LR Sports & Social Paddles, Summer 2014
Back April I agreed to sort out a taster SUP session for works sports and social club, the aim being to take out a small group of paddlers. That didn't quite work out and over the next few months I built a list of over 40 interested people.
As is the way with these things I ended up with 31 new paddlers over three nights booked in with Lucy and Ruben at SUP Rental.
First session was Tuesday 29th July, a beautiful day for a paddle. A full group of 12 all arrived on time in Cawsand, my worry of this turning into an exercise of herding cats unfounded. A dozen nervous people squeezing into wetsuits in the car park. Easy chat focused on who'd be first to fall in and how cold the water was.
Ruben sorted out the paperwork in the car park before matching boards to paddlers and sending them all towards the beach. One there he went through what to do, much easier to stand up there and do it with a nervous but attentive audience. He never shows how to fall off though.
First out was Big Rich Earl, 100kg balanced on an inflatable that looked tiny under him. And fair dues, he was first up. And stayed there! Could the big man who makes a habit of falling off his mountain bike actually have a sense of balance...
Then, slowly and surely everyone was up, and down! I forget who was first but like dominos everyone they all went down up, and got back up again. And again.
Typically the younger members of the group showed their lack of knowledge of physics and by and large remained on their feet, despite encouragement to paddle at the back of the board or to turn around on the spot, children!
All too soon it was dusk and time to head for shore
and then to carry a now heavy board back up to the car park, to do the wetsuit dance in reverse and head to the pub for re-hydration.
The first session completed and we'd not lost anyone, phew.
Move on two weeks and summer had apparently ended with a tropical storm, Bertha hitting the SW cost the weekend before the next session on Monday 11th August. Texts back and forth with Lucy on the Sunday had the session cancelled but Monday morning's forecast looked better, Ruben checked the conditions and declared the session was 'do-able'. Paddle on!
Sadly 2 withdrew that morning, the weather putting them off and 2 more got as far as the car park before deciding it wasn't for them, but with a hanger-on making up the numbers 10 of us hit the water that evening, I counted them all in and I counted them all out.
And the session was brilliant, no disrespect to the other sessions but this was special, the weather adding to the event. Typically this was the one with no photos, I'd grabbed the opportunity to take Ruben's custom 10' 5" Escape SUP out for a spin, no GoPro mount on that and I missed getting shots for the most fun session.
Fun, but challenging. But as luck would have it the group were all of similar ability. With a stiff offshore ripping over the peninsular it would have been easy to bin the session but with everyone up for a laugh and Ruben's SUP Sack (imagine lacrosse on water) and two goals (children's inflatable swimming rings) we found a sheltered spot and played.
Two teams were picked with Ruben leading one and me the other, there's a first for me. The game was close with Ruben getting the first goal but team Jones struck back with two goals from Tom Moony and from me to steal victory. Again the session was ended by dusk but as we paddled back we were treated to one of nature's best shows, millions of whitebait in Cawsand Bay begin hunted by shoals of mackerel. The surface of the sea was boiling with small fish frantically trying to avoid the larger hunters. I've often seen this on the TV, bait balls forming while the BBC film it with an Attenborough narrative over the top but to see it up close and personal was simply stunning.
With Bertha still misbehaving the Tuesday session actually had worse conditions than the previous night, the sea was at best lumpy and the group's ability varied a lot but again, as I've found myself this summer, SUPing tends to make people smile, and this was no exception. 9 new paddlers ending the evening tired and happy.
Learning from the night before I brought a board with a camera mount, not learning from previous experiments with anti-fog mixtures I'd not applied it properly. However two other cameras were there with some good results.
Again nature treated us, with what was left of the whitebait school in the bay again, still chased by hungry mackerel and gulls. This time they were close inshore and as we came back in as dusk fish were jumping onto the boards. Pity I don't eat fish.
Back April I agreed to sort out a taster SUP session for works sports and social club, the aim being to take out a small group of paddlers. That didn't quite work out and over the next few months I built a list of over 40 interested people.
As is the way with these things I ended up with 31 new paddlers over three nights booked in with Lucy and Ruben at SUP Rental.
 |
| Sunny Cawsand |
First session was Tuesday 29th July, a beautiful day for a paddle. A full group of 12 all arrived on time in Cawsand, my worry of this turning into an exercise of herding cats unfounded. A dozen nervous people squeezing into wetsuits in the car park. Easy chat focused on who'd be first to fall in and how cold the water was.
 |
| Ruben's beach briefing |
Ruben sorted out the paperwork in the car park before matching boards to paddlers and sending them all towards the beach. One there he went through what to do, much easier to stand up there and do it with a nervous but attentive audience. He never shows how to fall off though.
 |
| Rich heads out |
First out was Big Rich Earl, 100kg balanced on an inflatable that looked tiny under him. And fair dues, he was first up. And stayed there! Could the big man who makes a habit of falling off his mountain bike actually have a sense of balance...
 |
| and stand up! |
Then, slowly and surely everyone was up, and down! I forget who was first but like dominos everyone they all went down up, and got back up again. And again.
 |
| If you're happy bow down |
Typically the younger members of the group showed their lack of knowledge of physics and by and large remained on their feet, despite encouragement to paddle at the back of the board or to turn around on the spot, children!
 |
| Dan, not understanding physics |
 |
| Kate |
All too soon it was dusk and time to head for shore
 |
| Rich and Jenny |
 |
| Alan with a hitchhiker |
and then to carry a now heavy board back up to the car park, to do the wetsuit dance in reverse and head to the pub for re-hydration.
The first session completed and we'd not lost anyone, phew.
Move on two weeks and summer had apparently ended with a tropical storm, Bertha hitting the SW cost the weekend before the next session on Monday 11th August. Texts back and forth with Lucy on the Sunday had the session cancelled but Monday morning's forecast looked better, Ruben checked the conditions and declared the session was 'do-able'. Paddle on!
 |
| Pick a board |
Sadly 2 withdrew that morning, the weather putting them off and 2 more got as far as the car park before deciding it wasn't for them, but with a hanger-on making up the numbers 10 of us hit the water that evening, I counted them all in and I counted them all out.
And the session was brilliant, no disrespect to the other sessions but this was special, the weather adding to the event. Typically this was the one with no photos, I'd grabbed the opportunity to take Ruben's custom 10' 5" Escape SUP out for a spin, no GoPro mount on that and I missed getting shots for the most fun session.
Fun, but challenging. But as luck would have it the group were all of similar ability. With a stiff offshore ripping over the peninsular it would have been easy to bin the session but with everyone up for a laugh and Ruben's SUP Sack (imagine lacrosse on water) and two goals (children's inflatable swimming rings) we found a sheltered spot and played.
Two teams were picked with Ruben leading one and me the other, there's a first for me. The game was close with Ruben getting the first goal but team Jones struck back with two goals from Tom Moony and from me to steal victory. Again the session was ended by dusk but as we paddled back we were treated to one of nature's best shows, millions of whitebait in Cawsand Bay begin hunted by shoals of mackerel. The surface of the sea was boiling with small fish frantically trying to avoid the larger hunters. I've often seen this on the TV, bait balls forming while the BBC film it with an Attenborough narrative over the top but to see it up close and personal was simply stunning.
With Bertha still misbehaving the Tuesday session actually had worse conditions than the previous night, the sea was at best lumpy and the group's ability varied a lot but again, as I've found myself this summer, SUPing tends to make people smile, and this was no exception. 9 new paddlers ending the evening tired and happy.
 |
| Bob |
Learning from the night before I brought a board with a camera mount, not learning from previous experiments with anti-fog mixtures I'd not applied it properly. However two other cameras were there with some good results.
 |
| Dance Ben, dance. |
Again nature treated us, with what was left of the whitebait school in the bay again, still chased by hungry mackerel and gulls. This time they were close inshore and as we came back in as dusk fish were jumping onto the boards. Pity I don't eat fish.
 |
| Bob |
 |
| Ben, synchronised swimming. |
 |
| Lee, happy. |
 |
| Dusk and time to go |