The movies are back. This is a short video about Standup Paddleboarding. It is the new thing as they say. Standup Paddling has been around for a long long time. However its popularity is gaining a lot of speed again. It is a great non-wind activity and great exercise. You can paddle in flat water or in head high surf. All of us at REAL have been having a blast on them. Hope you enjoy…
HERE is the link to the REAL BVI 2007 Slideshow.
Thursday: I took a session at the lighthouse surfing with Zack, Nick, Tommy, Matt and Trip. I rode my JL Chamber 6’3. I was determined to catch a wave with it, since ive never rode a short board before. I was able to catch a few waves getting my back foot in place but not my front. After much frustration and paddling I got up on the Chamber and caught a small wave. I counted it and called it a session.
Friday: Was nice and sunny but no wind so I headed to the Cape Hatteras Light house for a surf session. Zack and I rode during his lunch break. I rode the 8’0 Jimmy Lewis Destoryer. The waves were a bit steep for that board. I caught a couple good waves on it. The beach was incredibly bussy. There we 50+ people lying out and probably 15-20+ surfers in the water. So I made it a rather quick session. After that I went home for a little rest. I went for a stand up session once everyone got off work. We went to the lighthouse again. I learned how to standup paddle for real. It was fun and good exercise before but it get even better when you can constantly catch waves. We stayed out there til dark.
Saturday: Tommy calls at 9:30 Im still asleep and wants to go standup again. I run out of bed and we head to the lighthouse once again for a morning session. Tommy and I rode the break next to the jetty to stay away from all the longboarders on the better wave a few hundred feet south. Tommy and I scored a bunch of really fun and long rides. The waves were really steep and made for some very spectacular crashes on a 10+ foot surfboard. We took a break and had breakfast/launch. Then Nick joined us for a session north of buxton. The waves were getting kind of bad so I made it a very short session and headed home for a little R&R.
Sunday: Well Sunday continued on the pattern here that its either a surf weekend or you better have a 5m kite. Nick and I headed up to Avon to do a ocean side downwinder. I took the 8m Havoc and nick was on a 9m boxer. We made it past the Avon pier and had to take the kites done because we were way way way too over powered. There was no sense of trying to survive through the rest of the down winder so we hitched a ride back to the car. We ate lunch then headed to Kite Point for a little flat-water session. It was great riding, though a bit gusty since it was NNE blowing 25+. It was perfect 9m weather for a while until it picked up again and I once again got blown off my smallest kite.
I spent my lunch putting together my new board quiver. I finally decided to go with the Jimmy Lewis 136cm Park and the Jimmy Lewis 6’3 Chamber. My park is Yellow and the Chamber is Mustard. I decaled up both boards butting “R” Logos where they needed to go and placed the pads and straps and even waxed my first surfboard.
Brandon and I started the weekend off with a 6’3 chamber session at KP. It was a NE wind so the sound was very flat at KP. He rode a 8m LF Havoc and I rode both my 9m and 13m Fuels. We practiced out jibes and learning to get use to that board. Zack, Dave, Nadina and a few others were the only ones out riding. We rode there until dark.
Zack and I then headed up to meet the rest of the team in Nags Head for the O’Neil Braggers Cup. The event was pretty cool. It was interesting to see how a surf competition goes down. There were al ton of 15 year old kids on some very tinny surfboards ripping up the small surf. All I can say about our team is that we had the longest rides on the biggest boards. We defiantly did not come in first but we didn’t finish last either.
Samm and Erin got into town on Saturday night. I meet up with them at the property in Waves where we were having the Coaches LF demo and BBQ. Julian the LF head Kite designer was there Teching everyone out about all the new gear.
Sunday brought some ridiculous winds. It blew 30-50. I rode at KP in the morning before the demo. I had to take pictures of LF demo afterwards. Ty and Slezy were boosting to the moon on 6m kites. It was really quite a sight to see. We convened the LF demo at the buxton shop. Afterwards Slezy, Julian, Colin, Greg and Sammy did a downwinder from Avon to the Lighthouse Ocean side. They were riding kites between 6m and 3ms. I grabbed a few more photos there and then chilled for the rest of the weekend. Sunday was also the day that i reached the same number of sessions that i had all of last season combined. Its crazy to think how much more time i have on the water now…
A bunch of us did a downwinder on the south side after work. We went from the ferry docks to robin lane. Dave, Zack, Tommy, Matt, Britt and Soddy came on this downwinder. It was a blast. We pumped up small kites. I rode my 9m fuel and the LF Recoil 136cm. The waves were waist to the occasional chest high wave. It took me a little while to get use to this board in the ocean. I rode it a bunch in the sound weeks ago and loved it. You really have to set your edge to turn in the waves. It took me a good quarter mile to get use to how the board behaved in the waves, but once I did I really enjoyed riding it. This was the first time it took me that long to get use to a board. It cuts through the chop well. The landing can be very soft on the flexible tails.
The last two days have been a blast. I went for the triple session on Tuesday and succeeded. The details of the first two session are on the post previous this one. Tim and I scored the last session of the day in waves. We did a downwinder from STA to The Slick. I was very powered on my 9m fuel and the JL park. We played in the slick til sundown.
Thursday tim and I shot in waves all day. Its been great having the SW winds bring up the temperatures and allowing us to wear shorties and soon board shorts. It was the first time i’ve seen the lessons going on and experienced the hole system working. We took out a jet ski to shoot the lessons going on from start to finish. It was a really cool experience. I also snagged a quick lunch session with Joe joe (rico). And took a great session after work in the slick with Ryan Evans, Darlene, Scott, Nicole and Shaggy. Ryan Evans grabbed some sweet shots in the slick of us riding. Below are a few of me riding the slick. After I was so tired I couldn’t hold onto the bar I headed back to the property and packed it up. Slezy showed up to take a session so a bunch of us walked up to the dock at the slick to watch him session.
Dave, Zack and I scored a much needed session after work yesterday. We pulled up to KP around 6 to 10 kties in the aire. We pumped up and headed out. Zack and I on 13m Fuels and dave on an 11 waroo pro. It was perfect. We all learned some new trick. Dave and I got zack to do his first sent jump. We kited til the sun went down. I also scored a session this morning at KP again. It was a solo session at 6am. I rode my 17m for about 30min and then had to put up the 13m because I was too powered.
EDIT: So i snuck out for session #2 of the day during lunch. I headed to KP and put up my 14m and quickly got blown off it and put up my 9m and was very powered. It was suprisingly not very busy at KP. S i rode around and boosted some big jumps and big crashes for a hour and then headed back to work. I’m hoping for the triple session count for the day.
The Weekend was a blast but far from relaxing. Since there was no wind, we spent nearly the entire weekend on the beach surfing and standup paddleboarding. We had a session down by the frisco pier on Saturday and Sunday we were up between avon and buxton. Sundays session the waves were huge. I got my first shoulder to head high wave. The rest of the crew especially Zack were having a get time out there. Now that we have all paddled our arms off the forcast for the week is SW warm and windy all week long.
We booked it out of the shop yesterday at 6:00 to head to the lighthouse for a kitesurf session. I rode the 13m Fuel and the JL Park and the JL 5’2” Surf. The waves were head high and fun but the wind was kinda fluky. I liked the KiteSurf. I think that the 5’8 or 6’0 would be much better for me. I liked how the board rode in the waves and the swells. The 5’2 had straps on it which was nice when trying to get out past the breakers but was kind of a hassle when trying to surf the waves since you tend to move your feet around. With the weird wind and the current it made getting up wind very difficult. But the waves made the session well worth it.
We went for a standup paddle after work yesterday at the frisco pier because the wind decided to die about a hour before we were done working so to the pier it was. It was a blast I rode the JL 11’0” standup paddleboard. I was able to get up and over the waves with out falling. Catching the waves was a hole nother story. I was able to catch the biggest wave of the session but I was laying down on the board. It was a good time though. Nick, Tim, Nuzzi, Zack and I were down there for the session. Below are a couple shots after I finished riding.
