40 hour vacation

I turned my phone off at 9pm on Friday, tossed it in the drybag, launched my paddleboard and began my 40-hour vacation from email, phone, texts and work.  We planned an hour to make the crossing to the campsite and with wind and current at our backs we met up with the rest of the BPC at 9:45pm. Dinner was made, the full moon was shining, the fire was burning and the relaxation could continue.

Until Sunday afternoon we spent our time paddling, napping in the sand, hula hooping, eating, relaxing & laughing.  Exactly what I needed.  

Full moon launch

My memory of the first night

ACA Kayaking Level 2 ICW - Redding, CA

Last weekend I assisted an ACA Kayaking Instructor workshop in Redding, CA hosted by Headwaters Adventure Company.  Joe & Terri opened Headwaters 4 years ago and have helped foster a wonderful community of paddlers in the area.  Most participants in the course had really solid foundation skills to work from and were able to progress significantly in a short time.  Most are on track to becoming great paddlers and instructors and will pass-on their love of the sport to others.  Next time I'm in Redding, I look forward to exploring more of the area on the water and on the trail.

Whiskeytown Lake is beautiful

Joe & Alan practicing rescues in the pool on day two

Joe & Terri Arbuckle in a Valley Etain and Sterling Reflection

The crew... Bryant, Alan, Donna, Terri, Shawn, Mary, Joe, Jeff, Tiffany, Jim, Marilyn

Don't be an Inflator Hater!

Inflatable standup paddleboards get a bad rap from too many people.  My first & second experience was on a borrowed POS (piece of shit) that I rolled up and took East - twice.  Yes, it was great that I could travel with it, especially to an area where board rentals were mostly non-existent at the time.  But the board was heavy, slow, unstable and way to flexible.

Fast forward one year and I'm getting ready for a baja trip.  Again, nowhere to rent quality boards where I was going so I again started to research inflatables.  I settled for the Starboard 14' x 30" Astro Touring - a great board, especially against what I'd paddled in the past.  I first paddled the board back in October and thought it was alright.  It was fast, it was stable, wasn't too heavy - didn't have any of the characteristics I was afraid of.  It doesn't have the beautiful lines you can get with a rigid board, but you can still roll it up and fly with it.

After that trip, I continued to paddle the Astro and I noticed something when paddling it.  My stroke adapted to minimize bounce and I was having lots of fun paddling it.  It became a great loaner board, since it's so durable.  Every time I paddled it, I liked it more.  By December, that board became my go-to board for everything but surfing.  And even when I did take it surfing, it did alright on waves up to 3'.  By January, I started selling off my rigid boards since I wasn't paddling them anymore.  I'd fallen for inflatables.

Paddling that Starboard Astro gave me so much joy every single time I used it.  It has this far-out characteristic that is hard to measure, kind of like umami.  You don't read about it on the board websites, no mention in the specs page.  I call it the fun factor because that's what it is - so much fun.  Inflatables are fun to paddle..

This month I purchased a 14' Elite by Red Paddleboard Company.  Holy shit!  The fun factor has remained the same, but all the other board characteristics have just shot forward into the rigid board category.  It's narrow (26"), it's fast, it has a great shape, a good design, it's stable and it incorporates a standard fin box, a huge improvement.  Like other inflatables it's durable as hell, fits on my back, my bike, or in my luggage and is a joy to paddle.  But, it doesn't bounce as much, it's stable on the tail and great at pivot turns, it feels light on the water & has a full deckpad.  Look for a review in the future.

GGSKS 2014

I measure the success of GGSKS by the amount of fun I have and I had a ton of fun this year.  So I guess that makes the 2014 event very successful.  At least by my standards.

GGSKS is a subset of the sea paddling community and a damn fine one.  Sean Morley and I receive lots of feedback (positive and negative) and probably way too much praise.  But, here's the reality.  If you enjoy the event, you can't blame us.  Blame the community.  All we do is lay the foundation for GGSKS and everyone else adds to it until something beautiful has been formed.  We're just facilitators.

The value of this event goes well beyond any hard skills you'll learn.  It's also about connecting with other people that paddle.  It's about having a good time, laughing, smiling, cheering each other on.  There's a positive energy in the air and all you need to do is embrace it to become a better paddler.  I think that great paddlers must first be great people and I met lots of great people this year.  I made some lasting connections and I can't wait to see how it will impact my life.

This year we had 190 people attend the event as students, coaches, staff, media & volunteers.  We came from California, Florida, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, New York, Montana, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, South Carolina, Minnesota, Nevada, Virginia, mainland Mexico, Baja California, Scotland, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.  14 states and 4 countries.  That's pretty rad.

Don't listen to me describe what it was like, just watch the film by Marty Perry.

Inflatable SUP bike trip

Mission accomplished.  I was paddling in Oakland Saturday with some friends and figured it was the perfect time to see if I could bike there with a SUP and all my paddling kit.  I loaded the cargo bike with an inflatable Starboard 14'x30" Touring SUP with paddle, pump, clothing and the rest of my normal junk.  Pedaled the 7 miles to the put-in, pumped her up with ease and paddled out.  After a few hours of paddling, I just as quickly deflated, rolled and loaded the equipment back onto the bike, stopped by the bar for a drink and pedaled back through Oakland to Berkeley.

Quite the successful test!  Got a couple stares but well worth it and it's definitely a good setup for a longer bike trip, bringing on the BART or even an overnight cycling & paddling adventure.  Fun stuff and I'm absolutely loving the inflatable SUP.  It's now my go-to board for just about everything.

Extracycle, iSUP, paddle, pump - everything I need for a day on the water

loaded

made it to the launch without problem

inflating takes 5-10 mins

post paddle.  deflated, ready to load back up

making the return trip

 

Black Canyon SUP Trip

In a whirlwind tour with a disparate crew of Bay Area paddlers I finished off 2013 and started up 2014 on a standup vacation!  For four days we called the Black Canyon home and relaxed in it's beautiful surroundings.  Warmed and cooled by the sun and the shade, we camped, we paddled, we laughed, we ate, we soaked, we relaxed.  On top of all that, we paddled upriver - one of my favorite things.  I just love reading the river and riding eddies upstream.  It's a fun challenge and a great way to develop skill.  To top it all off we rallied in Vegas for NYE and got two surf sessions in San Diego before making our way home.

Hoover Dam

The crew

Our campsite on the river

Loaded up for the paddle out - day 4