SurfingSports Standup Paddle Surf & Standup Paddling BLOG

Kind of a strange occurrence the other day when we had three different clients with an Illinois connection buy standup paddle boards from us...and they all surf...while another brotha representing Illinois, (who also rides waves) debated for the highest office in the land, on the national stage...then in a few days, sista Gretchen Wilson is coming to town to entertain us on Chumash land...she is from Pocahontas (Illinois) and will sing California Girls...but, then she is Politically Uncorrect...WEIRD...;-)







Perhaps, it's partially a function of how many boards we're selling and shipping...regardless, it's interesting nonetheless...

They talk about six degrees of separation...oftentimes, it's a few less than that...



Maybe if the world leaders understood this connectivity, there would be less conflict(s)...

This image showing standup paddlers in a canoe, was discovered on the walls of a palace in Khorsabad, Iraq...dating ~ 700 BC...this area is commonly referred to as the "Cradle of Civilization"...granted, they're prolly not paddling for pure pleasure...but, who knows what turned them on...sounds like crossing the Molokai Channel on a SUP is grueling and not that pleasurable either...;-)



See how we just connected Iraq to Illinois by standup paddling?...;-)

Native Americans in Illinois, the Illini, made dugout canoes by hollowing out large trees...sometimes 50' in length...and most likely paddled them at times standing up...many native cultures around the world did...and still do...it's only natural!!!

Here's one of our Illinois connected clients, Jon Ham, showing off his new Naish 9'6" quadfin...



Jon's business is called Fitness On The Run...here are some You Tube clips of Jon...

We think he'll do alright on his new board...;-)

Speaking of new boards...and stoked standup paddlers...here's our shop grom, Tucker Ingalls, showing off his new Naish 7'11" custom...





More shots of Tucker ripping...

Labels: Illinois SUP, Naish SUP, Santa Barbara standup paddle sports

Dunno if you've stumbled across any of the big wave SUP photos trickling out of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca Mexico lately...

Edwin Morales professional bodyboarder and XXL Billabong Monster Tube Award Photo winner, snapped this sick pit of Starboard team rider Ekolu Kalama at Playa Zicatela, aka the Mexican Pipeline...



Chuck Patterson, Hobie team rider, was captured by photog Tim Ditty, dropping into some Puerto death pits...



You can catch CP's Puerto article at SUPSURFMAG

I want to see video of the wipeouts...the Mexican Pipe is known for breaking boards and people...heaps have died here...

I used to trek down to Puerto (and environ) a couple of times a Summer to get out of the small wave Summer doldrums in Santa Barbara...and to keep tuned up for mysto Central & North Coast big wave spots...





















Had the pleasure of sk8ing and trading barrels with talented (& tormented) Dogtown skater Jay Adams...



Jay bumped into a few problemos along the way of life...but, he's trying to get it back on track...



There's always counseling available...even, in Mexico...;-)

Labels: Chuck Patterson, Ekolu Kalama, Hobie, Puerto Escondido SUP, Starboard

Over the next couple of months Starboard will be unveiling the most extensive SUP board lineup in the world...it's hard to keep the excitement in check because we've already seen, and ridden, several of the new shapes...

All I can tell you is that "YA'LL AIN'T SEEN NUTHIN YET!!!"...;-)

Here's the new 9'8" x 28.5" SUPer Fish...



Not to worry...the current shapes are staying in the lineup...for good reason, too...they are already among the leading SUP shapes on the planet...combined with the top construction, you get QUALITY and INNOVATION...

Continuous product improvement is the Starboard mantra...ours, too...
That's why we are committed to this brand, and have been for over 10 years...

We bring in containers full of Starboard standup paddle boards straight from the factory...knowing that we are getting boards that have been through rigorous QA...that adds value, to you our clients...and, you get it...thanks to you guys, they sell out in a few days...that gives us the resources and confidence to continue to provide you with state of the art boards, and stay at the leading edge of the sport...BTW, we have several more containers of boards ordered and on the way...

Starboard doesn't hold back when it comes to board development...with a rocket scientist, a host of engineers, top world champion athletes, and the best designers on the planet...in-house testing facilities...secret testing grounds scattered across the globe...nobody comes close to touching their R&D program...

Starboard has been world market leader for years in windsurfing boards, and has quickly become market leader in SUP's...

Starboard in 1995 revolutionized the surfing world by introducing epoxy wood veneer molded mini mals and longboards . The same year Starboard complimented their surf board range with the EVA shock deck technology and also produced epoxy sandwich boards, well ahead of the surf industry.

Starboard further was the first production brand to introduce carry handles in the SUP boards, full deck EVA, special diamond groove texture in the standing area and specialized kids boards. As an international market leader, Starboard introduces the widest offering in the sport. From the 7'2" Kid which enables grommets to rip, to the 14'8" Point for long distance and speed paddling.

The fish shapes in the range, the 9'0" and 9'8" Extremists and the new 10'5" Crossover, are probably the World’s most progressive shapes, and drives the cutting edge of competitive SUP.

Starboard 2009 SUP Board Development

Extensive amounts of time and energy have been spent at Starboard bouncing between the Maldives, Australia and Indonesia for testing purposes and the search for the ultimate range of SUP's.

Multiple trips to Bali, another to Sumbawa, as well as the latest one down to the edge of the world at west Java, provided a vast array of conditions to test out all the different configurations of outline Rocker volume and "V".

From Perfect right hand point breaks, to fun size beach breaks and racetrack tubes, we experienced the broadest spectrum of conditions for testing, while also having an incredible amount of fun in the process.



Ekolu Kalama was along for the ride, experiencing the decadence of the Club Med open bar in the Maldives, to the contrary of the glory box,(enough said) at a far outpost of Sumbawa.

Starboard head Honcho and mad keen SUP rider, Svein Rasmussen was also there, never wanting to miss out on an opportunity to test all the latest toys and Johnny Hibbard from the UK came down the Maldives to provide some input as well.

It's been a rapid learning process with modifications, new ideas and new trips coming about, constantly pushing the boundaries with what was not considered possible in the very recent past, to the current state of play and the evolution doesn't show any signs of slowing down soon.

The boards have been unpacked, (still wet from the last trip) in the factory to already being modified and the next ticket being booked to progress from what was learned, to provide the most up to date range of SUP's in the world.

Labels: 2009 Starboard, stand up paddle boards, standup paddle boards, Starboard SUP's

We have people at almost every demo we do, who insist on riding a Gerry Lewis SUP...

Jimmy Lewis and Gerry Lopez somehow gets transmogrified into "Gerry Lewis"...

Always gives us a chuckle every time we hear it...;-)

Sad thang is, it's prolly a little bit funnier than the jokes emanating out of Washington and Wall Street lately...funniest one that we've heard lately (especially, with all of the SUP shops popping up everywhere) is:

Q: You know how to make a small fortune in standup paddle surfing?
A: START WITH A BEEEEG ONE!!!...;-)



Let's face it...the economy is not quite it's healthy robust self, lately...
So we've decided to provide a few thrifty standuppers an economic incentive program to either, get into the fastest growing watersport on the planet...or to upgrade the ride they glide...let's face it...Uncle Sam will bail out the financial institutions long before we'll get any relief...

This is not a telethon peoples...what we have here is a real live END OF SUMMER STANDUP PADDLEBOARD & PADDLE SALE!!!

Jimmy Lewis 10'4" or 10'8" Surf Series...10'6" or 11' All Arounder...(MSRP $1549)
NOW ON SALE FOR $1199 with a FREE installed pad ($150 value)...

Gerry Lopez 9'6" or 10'3"...(MSRP $1450)
NOW ON SALE FOR $1199 with a FREE installed pad ($150 value)...

Quickblade Carbon Kanaha SUP Paddle
NOW ON SALE FOR $299...(MSRP $340)

(While supplies last...no rain checks)

Do yourself a favor and raid your piggy bank...sell off some of that gold you're hoarding...or break out the plastic...you can't take it with you and you're not getting any younger...IT'S ONLY MONEY!!!...;-)

Your physical, mental, and emotional health will improve...you might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...but, you'll feel a heck of a lot better waking up to the Wall Street Journal everyday...;-)

(Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or a financial advisor...I just play one on the internet...YMMV...;-)

Labels: standup paddle board sale, standup paddle sale

Stumbled across a few surf shots of mine from the archives...always liked to hand drag on the wave face...the speed regulator...slows you down to get in the barrel...gets you leaned over for tighter bottom turns...so now, doing it with a surf paddle feels pretty natural...

It's been said that a good paddle surfer has their paddle in the water most of the time...I agree...















Also gives you leverage for more radical redirects...









A few more retro surf shots of WD doing the hand jive...by request...







Now with the new "bionic hand" paddles...you can speed up as well...pretty kewl and functional tool this paddle surfing thang, huh?

Labels: paddle sports, Santa Barbara standup paddle sports, stand up paddle

Nothing like a full moon coming up over the California coastal hills in September as you BBQ on the deck of a boat after a great surf & SUP sesh...with a cooler full of icy refreshments...;-)



Only had the P&S...moon = small orange dot...but, L@@K outside tonight and you can get a better feel of how big and gorgeous it was...then, add in the smell of the sage in the offshore breezes with the anticipation of scoring the dawn patrol with the moon still up...sweeet!!!

Not quite like the galley on this "boat"...but, we make do...;-)

Labels: Santa Barbara standup paddle, Santa Barbara standup paddle surf, Santa Barbara standup paddling

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth. They are one of the rarest of the whales, and most biologists consider them to be among the most endangered of the great whales. It is estimated that there are only about 8000-14000 blue whales world-wide, (some say less than 5000) which makes them an endangered species. We humans need to do anything we can to help them survive.

It is not that common that the blue whale shows it's tail flukes before diving...
on a recent trip to the Channel Islands, I captured this sequence...



The ~ 2000 blue whales that feed along the California coast make up the largest concentration of blue whales in the world. During the Fall of 2007, four blue whale mortalities were confirmed to be caused by ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel off Southern California.

Blue whale factoids:
* Blue whales grow to be about 80' - 88' long on average, weighing up to 150 tons...

* The heart of a blue whale is about the size of a VW beetle and weighs 1,000 pounds or more.

* Blue whales can dive for up to an hour, going to a depth of 350 feet.

* Blue whales are very fast swimmers; they normally swim 3-20 mph, but can go up to 24-30 mph bursts when in danger.

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During my college years in the Oceanography Department at Humboldt State University, I was blessed to be able to work with (and surf with) Tom Pratte...the father of modern surfing environmentalism...co-founder of the Surfrider Foundation...

In the early days of surfing environmentalism, we paddled kayaks around a surfing reef at Shelter Cove, surveying and inventorying rocks that were being "stolen" to build a nearby marina...by bringing public attention to this fact, we were able to help save the surfing resource...

While this fight to protect surfing resources continues around the world, we also need to bring focus on the quality of the water that we play in...

TURN THE TIDE ON OCEAN POLLUTION PADDLE FOR CLEAN WATER EVENT



The Santa Barbara Chapter of Surfrider will hold its fourth anniversary Paddle Out, “Turn the Tide on Ocean Pollution” event at Stearn’s Wharf from 11:00 am to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2008. People-powered participants of all ages are invited to join the paddle out in solidarity of preserving and protecting the world’s oceans.

This event offers two levels of participation:
(1) Open registration (FREE)
(2) Surfrider Supporter for $25. The Surfrider Supporters will receive goodie bags, including an event tee shirt and a lunch ticket for Wahoo’s. Please be sure to bring your kids too. Each child accompanied by one Surfrider Supporter will receive a goodie bag with a children’s shirt (quantities limited so be sure to register as soon as possible).

Guest speakers include Mayor Marty Blum and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal.

Download registration form here...



Event Day and Time
Saturday, September 20, 2008, from 11:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Land Event Location
East Beach (immediately on the east side Stearn’s Wharf) in Santa Barbara

Water Event Location
Starting line for paddle will be at the base of Stearn’s Wharf
Healing Circle will be held in the “Y” of Stearn’s Wharf

Event Timing
10:30 a.m. – Information Fair setup
11:00 a.m. – Event participant registration begins, silent auction opens
12:30 p.m. – Guest speakers will address our event participants
12:50 p.m. – Participants suit up and grab boards
1:00 p.m. – Group photo and then we will begin the general “paddle out”
1:30 p.m. – All participants come together in “Y” of Stearn’s Wharf. Best photo opportunity will be to view the Healing Circle from the Wharf by the Sea Center
2:00 p.m. – Lunch from Wahoo’s is served

Event Contacts
Event Registration and Corporate Involvement
Nathan Camp
E-mail: nathanc@softshare.com
Phone: (805-252-2317)

Event Volunteer Coordinator
Alex Palley
E-mail: 2palleys@cox.net

Event Chair-Media spokesperson
Ken Palley, Santa Barbara Surfrider Chairperson
E-mail: 2palleys@cox.net

Labels: Blue whale, California blue whale, Channel Islands blue whale

Rust never sleeps around here at Standup Paddle Sports...especially, in the rapidly evolving sport of standup paddling...

Anyone that's ever visited our store, the first dedicated standup paddle board shop in North America (or South) knows that...

Our guarantee to you, our valued clients...(BTW, mahalo for the customer testimonials you send in) is that we will keep you on the leading edge of the sport...with the best bang for the buck, QUALITY equipment available on the planet...

One of the pitfalls of posting on this blog is that there are many copycats out there riding on our coat tails...imitators...not innovators...ready to pounce on our original ideas, and products that we embrace and endorse...from our fin designs...to board designs (the first to bring production epoxy molded SUP's to the world market)...to cybersquatters on our domains...greedy slackers not willing , or able, to do the hard work...development and testing...hopefully, that's why you're here and not there...;-)

We have many things in development that won't make it onto these pages...simply not enough time in the day...and we have to keep a few secret weapons to ourselves...;-)

Here's a couple of new products that we've been working on lately...

The best padded standup paddle bag in the world...carries 2 paddles...thermo molded cover...blade separator...gear pouch...shoulder strap...adjustable length...





Also pictured is our new shoulder sling that conveniently packs down at the water's edge to fit inside a comfy thermo molded fanny pack...

Labels: standup paddle bag, standup paddle cover, standup paddle sling

Here's a few more images from our recent visit to the Channel Islands...









Hiking trips on the islands with a Naturalist added to the adventure...and gave you a different perspective than you got on the boat or standup paddle board...







This is an incredible area to standup paddle...and, to learn how to SUP...the interest level was so high that we ended up teaching the entire crew!!!







The waves in these parts strike fear in mariners, and surfers...long known for their intensity and danger...home of Shark Park "The Heaviest Wave in California"...that clip was from a film that my friend (& fellow standup paddle surfer), Greg Huglin did...click link for more...

You can also listen and see Chuck Patterson, Hobie's SUP hellman, talk about Shark Park...

I standup paddlesurfed a lesser wave...but, it was heavy nonetheless...rocks...kelp...heaving lumps of H20...the standby skiff wouldn't have kelped (er, uh, I mean helped...;-) much if you were trapped on the inside...and you are a long way from medical assistance...

It has been lightly surfed before...but, never standup paddlesurfed...
I dropped in on a heaver and survived...prolly won't do it again...;-)
The pics are under wraps...but, I will share these with you...

Labels: Channel Islands SUP Adventure, standup paddle boards

We spent the last several days pioneering standup paddling, and exploring, several of the Channel Islands with some old, and new friends...possibly even retracing some of the steps of Cabrillo...

We'll have a few picture galleries up and some really kewl video clips once we get caught back up...for now, here's a taster...

Labels: Channel Islands SUP Adventure, standup paddle Channel Islands

Curtis Wathne enjoying his parent's Naish 10'6"...in some smooth and silky point waves near Santa Barbara...the family now has the new Naish 9'6" Quadfin in it's SUP quiver...



Stay tuned for the Naish kid's SUP...with hot rippers like Kai Lenny and Tucker Ingalls on their team, it's gonna be a good one...we will have some shots of Tucker's new Naish custom soon...





Grom sightings on SUP's in the waves, are becoming more and more commonplace around Santa Barbara, and elsewhere, these days...wahines are ripping, too...

Labels: Naish kids, Naish SUP, standup paddle kids

Cap'n Mike Cooke dropped by the shop the other day on his battery op'd sk8board...
He flies on that puppy!!!
Coincidentally, as he does on his 9'0" & 9'8" Starboard Fish's...



The fab facility across the street from our shop put the Wienermobiles together...

Here's Cap'n Mike 'splaining the mechanics of the throttle to our shop grom, Tucker Ingalls...



We flew through the first round of our new tshirt graphic...

Here's Tucker sorting sizes to prepare for shipping...







We've got another round due in shortly...along with a couple more hot new standup paddling graphics...our artist, Rob Heeley, is going off!!!

Speaking of surf wear...someone sent this pic from 30 years ago of C4 Waterman founder, Todd Bradley, L@@King quite dapper in his Hang Tens...the original surf brand that's making a comeback...



Lastly, Central Coast standupper, Tom Reily, brings our attention to a good fund raising cause...

SAN LUIS OBISPO JUNIOR LIFEGUARD FUNDRAISER

TheEvent:

15th Annual Ken Harmount Pier to Pier paddle September 13th 2008. This 6 mile paddle from Old Port Beach in Avila to the south side of Pismo Pier raises money for the Junior lifeguard program in San Luis Obispo. This is Surfrider sponsored event and cost $20 for members and $30 for non members at the event. Registration is at 7am with a paddler's meeting at 8am and then a group start directly following. Last year there were over 12 SUP and many of them paddled back from the pier to Avila.

Ken Harmount was an advocate for the ocean and was a lifguard in Morro Bay, helped start the Surfrider chapter in San Luis as well as the Junior lifeguard program. He was injured in a snowboarding accident and is now a partial quadriplegic living in San Jose with his family. His friends started this event 15 years ago to keep his energy going and to help kids learn about the ocean and the stoke it can provide.

Please join us this year and all paddle craft are welcome from surf skis, paddle boards, SUP, kayaks. surfboards etc. We hope to have over 75 people in the event and will have a swag raffle at the end of the course. There will also be a junior paddle board race at the end of the event at 10 am from the Park street parking lot. I hope to get a few kids on SUPs also if there are a few folks who will lend them out to the kids.

Thanks again and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at 805-234-1227 or call Central Coast Kayaks to register. 805-773-3500

-Tom Reily

Labels: Hang Ten, Pier to Pier paddle, stand up paddle, stand up paddle surfing tshirt