First Legit Downwinder in 20-30 mph Wind

Saturday April 28, 2012 - 1.5 hour, 7.5 mile Naish 14' Glide (courtesy of Covewater Santa Cruz).  Downwinder from 4-Mile to Cowells. (From a Facebook post...My two cents worth.......Downwinders in 20-30 mph winds is the big leagues so KNOW YOUR LIMITS. Don't go by yourself. Think safety first, last, always. Stay together, it isn't a race. Have a plan that includes shuttle and equipment logistics as well as paddle route and conditions, and communicate it. Make sure everyone understands. Surfing big ocean swells in big wind successfully is thrilling as well as physically and mentally challenging. Prepare to become addicted.)

Narrative added Thursday May 3, 2012 - I remember wondering, back in 2007 when I first got into SUP surfing, whether or not one would need a SUP quiver at some point. How shallow that speculation and shortsighted that vision turned out is now evident in 2012. That stand up paddleboarding has been the salvation of the surfing industry, both corporate and for individual small business, is no longer even debatable. SUP pulled Surftech back from the brink and more than many small business shapers and designers jumped into the SUP end of the pool, realizing that the creative horizon was open as far as the mind could imagine. It didn't hurt that the margins on building a SUP board were also much healthier than most conventional surfboards, especially shortboards.

Now the adventurous SUP surfer can ride waves on longboard and shortboard SUPs, flatwater race and fitness paddle, take on rivers and rapids, have fun with the family on any body of water from Minnesota to Louisiana, Maine to Oregon; and juke their inner adrenaline junkie in the chaos, beauty and turbulence that is downwind SUP surfing and paddling.

Each genre of the SUP experience really does require it's own specialized equipment, just like surfing requires a quiver of boards to best ride different sizes and types of surf. The most prohibitive aspect of broader participation in SUP activities is probably price. These boards are expensive.

As I began moving out of the SUP surfing genre and into the racing and fitness SUP niche last year, I realized that my SUP surfboard(s) weren't going to cut it. Yes, I could use them but couldn't get the results or the expanded experiences I was after. So I did the research and I bought a 12-6 Bark Competitor. The board provides tons of value in fun and fitness. It's cost effective and user friendly for fitness paddling, racing and moderate open ocean touring. But it isn't great for downwinders. While one can use it on downwind runs, it isn't the board for the downwind genre. It doesn't surf well and the canoe/kayak bow is easily buried in the backs of the waves which slows the board greatly. I tried a couple moderate (and short distance) downwinders last year and wasn't thrilled.

But this year I'd had plenty of time to think it over and realize that I needed the right board for the job. Enter Covewater Paddle Surf Santa Cruz and the 14 ft. Naish Glide, a board designed and built for downwind paddling. Now all I needed was a windy day. Me and da Boyz got that on Saturday the 28th.

My friend Butch never tires of letting me know that I don't know shizzle about real downwinders. Having spent 20 years on Maui with a regular diet of Maliko run downwinders gives him some credibility I suppose but in checking the wind data, our run on the 28th, here on the north coast of Cali, put us in the same league as the Maui crew. Not the same skill level for sure, but the same playing field, only I'd say more challenging because of the harsher conditions. That said, let me be clear, I'll take 75 degree water any day over 52 degree brine.

Me and da Boyz completely enjoyed the challenges, adrenaline and satisfaction that our Four Mile to Cowells run provided. And we're looking for many more to come. It's opened up a "new frontier" in SUP surfing and paddling for me, and another option in this all inclusive sport of many colors and sizes. With the right quiver a SUP practitioner can be out on the water every day enjoying something different and fun while staying seriously stoked. It doesn't get much better than this.

SUP just could be the perfect all around sport. Stay tuned for more as the search for my own downwind board continues.....

Paddling Season Has Begun

Friday April 20, 2012 - 1.5 hour, 6.5 miles Bark paddle. New Brighton-Sponge Bob-Sewers Channel-New Brighton via the low route. EveryTrail link.

Friday April 27, 2012 - 50 minute, 3.5 miles Bark paddle. New Brighton and the low route through the kelp at low tide to Privates. Then through a large channel in the kelp beds from the staircase almost due south. After clearing the beds and gaining open sea, turned left and headed east to Sponge Bob and back into NB. Everytrail link.

April 9 & 13 in the L With The GoPro Hero 2

April 9 and 13, 2012. A couple Spring surf sessions in mixed conditions. I paddled out on the 9th mostly to try out the new options/settings on the GoPro Hero 2. I downloaded a firmware update that allows for shooting in 1080-30 HD with a "narrow" setting. This provides a 90 degree field of vision (FOV) which is much like (but not quite) what one sees with ones natural ocular vision. I'm not necessarily a fan of the wide angle, on surfboard shot unless it's used in a constrained way. The constant repetition of a wide angle shot is not what surfing really looks like so for me watching a vid or surfing in person is best done naturally.

Waves on the 9th were mediocre and I paddled out at a bit too high tide so it didn't take long for the spot I picked to swamp and swell as the incoming waves rolled across the reefs without breaking. Friday was a different story. There was a solid 9-11 ft. at 16-17 seconds in the water and the energy was showing. The previous three days in the week were wet, windy and stormy, culminating with a massive thunder and lighting storm at midnight that lasted two hours. It poured rain and the runoff was in full effect. Some spots looked like coffee with a lot of cream. One can only imagine the sinus infecting bacteria that were present. But my spot looked pretty clean and best of all, there was no crowd.

My buddy Ron was out on his knee machine, Daniel on his longboard and a very few others. There were plenty of waves and everyone took down their fair share. The wind was light and it was glassy on paddle out but that changed pretty quickly and the usual Spring winds cranked up about a half hour into the session. It blew side/offshore at a fairly steady 6-8 knots with gusts up to and even over 18 making paddling a challenge, especially back out into the line-up which was into a headwind. Two and a half hours later I took my last wave into the beach, sated, exhausted and sore from nearly non-stop paddling and surfing.

Big Sunday April 1, 2012.

No foolin'. It got pretty big around here on Sunday, April Fool's Day. There was a lot of water moving around the Bay and into the beach and while it was pretty big, the mid-period swell and howling outer bay winds conspired to make it something much less than it could have been. Suffice it to say that it was just.....well, big.