surfboard rowing?

C

chromer

New member
Hi,

I have seen this a lot in the Lake Washington - Lake Union lately. Is it a fad like the razor scooter?

http://www.imagepoop.com/image/4736/Sur ... owing.html

Its a person standing on surfboard with a paddle. My first encounter was last fall in the ship canal. It was some college students that asked me for a beer, I had none. About an hour later, the kid got a six pack from somewhere as it was on the stern of his board.

The numbers and frequency of encounter of these guys is increasing. On calm days I've seen them way out in the lake.
 
I have seen this for several years on Maui. The board is a little larger and more stable. Seems like a good way to get a sense of balance on a board before you try real surfing. Finding surf on the lake may be a little challenging though.
 
Actually, I thought the shape of the board(er)'s silhouette was quite interesting, if you know what I mean.... :smilep

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Chromer it is called sup(stand up paddling).

The sport is not limited to coastal areas, and should have great interest. I do it in the surf zone and love it. It is the best type of surfing I have done my entire life and I have been surfing since 12.

People are interested in the sport as a great way to get in shape. I went from 215 to 185 and the sport is keeping me in the best shape of my life.

She should have a life jacket to be paddling in a non surf zone. Its the law. A better law would be you need a life jacket if you are not wearing a leash. The leash keeps the board attached to you so the wind won't blow it away from you. A life jacket keeps you afloat while you watch your gear blow away (if you have it on).

While we are boating and should come across the sup'ers we should give them their space. They are not motorized and in most situations a boat would be the give way vessel.

Give it a try. Plus a sup might be a great board to have on your boat for exploring really skinny water.
 
The paddle is a single bladed paddle.

Most paddles are sized for individuals by length over head. Mine is +12 with a blade of 9.5". Takes a lot of muscles to pull on it.

A double ended paddle would work from the sitting position, but I don't see it as a practical stand up paddle because in order for it to work from a standing position it would need to be really long and therefor you would need really big muscles to work it.

Paddles materials are wood or carbon fiber. I prefer the wood paddle but I am far from the norm on this.

The technique is to pull the paddle along the rail of the board keeping the paddle vertical. Image you are pulling yourself by poles that are lined up. Do it 10 times then switch sides for balance.

Joe I bet you have seen them on Shasta. It is fun.
 
I saw a gal & a dog paddling away when we hanging out in Maui. The dog was just a sitting there enjoying the ride. One of those boards would make an interesting fishing vessel for sturgeon or halibut :)
 
I was wondering the same thing. I saw someone doing this on the saltwater side of the locks the other day and couldn't really figure it out. Now I know, it certainly looked interesting.
 
Stand up paddle surfing; originated in Hawai'i and came back into popularity within the past 10 yrs or so. Larger, wider more stable boards and basically long Hawai'ian canoe paddles. Do a You-tube search and you'll find many fine examples. Riders even catch waves with them and use the paddle as a "rudder" for steering. It's very popular now and increases core strength due to the amound of balancing one must perfect.

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=stand+up+paddling&aq=f

Good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxV-BfBRJZg
 
On one of our trips to Alaska on a cruise boat in a remote portion I noticed a guy standing up paddling in what I thought must be some sort of canoe. He had on a back pack and was just putting along. I know at the time I thought it looked like a board but I told myself it had to be some kind of canoe. Now I know it had to be one of these boards.
 
1TUBERIDER":1jnk2kri said:
The paddle is a single bladed paddle.


Joe I bet you have seen them on Shasta. It is fun.
Click to expand...

Well, I have seen a lot of things on Shasta, but not that one!

We do sail on Whiskeytown Lake, 10 miles away, but on Shasta, sailing is very rare (too hot and windless, mostly), and they'll look at you if you're sailing like you're from Uranus. A paddler would be viewed as even more out of place, like an Hawaiian War Canoe Party, or something. :shock:

The Lake Shasta norm is more like drink 5 beers and get on the jet ski and go tearing off back to the marina at 45-65 mph to get the next several six packs before the crowd up in the hot tub on top of the houseboat roof runs out of brew. BBuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppp!!! .......... ''cuse me!!! :?

************

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I've seen it a few times around here. As a former surfer many, many years ago I can see where it would be really great exercise more so than conventional surfing. I hadn't thought about the life jacket requirement but it makes sense.
 
Saw a guy on one of those on Spa Creek in Annapolis earlier this year. Having never seen or heard of one it was a bit of a jaw-dropper. Sitting low in our kayaks we couldn't see the board. I was thinking 'Chauncey Gardner with a paddle... '

Interesting craft...

T
 
This was tried on the old paddle boards which predated the modern surf boards. The paddle boards I remember were 10 to 12 feet long, and made of 1/4" plywood on both top and bottom, there was a flat top, and some rocker to the bottom.

Not sure what boards were used to paddle in Hawaii, but I used a 1920's vintage solid white pine board in the 50's for regular surfing--and it was much more difficult to use than the long boards, of balsa which had become popular in the mid 50's while the foam boards were evolving in the US.
 
Jan and Rick let me try out one of their boards during the Lake Powell gathering in Sept - I came right home and ordered an inflatable board on Amazon. We then tried it out on our Oct Lake Powell trip - it's kind of unstable feeling at first, but 4 of us tried it and all had a great time - it's now standard equipment on the boat!
 
thataway":1ovzwhki said:
Not sure what boards were used to paddle in Hawaii, but I used a 1920's vintage solid white pine board in the 50's for regular surfing--and it was much more difficult to use than the long boards, of balsa which had become popular in the mid 50's while the foam boards were evolving in the US.
Click to expand...

Wow. Very cool. Imagine what that board would be worth today! Early Hawai'ian boards were primarily made out of Ko'a. Strong wood with tight grain. Then original polyester resin and foam boards came into vogue and the rest is history. Any Ko'a board is now a collector item and worth a ton of moola.
 
We just got back from a trip to Kauai. I noticed some of the Kauai Fire Department Lifeguards were using paddle boards. These are some of the possible explainations that came to mind:

- Keeps tempting body parts out of shark infested waters
- Paddle can be used to beat sharks
- Can see farther standing up (applies even to those who suscribe to the "earth is round theory")
- Potential recuees can see you comming from afar
- With full view of landmarks, prevents paddling in circles
- Lifeguards are an aging workforce, prevents need to bend at the knees making creaking noises (does not impress the tourists)

Merry Christmas :xlol
 
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