The board is obviously much less stable and slower than what I'm used to - on flatwater. On the wave, it is fast, stable and maneuverable, but I need more time before I have control of it. After five days in well formed small waves, I felt really pleased on my progression in that short time and got a good sense of what the board can do once I improve my skills a bit.
My background in the surfzone is roughly ten years of sea kayak surfing. Very little in short boats, some longboarding and a bit of time on a shortboard. I've always really loved surfing waves, especially in sea kayaks, but I won't be switching back anytime soon. The SUP is sooooo much more fun on the wave and is opening up a new realm of paddling fun for me.
After five days in San Diego the deck pad was barely hanging on, so first order of business once I returned was to strip it off and remount it. I didn't document the process with photos, but feel it is worth mentioning that it is a ton of work. The pad peeled off easily enough, but obviously left a ton of residue. I finally came to a system that made short work of a clean removal of all stickiness. Next I wanted to try something different and cut the pad into many smaller pieces approximately 2" by 4". After more work laying it out, taping it off, using a spray adhesive to mount and walking on the board to provide pressure, I'm finally done and the finished product is pretty nice. So far I really like the grip it provides but time will tell as to how long the pad will stay down. If it fails me, I will likely be going back to good old fashioned wax.
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