good place to start although I wouldn't stop there, I'm sure there are great instructors in some of the other organizations you mentioned...but being in CO, the ACA is going to be more conducive for crossover paddlesports should your staff branch out to other venues (rivers, etc...)

Good luck; great cause! Thank you.

That was a lot of words, research grant money, and time thrown at something we've empirically known for decades; sharks strongly prefer to attack from below and behind.

Ask any blue water freediver how they handle the pelagic sharks "you just keep your head on a swivel and look at 'em, 'cause when they see that you see them they don't like it and try to re-position themselves below and behind you, giving you time to get the boat over to you for extraction" (paraphrased by an old pacific bluewater hunter).

Why do folks think sharks are so dimwitted and surprised to hear they are extremely clever, stealthy, calculating hunters? They actually show amazing restraint and patience at times.

Don't get me wrong, Wetstuff; not trying to dump on your post it was very well intended and thank you for the time, I'm just a very tired of all the shark business and media. I wish they'd use that money for conservation measures against the absolute decimation of these brilliant creatures that's occurring as I write this, not on why or how they attack a swimmer in the ocean every now and then...

I looked at their website...I'm sure they have intentions, but it looks like advisory board is more media based then science. They do have Ellis though and Earle to a distant degree. Wyland always seems to put himself in conservation circles but I dunno, alotta fluff there too. I see the "donate" button but not the accomplishments resume...perhaps I'm just being crabby.

We were surfing outer Cape with GW's decades before Greg Skomal and friends brought it to media's attention. I am sure that early some morning or late afternoon/eventing I've been sized up for a bite...probability's too high. I dunno though I feel more lucky that I got some good waves than I do of not getting hit by a shark.