Stand Up Paddle Boarding

[Katherine]

..... Is wondrous!

I've seen other people doing this on holiday when the sea is calm and also at the water sports centre at Salford Quays.
I've always wondered if it is as easy as it looks. - Well it is.

I regretted not trying it on holiday last year, so this year, after thinking about it for a few days, I booked a lesson.
I'd been worried about being able to stand up but the instructor gave such clear instructions that I just did it!
He said keep your eyes on the horizon which worked.
Eventually I relaxed enough to look around, and down at the clear sea, the shimmering sand below and the rocks.
We paddled over to a rocky reef where the different coloured seaweeds were beautiful. You could see shoals of fish. There was a pair of swans paddling in the opposite direction.
If you are wondering, I am in Cornwall!

To start with my legs were shaking but the instructor explained about lifting your toes up and spread them every now and then.
I thought I'd be tired after the hour's lesson but I ended up staying out for a second hour....


................. by which time I was more relaxed than I can ever remember being!
I didn't expect anything else to give you that feel good feeling like cycling does.

So, if you are thinking of trying something, do it!

 

[Paulus]

Well done, another skill gained.

 

[I like Skol]

The Salford Quays set-up is surprisingly good considering the location. Did a kayaking session there a couple of weeks ago and we were playing all sorts of silly games like standing on your kayak, jumping, jumping round 180˚ etc. Enormous fun and the water quality was far better than expected.

My wife and kids did the paddle boarding in Cornwall earlier in the year on an inland water site and although I couldn't do it due to having a neck collar on at the time they had a great time. The kids loved it and Mrs S got the hang of it as well (after many hilarious falls). We have also done it on the sea off Brittany a year or two ago, that was very pleasant but nearly ended in disaster as there was quite a strong breeze blowing out to sea and you only realised this when you turned around to try and head back! I was the hero that towed everyone back to safety (I was on a two man kayak as the youngest was a bit small for ocean paddleboarding at the time).

And yes, she will KILL me for posting these pictures

 

[Katherine]

I did fall in, twice! But it was warm.

Having the wind with you or against you was exactly the same as on a bike.
I had to get down onto my knees to work against the wind at one point.


Go on then, here's the picture taken by the instructor with his waterproof IPhone, taken before I'd fallen in.

 

[numbnuts]

Well done for trying out something new, I have never seen the sense in paddle boarding, it looks like hard work and a strain on the lower back, but each to their own. Now kayaking on the other hand is so much more fun and easier to do in rougher water as well and if you chose a sit-on-top no worries about capsizing you just climb back on again just like a paddle board.

 

[Dave7]

Well done for trying out something new, I have never seen the sense in paddle boarding, it looks like hard work and a strain on the lower back, but each to their own. Now kayaking on the other hand is so much more fun and easier to do in rougher water as well and if you chose a sit-on-top no worries about capsizing you just climb back on again just like a paddle board.

Plus 1 to all the above. Although I did get knocked off my sit-on-top once by a big wave and lost an expensive pair of Oakleys

 

[derrick]

Well done for trying something different, More people should get out of there comfort zone, My daughter has been doing it for a few years, She is a Yoga teacher, they have done Yoga on the SUP boards. Never tried it myself, maybe one day.

 

[Spinney]

I did fall in, twice! But it was warm.

Having the wind with you or against you was exactly the same as on a bike.
I had to get down onto my knees to work against the wind at one point.


Go on then, here's the picture taken by the instructor with his waterproof IPhone, taken before I'd fallen in.

View attachment 423115

St Michael's Mount?

 

[AndyRM]

It's great fun! Shame the sea around here is so cold. Once acclimatised it's fine, but that first hit of North Sea takes your breath away.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Tried sea kayaking in Spain for the first time recently, which was a huge shock to my wife as I'm a poor swimmer and haven't been in a pool for 20-odd years. I had a great time although I did fall in and swallowed a fair bit of the Med. Paddle boarding looks fun - I'll see if it's available when I'm back in Spain in October (absolutely no way I'm doing it in Scotland as per Andy's post above)

 

[Globalti]

Sorry to say it but paddle boarding looks quite dull to me as well as possibly the least efficient way of moving on water.

 

[Katherine]

St Michael's Mount?

Correct

 

[ColinJ]

I had never even heard of paddle-boarding. It does look fun, but I think I will have a go at Kayaking. They do taster sessions at nearby Hollingworth Lake - £11.50 for 90 minutes.

 

[Drago]

Is it as much fun as waterboarding?

 

[Globalti]

Ask Uncle Sam at the Guantanamo Bay resort....