Topics

1

Gear Talk / Stupid Question Fins while driving?

« on: October 20, 2016, 10:25:19 AM »

Hi Guys, I'm sure many of you likely think this is a silly question but I'm new to boards and don't have any more experienced friends in town to ask.

For reference my board is a 11'6" all around shape with the stock fin which has a pretty big area.

I drive a Minivan and I strap the board upside down and front forward to the factory roof rack using rack pads and the beefy Dakine Baja tie down straps, it feels like a rock once I have it on there.

The guy at the store told me that I should not have the fin on the board when I'm driving he recommends taking it off.  This sounds like total hogwash to me.  Ok maybe if I'm doing a 5 hour road trip on the highway I should take the fin off.  However 98% of the time I'm doing 10-20 miles mostly at speeds of 40mph and occasionally getting up to 60mph for 3-4 minutes at a time.  For these conditions I should be fine leaving my fin attached correct?

Reason I care is that I'm often trying to get a paddle completed in a short period to get back to the wife and kids, and time spent removing and installing the fin is a wasted few minutes on either end of the trip that I'd prefer to cut out if possible.

2

Gulf States / The Austin Texas Thread: Post your paddle pics, talk put in spots, the heat . .

« on: August 12, 2016, 01:41:16 PM »

ATX Paddlers!!!!  On Meetup there is CenTex Paddlers with ~1,300 members and SUP ATX with ~7,000 members so I know you're out there.

Tell us where you put in, what you're riding, complain about the 100+ degree air temps and 90+ degree water temps, and Post Your Pics!!!!

I'll start, riding a SUP ATX Adventure 11'6" I mostly paddle on Lake Travis.  I paddle with my dog or my two girls (4 and 2) on my board and I put in at Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown, or Lakeway City Park in Lakeway.  It is freakin hot, and jumping in Lake Travis which is 90 degrees doesn't cool me down much but I still gotta paddle.  And now the pics:



 

3

Gear Talk / iSUP Recommendations for Wife Please

« on: August 03, 2016, 10:09:19 AM »

I have an all around fiberglass board, SUP ATX 11'6" Navigator.  My girls love going out on the board with me.  Now I'm looking to get my wife an iSUP.  She is not super excited about it, but she is willing.  I'm thinking iSUP because she is tiny and she would never deal with carrying a fiberglass board so I'd have to do all the loading and unloading.  Also I'm getting pretty comfortable with strapping my board to the rack on my minivan but I don't think I'd like stacking two boards up there.

Like I said she is tiny (5'2"), generally athletic but not a huge water lover.  We went for a 1 hour paddle on a crappy rental board and she did OK but she was very slow.  I'm hoping she improves quickly.  If there are boards with better glide than others that would be a big priority.

Paddling will be on the lakes around Austin.  Rarely in the ocean for a trip to the Gulf.  I'm also thinking that maybe I'll use this if I ever do a river overnight trip where using the fiberglass board would be risky for damage on rocks.

Anyway what are your recommendations for a good iSUP, hopefully no more than $800?     

Looks like there are even a few decent options on Amazon:

iRocker 10' - looks like a bit more touring shape
ten toes weekender 10'
ISLE Airtech 10'

4

Gear Talk / Newbie SUP ATX Models?

« on: July 20, 2016, 01:57:27 PM »

I am an eager newbie.  As in, I've decided I'm going to buy a board and since that decision has been made I don't think I'm gonna be able to wait very long.

About me and my potential paddling:
5'10" 150 lbs
Live in Austin TX, most paddling will be in inlets of Lake Travis and my little local town reservoir.  Perhaps I will take it on vacations to the Ocean in Port Aransas but this will be rare. The places I will paddle will be mostly calm but it can get pretty windy here as well.
Will most likely have one or two toddlers (Girls age 3-4, ~30lbs but growing), or dog (~30lbs) with me on the board most of the time I'm using it.

I would like to buy from SUP ATX, since they are local (certainly the only showroom I can drive to and purchase), and they seem to be a solid choice but I figured I'd see what comments/recommendations I can get from the community.

http://www.supatx.com/

I spoke with a salesperson on the phone and based on my comments he says he thinks the best board is the 11'6" Adventure, which he described as an all around board.  He picked that one largely because of my comments on the kids/dog, since this board has a full nose to tail deck pad.  He quoted me $885 for this board

Thoughts/Comments?  Does the 11'6" adventure sound like a good choice?  Is this a reasonable price?