Well alrighty, seems like there is a tad bit of interest in da House re stand up paddling, maybe this thread will create more. I'm sorta writing just as an outlet ,and like any old thread on a forum, seeing if there are kindred souls. I get out there only about once a week which is kind of a sad, paltry amount, but it's one of those things that if I'm not doing it, I'm thinking about it.
SUP has been on my radar for a few years, seemed interesting to me, finally got around to trying it late last summer on a lake in Maine. The very first few tries it was kinda, meh, but after awhile something clicked. The first amazing experience was when I took my dog on the board with me and we went around the perimeter of the lake for an hour or so. He freakin loved it and reflecting back, it was the first time I got the hang of burying the paddle deep and using your whole core to pull on it and get good propulsion. It is the perfect blend of nature and exercise, imo. Anytime you are out on the water in most any watercraft, I think we can all agree it's a good time spent. And with a paddle board, you are practically in the water rather than apart from it. When you fall in thats half the fun! And with your stand up position, you can see into the water better than from lower down in a kayak for example, and it lets you see fish etc better. And if you get tired of standing up you can paddle from the knees or sitting, or lie on the deck and go flying along just by hand paddling. The workout you get really creeps up on you, which is cool, you don't really know you are getting hella exercise till its over.
Idk, I could go on and on, but that is a scratch-the-surface start. Another cool thing is they draw very little water so you can explore virtually anywhere there is 6" of H20. Also, they are very lightweight. I've sailed and wind surfed and those are definitely fun, but the fact that this mode has relatively very little gear or set up time or logistics to deal with makes it that much more doable- take board, paddle, lifejacket and leash to water, go for it. At the end of a day of tree work, the less hassle and weight you gotta lift to go do something, the more likely you will actually go do it. I have a real funky knee which causes issues with a lot of sports etc, but SUP more or less agrees with it so far, so thats another huge plus. Another thing is that it seems equally fun to go solo as well as with someone else. It just seems like a very simple yet very versatile sport. Hop on board, THers
SUP has been on my radar for a few years, seemed interesting to me, finally got around to trying it late last summer on a lake in Maine. The very first few tries it was kinda, meh, but after awhile something clicked. The first amazing experience was when I took my dog on the board with me and we went around the perimeter of the lake for an hour or so. He freakin loved it and reflecting back, it was the first time I got the hang of burying the paddle deep and using your whole core to pull on it and get good propulsion. It is the perfect blend of nature and exercise, imo. Anytime you are out on the water in most any watercraft, I think we can all agree it's a good time spent. And with a paddle board, you are practically in the water rather than apart from it. When you fall in thats half the fun! And with your stand up position, you can see into the water better than from lower down in a kayak for example, and it lets you see fish etc better. And if you get tired of standing up you can paddle from the knees or sitting, or lie on the deck and go flying along just by hand paddling. The workout you get really creeps up on you, which is cool, you don't really know you are getting hella exercise till its over.
Idk, I could go on and on, but that is a scratch-the-surface start. Another cool thing is they draw very little water so you can explore virtually anywhere there is 6" of H20. Also, they are very lightweight. I've sailed and wind surfed and those are definitely fun, but the fact that this mode has relatively very little gear or set up time or logistics to deal with makes it that much more doable- take board, paddle, lifejacket and leash to water, go for it. At the end of a day of tree work, the less hassle and weight you gotta lift to go do something, the more likely you will actually go do it. I have a real funky knee which causes issues with a lot of sports etc, but SUP more or less agrees with it so far, so thats another huge plus. Another thing is that it seems equally fun to go solo as well as with someone else. It just seems like a very simple yet very versatile sport. Hop on board, THers
