I have been reading this forum for a while, and like everyone really appreciate the valuable information, reviews….etc. I am one of those 60+ longtime surfers (started in Hawaii at age 9), whose surfing life has been extended by this fantastic sport. Have been SUSing now year-round on Cape Cod for three years. But I also love the fact that SUP adds other options when there is no surf. And so, like Creek and others I flat water paddle on the Cape throughout the winter (this past winter was tough!).
But I also travel a lot for work and so recently bought an inflatable, after much research on this forum. Since I prefer to surf, I got the 9’ 2” Red surf star. In its bag, with pump, paddle, repair kit, long john wetsuit, booties, leash and fanny pack pfd (without CO2 cartridge), it is less than 50 lbs and can be checked in as baggage. It’s not the greatest for flat water, but I am not a racer, and just want to get some exercise in “nice scenery”.
On the latter count I scored on a recent trip to Bled, Slovenia for a conference. Thanks to GlideMarko for answering some PMs about access, conditions and any regulations, prior to my travel. I know that there are a lot of “hidden gems” in Europe, and this one is not all that hidden, but even most of the Europeans attending the conference were surprised and charmed by lake Bled and its surroundings. Below are some iphone pictures from my conference hotel balcony.
There is a 1,000 year old castle on the cliff, to paddle under
And a picturesque church on a small island in the lake (said to have been built on an old pagan fertility ritual site….typical), to paddle around
This area is not undiscovered by tourist by any means, but the small town and lake are in the foothills of the Julian Alps, and surrounded by a nature, limiting the number of visitor accommodations.
I was there in the shoulder season (May) between the winter sports tourists and summer hiking and swimming crowd. Water was brisk, but my three mil booties were good enough and a 2 mil long john was hot by the end of a paddle around the lake. The lake is just about four miles in circumference, if you go into every nook, and with the early sunrise (5:00am) I could get in a paddle around the lake, almost every morning. Below is my launch site, between the traditional all wood, row boats (called pletnas) used to take visitors to the small island with the church:
Mornings were generally best, as they had calm winds, and the rowing sculls were not on the lake yet (it has an Olympic course buoyed from one end to the other). And during average good weather, the winds picked up in the afternoon. The following are some images from my morning paddles:
GlideMarko mentioned a bigger, nicer lake to paddle not far from Bled (lake Bohinj, right in the Alps and park), but I never had time to get out of town. Although Slovenia is in the EU and uses the Euro, most costs were pretty reasonable. The food was really pretty good. There was a local restaurant with both local wild boar, mountain goat and deer, as well as fish and amazingly good Indian vegetarian food (so something for everyone). Some pretty good local wines as well. Only thing more beautiful than the scenery was the hospitality of the people…..of course that may deteriorate a little by the end of August, but they were great in May. All in all a really nice place to visit if you want to paddle some Alpine lakes with pretty spectacular scenery.
The Red surfstar was fine for this type of flatwater paddling (i.e. not racing or training). I usually averaged a leisurely 3.5 mph for the four mile circumnavigation, which is not much slower than my usual flatwater board, a 10' Mana. But I was stopping to take pictures and slowing, so as not to scare off the numerous ducks and swans with their new young. lots of big fish as well. The water was really clear (no combustion engine boats allowed). The iSUP and bag traveled well....although I was charge extra baggage on the way there, and not on the way back.....??
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