Topics

16

Travel, Trips, Destinations / 90 Miles

« on: July 29, 2018, 01:27:09 PM »

I'm packing for my four day Albany to Peekskill trip tomorrow. Very excited. This is my first paddle/camping trip! It'll be four days down the river. About 20 miles per day except for the last day, where we have to do about thirty. That'll be fine because we won't have to set up camp that last night.

I still have to put the tent on the board, which will fit in the back alongside the sleeping bag, plus an inflatable pad. I might rearrange the spare paddle too.

The weather looks good, mostly. We'll have some light winds in our faces, but that's all. I'll my adventures when I get back.

17

Random / Ichabod Encounters Nude

« on: July 19, 2018, 04:50:13 AM »

Constitution Marsh is one of the best paddles off the Hudson. I’ve posted pics before. Lovely place, right across the river from West Point. I’ve heard for years that there’s a waterfall at the extreme north end of the marsh. This waterfall has been kind of a white whale for me. I’ve gone after it at least twice and gotten stuck in the mud or hit a dead end through the reeds.

Today was going to be the day! I was on my tough, floaty Pau Hana, the tide was high, and I recently got detailed directions to get there. I even recorded the adventure on my GoPro. I took a wrong turn through some weeds and had to backtrack once, but I finally found the right way. It was a narrow twisty channel with the marsh bank on one side and the reeds on the other, completely hidden from normal view. I gingerly paddles the length until the marsh ended. Then I heard it — the sound of water cascading! I was on a narrow stream but it was just deep enough for my fin. Onwards to the falls!

I paddle a very short distance with the team turning 180 degrees, and suddenly there it was. The waterfall. It was bigger than I imagined, with many rivulets, like something out of romance novel. There was even a pool beneath. I noticed someone had strung up a hammock nearby, and a radio was one, so there were people nearby. Whatever. I just wanted some pictures of the falls.

As I stepped into clear view of the pool, I saw it was a couple in waist deep water. Neither was wearing anything above the belt, and from what I could tell neither had anything on below. The girl was kind of laughing in an embarrassed way, using her hands as a makeshift bikini top. Okay, a little embarrassing, and funny, but there’s a wrinkle. These kids were obviously locals and this waterfall was four miles from the school I teach at. That meant these skinny-dippers were most likely former students! Okay, so this is also a small community, and word gets around. I was in enough trouble at work. Let’s just say I didn’t need a rumor that I was creeping around my former students, taking nude pictures.

So I beat a retreat. I wanted that good pic of the falls, but even that would probably get me in trouble. I took the pic from my board and headed home. My GoPro was out of juice anyway, and I had to pick up my kid. I'll post the video when it's ready.

18

SUP General / Gaze At My Fleet!

« on: July 14, 2018, 05:49:46 PM »

My nonprofit HVH2O is coming together! Here is my fledgeling fleet!

Yes, I know these are plastic Imagine Surfers, but they're perfect for beginner paddlers. They also won't dent on the omnipresent rocks, and they're wide enough for the clumsiest beginner. Plus, I got the green and yellow one for only $275 each on Craigslist, brand new. Next year I'll add a few Bic Tough-tecs, plus a half-dozen kayaks.

19

Gear Talk / Best Aftermarket Tie-downs

« on: May 27, 2018, 07:24:10 AM »

I'm planning a long paddling trip with some friends, down the Hudson from Albany to Peekskill. This is a 90 mile, 4–5 day paddle. There's an established water trail, which makes camping easy.

Of course, I've never done this. I don't have a real camping board, but I'm thinking of modifying my Amundsen 12'6 with extra tie-downs. It has four in the front, and I want to put four more in the back. What tie downs are best. These's the EZ Deck Plugs, which are had plastic and stick up a little from the deck. Then there's the Bungee It system with has soft gear ties.

I like the soft Bungee It system rather than the EZ Deck plugs. I'm worried that the soft attachments might break or tear. Does that happen, or am I just being a worry wart? The EZ Deck Plugs are sturdier, but I don't like how they stick up. What do you guy think, or are there other options I haven't considered? (Anybody want to loan me a Bic Wing maybe?)

20

Random / An Awesomely Dumb Shark Movie

« on: April 10, 2018, 05:42:46 PM »

Since Tom brought the discourse up with his discussion of 2001, I'm going to lower it. This is the dumbest, funniest preview I've seen in years. And this one has a paddleboarder!



First one who says, “But sharks don't…” or “But Megalodons are…” gets whacked with a paddle!

21

NorthEast / HVH2O is Born!

« on: March 07, 2018, 08:30:42 AM »

So I actually got my act together and started the motions of making this dream idea come true. My nonprofit is going to be called HVH2O (Hudson Valley H2O). I've had three meetings so far, and last night was our first public meeting. I've got two other people with me on this project who are educators. The idea is to make a watersports/environmental center on my local waterfront. This will serve the entire community, creating access to the river for everybody as well as educating the local populace and schools about environmental issues.

It looks like this thing is going to happen. I had a former mayor and a current councilperson at the meeting. Everyone was very interested, especially considering that we're building this up as a community effort. My local waterfront has been getting developed more and more over the years — in a good way — but water access has been ignored. I want to make that happen.

The watersports part won't be a pure SUP thing. Kayaks are really popular on the east coast, so they must be an important part of our plan. I'll handle the SUP part, and we have people who are interested in helping who will be kayak instructors. It's all good that way. The important thing is getting people out on the water, not dictating what they ride. The watersports and environmental part merge together because getting out on the river is one way we learn about the river.

I attached our vision of what we want the site to look like, along with some pictures of what it looks like now. This is already park land zoned for a kayak rental operation, but nobody ever bit. I'm currently working with the city to gain use of that land, which they have expressed interest in.

I'll keep you guys updated! I hope in five years or so I can make this my full time gig. Things will calm down during the cold months, so the educational programs will be very important to keep creating revenue. I'm sure I'm leaving things out, but this is the basic idea.

22

SUP Safety / ACA SUP Certification

« on: January 22, 2018, 05:33:26 AM »

Anybody out there have experience with ACA SUP certification? I'm going forwards with this idea of mine to create a watersports/environmental center on my town waterfront, and I guess I need this for insurance purposes. I already have PaddleFit certification, but that won't work with a mixed group of kayaks and SUPs.

It's funny. I looked over the document that lists what the skills are (https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/aca.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/SEI-Courses/L2_SUP_InstCrit.pdf), and I know all of them. So it's paying someone to tell me I know what I know. A little frustrating, but that's how these things are. Ultimately it's about getting that insurance.

23

SUP General / Great Pic of Me

« on: October 17, 2017, 06:58:09 AM »

My wife Kirsten did a picture of me on my ideal all-around board. I look much better here than in person!



Here’s my ideal board. I wish board manufacturers would make boards this pretty.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

24

Gear Talk / Most Popular SUP Model?

« on: October 04, 2017, 04:43:16 AM »

I was wondering what was the most popular type of paddleboard sold. I'm guessing it's the all-around, something between 10–11 feet? I'm working on an article,and I want to have my ducks in a row. Does anybody have any data on this? Is there any data on this?

25

SUP General / Aww, kid!

« on: September 05, 2017, 06:32:55 PM »

I took my son Gabriel paddling in the river on Labor Day. I had my daughter Miranda on my Pau Hana 11, and he was on my trusty NSP 11, which I've pretty much given him. The kid isn't bad on his board, but he does tend to freeze up when he needs to put on some steam.

It was windy and choppy. We were messing around in the surf on a river beach because the wind was keeping us from going anywhere. We did have to paddle around a rough spot with some piling though. No biggie on way to the beach.

On he way back, Gabriel froze up. The waves pushed him against a line of piling shots just sticking out of the water. I left hm to his own devices, figuring he'd got around that earlier, and he'd do it again.

He froze up. I paddled away, dropped my daughter on land, then went to check on him. He didn't get away from the pilings, and the waves lifted the board on top of them. There are now four peach sized holes in the bottom of the board, and a fifth crack. Any of these holes would be a major repair.

I was pretty pissed off because I'd talked to the kid multiple times about freezing up and putting energy into moving. He was really upset, which kept me from getting too mad.

I've been experimenting with repairs, but these are beyond me. I can't even afford to get this professionally repaired right now, and the closest repair shop is about two hours away.

Darn kids.

26

NorthEast / CCBC Updates

« on: August 11, 2017, 07:47:21 AM »

Okay all you lucky people. Tell us what's happening. How was the pre-party, the 4AM gathering, the long stretch across, and the after party?

No details too small!

27

Gear Talk / Lots of Cruising on an All-Arounder

« on: August 09, 2017, 06:55:35 PM »

I mentioned I got a 11' X 32" Pau Hana Big EZ Ricochet last winter. I want to do a long term test on it to go along with my “One Board Quiver” idea. Basically, I wanted to see if you could go down to just one board that will do everything. So, five months later I've done workouts on it, cruised, done yoga, raced, shlepped kids, done eco tours, and pretty much everything I can think of. I'm going to take it surfing on Friday I hope.

Nothing's really been a surprise. It's a good board, and at 32" wide it's pretty stable. The one think which is an issue is long-distance cruising. I can bring the thing up to 3.8–4 mph on flatwater without much trouble, but that's about it. The problem with that speed is that I'm starting to drag the board over the water instead of using its natural glide.

That didn't seem as much of an issue until I did 22 miles on it yesterday. It was a there-and-back run, timing the tides so they'd help in both directions. On the way up I had 8–10 mph winds in my face. Holy crap, that wasn't fun. After a while I remembered to step back to loosen up the nose and let it go over the waves. That made things a little better. Shockingly, I averaged 3.1 mph with the current. (I was with a paddle partner in a kayak who had a full GPS.)

The way back was faster. The wind died, which pissed me off because at least I wanted some down winding or breezing or whatever it would be. What was getting me was that the board felt slower and slower as I got tireder. It just didn't have that glide. That wasn't such a problem when I was fresh, but now it was pissing me off. Again, no big surprise, but it got me thinking about the real issue with these things. They're great for mucking around and short paddles, but when you do distance they don't have that glide you need. It's not about the speed so much as how much energy it takes to make it go fast. Again, I can muscle it up to speed, but after a while that just isn't productive.

I was hoping to say this board did fine or at least okay in every test, but the distance thing was a bummer. I never wanted to just get off a board before. Even though we averaged 4.3 mph over 11 miles, it wasn't a fun 11 miles. I was just working too hard. Made me wonder if you could narrow the board some and give it better glide. It'll still have that planing nose, but at least the width won't be as much of an issue.

The picture is of James and me after we were done. I was more beat than after 33 miles a few weeks before. Anyone else ever do cruising like this? Anybody else this stubborn?

28

Random / Sad News For One of Us

« on: July 25, 2017, 08:14:08 PM »

If any of you know Bulky, real world name Rolf Geyling, he just suffered a terrible loss. His son Rudy died. He asked me to post it here because he told me this community means a lot to him.

I know him from here and Facebook. He sent me some kind messages as my job situation went south. I wish I could do something for him, but I'm on the east coast. If any of you are in or near Santa Barbara, perhaps you could reach out?

You can read about Rudy's story at Rudysbeat.com.

29

NorthEast / Long Hudson Paddle — July 22

« on: July 01, 2017, 07:29:38 AM »

I'm planning a day expedition on the Hudson. The idea is to paddle from Poughkeepsie to Peekskill, which is about 32 miles. It's a long day, but the tides will be with us during the second half of the journey. We won't have any escorts, but there's no reason why we should ever be more than about a hundred feet from shore. There will probably be some kayakers with us too. This is definitely not a race.

The date is July 22, 7AM. This is a great paddle, especially the second half where we'll go through the Highlands region. I'm pretty excited about this! You'd have to bring some sort of cruising board as we'll have to keep a good pace to get to Peekskill before dark. There are spots to stop along the river, and we'll have some sort of lunch break at either Beacon or Cold Spring, depending on the time. Bring snacks, water, lunch, and some sort of water shoe.

It would be cool to have some Zoners join us. This isn't an official thing — it's just me wanting to do some distance with friends. (This is also a great training paddle for the Cape Cod Bay Challenge.) Let me know if you're interested!

30

Flatwater and Touring / Daughter's First Independent Paddle - Very Cute

« on: June 29, 2017, 07:07:56 PM »

I have twin daughters (fraternal, thank God). Miranda has been having socialization problems lately. She gets upset very easily, especially when something seems unfair. A few days ago she begged me to take her SUPing, and that seemed like a great way for us to bond.

I took her to the Croton River, which is one of the only sheltered areas to paddle. She was on the family Bic 8'4", which is a great board for little kids. Most of the time she was on her knees, but a few times she got up on her feet. I figured, no pressure. She should paddle as she wanted. She'll figure the whole thing out eventually. The paddle is about 3/4 a mile up river to some rapids. There's a nice swimming hole. Then back.

Frolicking in the swimming hole


Some sort-of rapids


Enthralled with the chop.


The wind got a little intense for her on the way back, so I transferred her to my board and towed the Bic. Then she played with the camera and was just generally silly. We had a blast, and she got some confidence that she could handle a board on the water. She's still not ready for the open Hudson, but that will come in time.