What's SUP
Stand Up Paddling or the art of falling in, ungracefully
Picture
a warm summer evening at the beach, the sea is calm, not a breath of wind and a
graceful figure glides past, silhouetted against the skyline, apparently
floating over the water with a long paddle in their hands. A stand up paddle
boarder.
That’s
almost what I do.
Picture instead a cold February day off the rocky South Hams coast: a biting cold wind from the
North and a grinning, wetsuit-clad middle aged man, complete with neoprene
gloves and balaclava, sitting on a board with a long paddle across his lap.
That’s what I do.
A few
years ago I was at Bantham beach early in the morning, before the summer rush
to put down towels and erect wind breaks. It was a calm, sunny day with no surf
so I was a little surprised to notice someone heading up the beach with a
massive surfboard, a board so big it was hard not to notice him. And what
looked like an oversized canoe paddle in his other hand. We stopped and had a
chat and my interest in the world of Stand Up Paddling was started.
I
didn’t do anything after my first SUP encounter, I started to notice more
SUPers on the sea and occasionally on rivers but the boards just seemed too big
to live with.
SUP
was probably born before the first surf boards were created when someone
decided to stand up in a canoe and paddle, the modern SUP is more than a
massive surf board. Boards are continually evolving for different and diverse
uses, from fishing trips on rivers and lakes to big surf days to oceanic
adventures. Board lengths vary greatly from 9 feet to 17 and more, competitions
from flat-water races to pro surf contests. Materials range from foam like soft
boards to fibre glass and full carbon high tech race boards. But all with that
one drawback for me, the size making them hard to live with.
Whilst
aimlessly surfing the web, I stumbled across a SUP forum with a link to a video
from The Red Paddle Co of white water SUPing on an inflatable board. Very interesting.
More reading and YouTube research and I was hooked, it was time to take the
plunge, as it turns out literally, and a 10’6” inflatable board was ordered;
the size based on my, somewhat optimistic, assessment of my ability to balance
on air.
The Dreadnaught,
as she was initially christened was launched at Lopwell Dam near Plymouth on a
calm, warm summer’s evening, 15 mins pumping, 10 mins struggling with an old
wetsuit and I was in, accompanied by a safety kayak paddled by a very amused
Paul. Paddling away from the bank on my knees, the water so still you
could clearly see the ripples radiating out from the slow moving craft, as I,
somewhat nervously, stood up.
And
didn’t fall in!
A
very nervous 40 minutes later and we’re heading back to the slipway, still
largely dry despite several close calls where I dropped to my knees to avoid
falling into the dark brown tidal river. I was exhausted and my legs ached like
they’d never ached before but I was pretty sure then I was hooked.
Next
trip to the sea: Mothecombe Beach in the South Hams. A wide tidal estuary with
clear water and a sandy bottom, perfect to practise and see if I could catch a
wave at the estuary mouth, over-confident from my shaky start on a glassy calm
river, I was in and on my feet immediately, and straight into the water! Right
in front of a few people who thought it was hilarious. A tiny swell made things
10 times harder but now aware that I was going to get a dunking I was off,
again and again and again. And it was great!
More
trips lead to close encounters with fish, kingfishers and curious bystanders,
experience lead to higher pressures in the board and a better wetsuit for the
inevitable dunking. And then a big day, my daughter wanted a go. She was a
typical teenager, not interested in what her daft dad did, until the arrival
of the iSUP.
Back
to the beach and after some instruction from me she was off, a natural.
Immediately gliding along just like the SUPer I’d seen years before, so I did
what any proud dad would do, swam after her and grabbed the leash trailing
behind the board sending her into the water. Ha! The next couple of hours
passed in a blur, teaching her how to turn, seeing if we could both use the
board at the same time, watching her paddle off across the bay and back. Going
quicker now so I couldn’t catch her.
One
board was not going to be enough.
A summer
holiday and paddling adventures in Southern German lakes re-enforced this,
although the board could happily cope with 4 teenagers on it, a SUP in a lake
is a teenager magnet, it was borderline for me on anything other than flat
calm, and Sarah had pretty much claimed it as her own, off around the lake
without a care in the world, as dry when she left as when she returned. Sickening.
The
SUP fleet had to increase in size and in January a new 12’6” iSUP again from
Red Paddle was ordered. 50% thicker and nearly double the volume of the now
renamed ‘small board’, hopefully the ideal board for me. A half day was booked
with kayaking Paul to launch the new board out but delays with shipping meant
that the proposed launch day arrived with no sign of it. But it was a lovely day with a good swell and
with a rental board from the shop off we went, time to try SUP surfing. Harder
work but more exhilarating than flat water with 100% more falling in, the
aspect of the sport at which I excel.
The
big board was launched on March 1st at a cold and slightly windy Wembury beach
near Plymouth, a costal paddle with an old friend using the smaller board for
his first SUP. Confidently paddling away from the beach on my knees to get some
speed, as always with a small group of interested spectators, I popped to my
feet and paddled. Brilliant! My massive board so much more stable than the
small one, up over the first swell, no problems, easy as … Splash! Ah. Bigger
wave and gust of wind. Never mind, back on and kneel down, Mark caught up, wary
after my graceful stumble, so we paddled around the reef to quieter water, and
up again. So much more control, in and out of the rock formations that form
this spectacular bit of coast that I’ve never explored before, fish, sea birds,
gliding over forests of bladder wrack and kelp, a colour and pattern to the sea
bed and costal cliffs that I’d never seen before.
And
not too much falling in. Roll on summer!