Topics

1

SUP Advocacy / Wipe Your Own A$$

« on: September 08, 2017, 01:53:10 PM »

**rant start** For those not familiar with the term, it means take responsibility for your actions and decisions, and if you make a mess, clean it up! I bet there are lots of rants about this, but I'm new to all the rules and regs that are being thrown around, and I'm shocked at what I'm discovering - people don't have to wipe their own asses anymore.

"But what happens when people get together for a race and don't understand the risks involved and someone DIES?" See the title - if I don't know what I'm doing and don't contemplate the risks involved, I deserve whatever happens.

"But what if it's your KID?" See the title - My kids have got to learn how to take responsibility for their own actions and decisions, too, and no agency relieves me of that most basic responsibility to teach that to my children.

"But what if your wife/husband is frantic because you're missing at the end of the day?" See the title - Even if I do stuff "right", it's a dangerous sport at times, and I choose to do it. No, I don't want the Coast Guard to be out there looking for me, I'd rather die alone in the cold dark water than loose the freedom I fought for. If you don't agree with that DON'T DO IT.

We Americans aren't allowed to do things without protecting ourselves in accordance with the federal government, the state government, the city police, the state police, the FBI, the Coast Guard, medical and insurance companies, etc. etc. - and when things go wrong, we still aren't protected from being hurt or dying, nor from someone who decided we didn't do "enough" to keep everyone else safe. Wipe your own ass!

If I want to join paddlers in a set distance paddle, someone has to organize it, and thereby take responsibility for my safety. So now low key (read: no big sponsors) events can't afford the liability, because we are no longer allowed to assemble peacefully and do a physical event together without someone being forced to take responsibility for everyone else's decisions, actions, and personal safety? Wipe you own ass!

If I go to the water with extra gear and lend someone gear to paddle with FOR FREE, I'm liable if they hurt themselves even if I make them sign something. So even if I want to help anyone and everyone find joy on the water (and that's what I love doing) they can sue me for everything I have and more if they get hurt, or die, or if they just feel like it? Wipe your own ass!

If I want to paddle without a leash or PFD, I can be fined, or worse. What if I don't like the way the officer is talking to me, and tell him to fuck off the way I would tell anyone else getting in my business? Yeah, I'll be arrested, detained, fined, and whatever else they want to do, instead of him being allowed to say "Whatever dude - wipe your own ass!"

I'm sure folks who are heavy into events, or politics, or law, or corporate business have a lot of complicated explanations why this is so, but if it can't be explained in simple terms & words, it's a bunch of BS. Wipe your own ass.

We are all responsible for our own decisions and actions, and no government or agency can take that away unless we let them. We are giving up freedom for what we are being told is safety, and it's just plain wrong no matter how you slice it. **rant complete**

2

Downwind and Racing / Long Distance, multi-day

« on: September 06, 2017, 12:20:52 PM »

I'm planning a ~100 mile paddle around the San Juan Islands next year, and dream of making it an event if I find it do-able after my first attempt.  I have started training by building up my ability to just paddle for 4-6 hours on the Salish Sea, but I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on how long I should be prepared to paddle per day.

I'm thinking if I paddle 8hrs a day and can maintain 3mph average speed, I can cover 80-100 miles in 4 days if everything goes right...assuming I'm not carrying ALL the food, water, and gear I need for camping along the way.

I'm guessing I would need at least one re-supply along the way, that I'll need to find spots I can stop & camp that are within 5 miles of that 8hr distance, and that I'll need to carry enough food/water/gear for those assumptions. That's still a lot of fresh water I need to carry.

What say you? Is 8hrs per day for 4 days a "reasonable" goal, or should I be looking at 10? Is 3mph a reasonable speed assuming I'm carrying myself and 40lbs of gear? I'm planning to use my 14x28 coast runner because it is a known quantity for long distance events, and the volume is great for 260#.

If any of you have actually done a multi-day event like this, I'd sure love to hear about your lessons learned, and any advice you have. Thanks!

3

Share the Stoke / Beginning SUP Season 2 - About the Om

« on: April 26, 2017, 11:44:14 AM »

It has been one helluva winter working through lots of internal stuff - re-evaluating life, the universe, and everything. I stopped paddling in December, started again in March, and have been out almost every day since. I replaced the 12'6"x30" Starboard Touring with a 14'x28" Coast Runner "Race" board, and I'm still rocking the big Universal board. I hit over 100hrs on the water last year and stopped counting because it seems irrelevant now, but maybe that's a good marker for folks reading this that are brand new to the sport - get 100+ hours on the water, and the way you view Stand Up Paddling will change in ways you might not expect.

So, here's some fun things that I've experienced since starting again this year:

• Relaxing - It is sooooo much easier suddenly! I paddle in a place called Birch Bay where the water rarely approaches this concept of "flat" I hear about. Most days I have 10-15mph of wind & chop that never syncs with the rollers coming into the bay, and the conditions used to really bother me. Now, If I want a workout, I can just challenge the wind & waves, treat it like a challenge to find the best path, battling up and down each wave, pulling hard, and learning how to manipulate your board to give you the best path. Or...If I don't want to be intense, I can just get up on the board & paddle normally, and suddenly it's a different scene. All of a sudden the wind & waves aren't challenges to overcome, just elements you choose to let flow by you, as you flow with the scene and make slower, but steady progress. Very, very big deal for me
• Board shape & size - It doesn't really matter anymore. My 32" wide Universal board is like standing on the deck of a boat because it has so much initial stability, and my 28" Coast Runner is like being on a weeble-wobble because it has so much secondary stability. They both have their uses, and they are both super fun to just toodle around with, so I don't care what size/shape the board is anymore, as long as it can float my manly manliness - and then I think about some crazy dudes my weight with 20 years on me surfing tiny boards I don't think I could stand on (I'm thinkin 'bout supthecreek here)
• Fear - I guess that was part of my internal stuff, because the "edge" is totally gone. I don't think many folks want to jump, or fall, into 48deg water and similar air temps - it's freakin' cold, and no fun to paddle in if you are soaking wet and cold, but the deep water & unknowns don't come into the picture any more. In fact, I've developed a "friendship" with a beautiful silver harbour seal that always comes to check me out no matter the weather. I talk to him every day, thank him for showing up, and I think he likes to see if I notice him as he pops up silently all around me. He loves tailing my board by about 10ft, and if I don't acknowledge him there after a while, he will pop up in my field of view somewhere. Yesterday he got within a paddle length as he swam by, and I stalled the board to chat & watch. He looked me right in the eyes as he swam up to me from the side & behind, eventually ducking under to swim right behind me. Amazing
• Safety - I've been too cool for school sometimes, going out to paddle without a leash, or life vest, or wetsuit, or phone, because I didn't want to gear up, or was in a hurry. I think about paddlers who have died out on the sound in my area who knew their stuff, and I realize it's not about being cool, or fast, or comfortable, or anything else - it's about choosing to be responsible for my own safety. It's not glamorous wearing a wetsuit, PFD vest, or leash, and I want to get away from my electronic leash (phone) - but the truth is, conditions where I live change very quickly, and a long paddle on a lovely day can turn into a survival situation if I don't use the gear. To actively choose not to use safety gear is just plain dumb, so I make it part of my routine. The only caveat to that is when I'm only paddling in the shallow swimming area & I'm just playing
• Sleeping & Meditating on the water - It may not sound like a "thing" for most paddlers, but this might be my favourite part of SUP! I make it a point to meditate while paddling, it gives my monkey mind something to do. I say "Hey monkey mind, quit chattering about nothing and pay attention to my paddling & breathing" and monkey mind says "Good idea! Place, pull, release, glide, switch sides" etc. etc. - and then I am free to learn whatever the universe is teaching me that day. I go in and out of this state while paddling, but my favourite part is when there is an onshore breeze (almost always) and I can just lay down on the board, close my eyes, and feel everything around me. Laying down on the board in the middle of wind and waves, closing my eyes, feeling the water & world move all around me, and finding such pure peace & solitude is just...amazing...incredible...life changing. My friends always look surprised when I mention this, saying things like "How the hell do you stay on the board!?" and "aren't you cold/afraid/wet?" but the truth is that board you stand on is like a big duck you see in the water floating over all the waves with grace. The only "tricky" part is balancing your body while lying down & getting back up, and that's super easy. After that, secure your paddle however is comfortable and close your eyes. You are not gonna fall off unless the whitecaps are REALLY big and crashing, and most of the time I don't even get wet from spray. I've actually woken up to my board hitting the beach, and it is the best sleep I've ever had

I'll leave it there for now, but if you are coming into this sport and feel overwhelmed with choices and decisions, I hope this eases your mind a bit, and maybe even sparks something for you - the only mistake you might make is not paddling every chance you can

4

Gear Talk / My first touring/race board!

« on: October 14, 2016, 09:00:02 AM »

Found a 2012 (I think) Starboard touring at 12'6" x 30" on craigslist for $500, and I couldn't resist! It's in great shape far as I can tell, and it must be the starshot model because it feels & sounds different than regular FRP.

Anyone have experience with this board? My hope is to do some recreational races with it in the near future. I don't care about being FAST, but I'm hoping this board will handle the chop better, and be a little easier upwind - my universal shape board sounds like a gong hitting the chop, and it nearly stops forward momentum. 

So, I drove 200 miles to Seattle & back to go get it last night, and it's still on the roof of my van so I can try it out today after work. I figure it's a tad small for my weight (240lbs), but I'm psyched to see how it rides compared to my universal surf shape. The nose is slightly rockered with a flat bottom, but a lot of volume up top to shed water. Looks like the board Connor is riding in the Makai ad to the left of this page, actually
<--<--<--<--

Here's a page that describes the board, I can't find very much info on it. I'm trying to attach pics, but not sure if they are going to show up.
http://sailsportmarine.com/stand-up-paddle-boards-c-2_20/starboard-126-x-30-touring-sup-board-p-675.html

5

Share the Stoke / Beginning SUP - Chronicles of Remickulous

« on: October 05, 2016, 03:58:37 PM »

~ 70hrs on the water, and after getting back from watching my first SUP event (Pacific Paddle Games), I thought this might be a good time to do some rambling about what I've learned so far. I'm known to be verbose with bursts of loquacious, so if you don't wanna read, I don't blame you. But maybe this might help some newer folks out there. Here goes:

Relevant info - I live in the Pacific NorthWest, 48yr old dude, 70" tall, 240lbs. I've broken 4 vertebrae in my back, dislocated my left shoulder 4 times, Level 2 separation of my right shoulder (clavicle sticks out noticeably), broken arch in my right foot that healed wrong so the bone sticks out a bit there, too, and many other injuries over the years. I'm a veteran of SOCOM with PTSD, ADHD, and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). I'm a hot mess, lemme tell ya, and there are guys & gals on this forum with far more serious limitations than I have that do a LOT more than I'm doing with SUP - that's the beauty of this sport!

I'm also an engineer and like having all the right answers before I do stuff, so I research a lot...and I mean, A LOT. Know what I found? There's WAY too much info, opinion, and variables out there for me to make sense of it all before getting started, so I did the best I could. I've wasted some money, but nothing terrible so far. Here's how it went down:

• My wife decided we should try SUP with inflatables for ease of transport & storage. I bought a 12'6" Isle iSUP on Amazon (-$800), the wife bought a 10'8" Costco iSUP. I didn't like the Isle because it was a noodle in the middle when I stood on it, and the wife's didn't, so I sent the Isle board back (+$800), and bought another Costco iSUP for myself (-$500).
• After about 10hrs on the water I found that the Costco iSUP sucked upwind, and was still a lot tippy-er than I liked, and I just HAD to find out what a hard board felt like. That's when I joined this site ($0) and started getting a LOT of info on boards from the awesome people here.
• I had no idea what hard boards would feel like, what all the details would translate to when I'm standing on it in various conditions. After getting some great input from retailer dudes like JimK and Robert Stehlik on this site, I demo'd a few universal surf shaped boards at my local shop that would float me - a Riviera Original 11'6" x 33" x 4.875" (210L), and a Surftech 11'6" x 32 x 5" (238L). I could hardly believe how stable it was compared to the iSUPs I had tried!
• I returned the Costco iSUP (+$500) and bought the Surftech because it is pretty heavy duty (-$950), which created a bit of a stir with my better half because I didn't discuss it (read: I was selfish). I also bought a carbon fixed length paddle with 105sq in blade on clearance at Amazon ($150). That brings the total spent to $1100, after all the returns, and I just found out I prefer a smaller blade so I can pick up the cadence a bit, and don't strain my joints as much.

I will pause this diatribe here and pick it up again soon, but if you're a beginner looking for advice, here's some: 

1 - My wife's inflatable is sitting on the side of our house in SUP hooks in the shade, inflated, and we transport it inflated. This is what ends up happening with MOST folks who buy an iSUP, so the benefits of it are gone, and they just aren't as much fun to learn on or use, in my opinion. Great workout pumping it up, though

2 - It took me about 10 hours to get comfortable on flat-ish water, and I it would have saved me some time, frustration & money if I had gotten time on the water before buying my boards & paddles. Demo, rent, or borrow anything that might work, and it's probably gonna pay dividends.

3 - I got a lot out of just watching all the SUP videos I could find. Blue Planet Surf has the best info out there that I've seen, and it was a good investment of time. 

More later, but my stoke is high, and I gotta get to paddling - Aloha!

6

Events / 2016 Pacific Paddle Games - Anyone going?

« on: September 06, 2016, 01:44:57 PM »

This event is going to take place in Dana Point, CA from 9/30 to 10/2 2016. I would post a link, but I'm afraid that might be breaking a rule or something on this forum. 

I've never gone to a SUP event, so I'll be there spectating this year in preparation for entering next year. If anyone is going & wants to meet up, I'd love to meet with y'all. I'll be in Oceanside from 9/29 through 10/3 and practicing my "skills" **cough** down there most of the time on a rental board. Maybe there will be demos at the race, hmmm...

7

SUP General / 40 hours on a SUP - Am I just a slow learner?

« on: September 01, 2016, 12:25:23 PM »

I'm 5'10" tall, 250lbs, 47 years old. About 10 hours in, I moved from an inflatable POS to a hard board with 238L of volume. I usually go out for 1hr sessions during the week on a bay in the North Puget Sound, but I've spent a few hours on lakes, a few in a marina, and about 5 hours on a river with class 1 & 2 rapids sporatically. I use a fixed all carbon paddle with a 105 blade (NP infinity).

This weekend I'm heading to the coast, a town called Westport in Washington State, to try my hand at SUP surfing. I grew up surfing & open water swimming all my life, and I have no fear of my ability to handle waves & rough water. I'm not worried about being able to get out past the impact zone one way or the other, but when I watch videos of experienced folks paddling through surf, I can't help but wonder if I'm a slow learner.

• When paddling on the bay there's almost always a 10-15 knot onshore wind with small chop that is very close peak to peak, unlike most open water swells. When I paddle upwind the board wants to constantly turn, the close chop beats the underside of my board so hard it sounds like a low gong sometimes, and vibrates like crazy. It slows me almost to a stop time and again, and it's a LOT of work to get upwind! I tend to tack, or zig-zag, upwind to keep my momentum going, and I'm very intentional with my paddle stroke based on what I've seen & read here and on youtube. Is it the board, or my weight, or does everyone face the same stuff I'm facing & you just get faster with practice?
• I can keep my balance pretty well in 1-2ft short chop, and on the river when I'm going through the small features. The only time I fall is when I'm practicing moving my feet around on the board. I feel like every time I go out, I get more & more comfortable & confident, I notice my balance improving, and I learn something. Do y'all think I'm ready to try getting out in small waves (without other swimmers/surfers)? When I think about trying to paddle over the whitewash, it seems like I am going to have one helluva time, even worse than paddling upwind in short, steep chop.
• Did y'all pick it up right away, or did it take you a bunch of hours before you felt truly comfortable & confident on your board in normal conditions?
• I assume most folks here are using race boards (displacement nose) - are they better upwind than the universal shape I'm on? I also assume most here would say 32" wide is like cheating cuz y'all are on itty-bitty-teenie-weenie, narrow boards that are longer than 11'6", require preternatural balance I can't even imagine, and you're prolly not pushing 250lbs  **laugh** But seriously, should I be looking at a longer, narrower race board for my upwind/downwind daily grind?

So, what say you? Am I behind the "normal" learning curve, or am I just grinding through the hard lessons like everyone else did when they first started? I don't expect to be a great paddler, but I would like to be able to get on any kind of water, anywhere, and have fun. Pretty sure I'll NEVER win a race, but I'd love to participate now & then without embarrassing myself.  I'm also going to be at "Battle of The Paddle" in Dana Point CA this year as a spectator, but hope to sign up for at least one race next year.

Thank you to JimK and Robert Stehlik for offering me great deals on equipment! I hope I didn't offend either of you when I chose to get my first hard board from my local shop, but I will be hitting you guys up when it comes time to get my next board & other equipment.