SUP Lessons from Seat 5

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Water Words

I am tired, sun-burnt and pretty darn happy.

Feeling grateful for the chance to be on Oahu for the week before my second Olukai Ho’olaule’a.
Feeling jazzed that flying from Oregon to Honolulu with our Naish ONEs in a duffel with some clothes and a KIALOA paddle bag with 4 paddles was a breeze!
Feeling strong and comfortable on a 12’6″ Naish ONE in 20+ mph side winds and a confused small swell even though I have paddled SUP just 4 times since October (thank you Oregon Winter)

Now, to the title premise, “SUP Lessons from Seat 5.”

A few weeks ago I had my 4th Bend Oregon Outrigger Canoe Club practice. On this cold, rainy, windy (typical April) evening I was assigned seat 5 just ahead of the steersman, in seat 6, Meg Chun. Lucky (but tentative) me. I have been standup paddling for 6+ years and have had some success – which Meg was aware of – and now I would be paddling for 90 minutes right under her watchful (and quite expert) eye.

Meg has been coaching novice and experienced outrigger paddlers in Bend for more than two decades. She spices the learning with a cool passion, always a sense of fun and patient expertise.

It was WONDERFUL being the closest person for Meg’s critique and observation. No, really! (LOL) After about 45 minutes of me doing my best effort at reach-catch-return with a wonderful rotation of my core I heard Meg say, “Judy, you need to rotate your body.”

Me, (to myself) “WHAT?????”

Meg: You are turning, mostly your head and shoulders, but you need to show your back to the opposite shore, then dig for the catch. Engage your core and really move the boat forward with the rotation of your hips coming back to center. That’s it, you are never coming back to center before your next stroke. Try that.”

So try that I did – and it ROCKED. The areas of my shoulder and upper arms that usually limited my endurance by pure muscle fatigue were not feeling a thing. It was a core and lats experience.

OK, back to SUP. Today on my Naish ONE I used the very technique that I have been practicing at outrigger practice. The gnarly offshore wind and the confused swell did its best to intimidate ad toss me off balance.

Thanks for sharing your expertise with me and my beginner outrigger paddling skills

Never happened. What a fantastic 5 mile “into the wind” paddle to Diamond Head and beyond. What a cool late afternoon surf session at Pops on the Naish ONEs.

Olukai Ho’olaule’a, I can hardly wait. Thank you Bend Oregon Outrigger Canoe Club! Thank you, Meg Chun!

Winter Storms? Pacific City Says ‘Bring It!”

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Water Words

Live web cam February 12, 2014 looking across the cozy Pelican Pub to iconic haystack rock

Yes, they do! In Pacific City (Your Little Beach Town) there is nothing little about their winter storms – or the fun you can have experiencing them. While there is a certain magic to summer and fall in Pacific City (read more here) exhilaration meets wonder when the rain pelts, the winds howl and surf breaks like Niagra across the ridge of tall Cape Kiwanda.

Waves breaking like Niagra over Kiwanda played with the senses – sight, sound, and salty scent

To be honest, the usual adventure of camping in and around Pacific City is not the sort of accommodations we’re talking about. When you are heading for winter storm watching it’s time to take advantage of the best the Oregon Coast can offer. With off season rates beckoning, this is the time to cater to all your senses. Grab friends and family and head to The Cottages at Cape Kiwanda.

Pure magic – wave wonder and storm surprises

We checked in about 4 PM to a mix of wind and rain. You know that feeling when the pool is chilly and you haven’t made the feet first plunge – committing to the eventual water-fun? We were like that. Shivering a bit in fleece and rain gear, we began to unpack and settle in to our two bedroom cottage. Fire in fireplace – check! Soup brought from home simmering and bread in oven – check! Ahhhh, settling IN? No. The view from the large windows was too compelling – we decided to plunge right into the storm watch.

Exhilarated, we headed back to the cottage at dusk ready for the understated luxury of the cottage and our belly-warming dinner. We slept like babies in the the perfect blend of contemporary and cozy, luxurious bedding and woke ready for long beach walks the next day.

Hints: Bring your game – wifi and game systems in the cottages brought out the kid in us all. You’ll want to gather driftwood and enjoy a cozy fire on the beach. Plan at least one meal at the Pelican Pub – even though the kitchen in the cottage is appointed with top-quality everything! Local seafood and brews hit the spot after our trek to the inlet in late afternoon.

SUP Addiction: The Glide

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Water Words

Innocently, you join friends and fellow competitors for your first down wind SUP adventure. River, lake or open ocean – when the wind and the bumps cooperate the experience is incredible.

There’s so much to think about – paddle stroke, wind and wave direction, safety around rocks, channels, tankers or current and your own stamina and ability. Whether your first run was 3 miles and easy or a kick-your-butt challenge, it’s likely you emerged from the adventure a different person. Perhaps, like so many of us, all you can think about is doing it AGAIN! Yup, you’re hooked.

In between opportunities to do down winders, SUP Magazine has an online series that can provide tips and insights any time. Take a look at the Glide Guide.

Some take-away tips from the video (see below) of Jeremy Riggs training Justin Gordon include:

The key thing keeping up your momentum. Shorter rapid paddle strokes keep momentum going – keep speed up

Don’t go right up the back of the wave in front of you – that will slow you down and you paddle UP.

Look for the place to keep the momentum going, a place to guide the board into the trough where you can catch the next bump – and have tons more FUN!

SUP: The Wave and You

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Water Words

Have you read Susan Casey’s book, The Wave? (Seriously awesome video based on the book)

Casey, 44, editor of O magazine, traveled the world experiencing waves close up and personal. Casey, who wrote The Devil’s Teeth, a 2005 best seller about white sharks, didn’t want to write a book just about surfing. She was driven to write about waves, some almost mythical in stature. To do this, Casey needed a guide to “open up his world to me” and provide a “glimpse of the ocean with its gloves off.” One of her guides to waves, like Jaws on the North shore of Maui, was the waterman, Laird Hamilton. Her encounters with the famous Jaws were described so vividly, it felt as though I was there as I read. Even accompanied by big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton, (another cool video) would I charge the face of Jaws in a jet ski or dive below and witness the sea-floor configuration that causes that incredible wave? I certainly hope so!

Auhtor of THE WAVE, Susan Casey, with her guide to Jaws (Maui), Laird Hamilton.

Author of THE WAVE, Susan Casey, with her guide to Jaws (Maui), Laird Hamilton.

Casey told Hamilton about a freak North Sea storm in 2000 that battered and nearly sank a research ship — the opening scene in her book.

“He wished he had been there,” she recalls.

Hamilton explained, “What’s hell for some is heaven for others. A storm like that can stir up “the ultimate playground” for big-wave surfers.

Have you ever been schooled by a wave just a degree or two (or 3) above your skill level? One that held you down, knocked the tar out of you and was fodder for stories for weeks after? For some, that wave is calf high, for others a triple overhead at Pipeline. I found my limit one cold October morning doing dawn patrol with my husband, Ed, and our buddy Randall.

Pipeline – December 2011

After a 40 year hiatus from surfing it was the third fall I’d been SUP surfing, 2011. We’d only planned to sit on the beach at Pacific City (Oregon) with a coffee. Out in the light fog about 1/2 mile offshore a set of big fat and beautiful glassy waves wrapped around the point at Cape Kiwanda and solidly marched through the deep water. Rather than crashing or closing out, they simply diminished before re-building on the more shallow reef onshore. A setup that rare had to be experienced. Wetsuits donned we paddled out.

Holy cow – heart in throat time…what was lurking under the glassy beds of seaweed out by the rock? Would I have the nerve to really go for a wave that seemed to swallow up Ed and Randall as they disappeared behind the overhead walls they took? The third swell of a set loomed up. I was bit further in than the “safe” zone – having sort of tried for the first wave. That made the wall and takeoff a bit more steep – but something made me dig for it an GO!

My skills are very limited and bottom turns – not so much. Yet something clicked on that wave, I dug my KIALOA paddle hard into the face and powered a nice right that lofted me up the face at a speed that I’d never felt before. The board vibrated under my feet with a shattering sound that serenaded with whistling wind, and filled my ears. “Wooooohooooooo!” Yeah! There was nothing but an amazing rush. In a few seconds when time stood still that was a ride to remember. Then the shoulder flattened out in a deep water channel close to shore and I cruised over the top and paddled back out. I caught two more waves before reaching the edge of my “courage”envelope. I went in way before anyone else – but it was enough.

Brit Oliphant using her skills to backdoor a section on her backhand, Sweet use of her KIALOA GL ULtralight HULU paddle

Totally amazing and I haven’t ridden anything like that since. Yet, it is cool to have some experience so that when I see someone tackling a nice sized waveI I can have a small sense of what’s so incredible. The photo to the left shows Brit Oliphant, a Surftech team rider, ready to dig her KIALOA Hulu GL Ultralight paddle to backdoor a section on her backhand.

Imagine the sounds and feel of the speed and wave power as Brit maneuvers across that overhead face. Surfers everywhere and at every ability level share a common set of awe and experience for the waves they’ve ridden and waves they been thrashed by. The most important thing about the ocean is that we explore it. It’s our source and where we’ve evolved from — it’s spectacularly beautiful, and it’s really, really powerful. Whether we ride the big ones or live extreme moments vicariously, we share a common energy.

Respect your skill and respect your ocean – love your moments and your abilities on your waves. A very wise surfer, one whose spirit of aloha graces all he does, is Gerry Lopez. In his book, SURF IS WHERE YOU FIND IT, he shares five rules. The fifth and final Lopez rule, “The best surfer in the water is the guy having the most fun.” Like Gerry, we can all try to remember that one.

A great shot of Gerry Lopez originally posted in 1859 – Oregon’s Magazine.

Okay, grab your paddle and your board – have some fun and dream of waves! Then share your stories with us – via e-mail or on Facebook.

GoPro – Short and Long of It

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Water Words

If you’re like me you get periodic updates from GoPro accompanied by the coolest and most inspiring GoPro projects by pros and amateurs alike. ( A crazy sample )

Once you purchase your GoPro you may be a bit like the techno-newbies we are and simply scratch your head when it comes to editing. For sure, editing can make your GoPro footage even better. The process of learning the editing software you choose can be frustrating (if you let it ) or really fun when you play with the process.

The footage taken for these samples was gathered before we really started to be skilled at taking our shots off the GoPro and using the CineForm app (free). For great tips to make your SUP movie easier to build, see “What’s in a Name?”

The Short: For this sample we used the trailer templates available in iMovie. Super fun. Simply by using those templates and seeking the right clips to drag into the storyboard we got plenty of ideas about how and what to film on the next outing. Here is 47 seconds of fun – Big fun on little waves in West Maui.

The Long: For this sample we used Windows Movie Maker and played around with adding some music to the footage. It was fun to use the CLIP and TRIM tools to place the music we wanted at the spot it seemed to make most sense. It is eye-opening how many skills are developed in messing around with a project. It unlocks awareness of what and how to film, what still shots to collect and how a day of fun and morph into a short story – seriously, 3 minutes is usually quite enough. This one is a cool mix of sun-sup-surf and ski on Mt Bachelor, Oregon.

PRODUCTS USED IN THESE VIDEOs:

HERO3: Silver Edition »
GoPro Chest Mount »
Curved + Flat Adhesive Mount »
Surfboard Mount
Anti-Fog Inserts »

10 Reasons to SUP with a Dog

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Water Words

Chad Brockman and his surf-dog, Red in Arizona

We’ve seen the “wow” videos of a dog standup surfing in one remarkable clip after another. Maybe your dog prefers an extra dog biscuit over an extra wave. If your dog simply likes to fetch a tennis ball or run a trail with you, why would you go to the effort to engage the pup in SUP?

A great photo from a collection you’ll want to explore at Sup Dogs

1. You see the world in a different way by slowing down to the comfort speed for your dog.

2. A big “woof” enhances a shriek of “cowabunga”

3. NO one wants to be left in the car with a treat when the real treat is exploring a lake, the birds, the fish and the ducks

4. Running up and down the board between the human’s legs is the best dog-joke ever. “Hee hee hee, 4-legged balance rocks.”

5. Getting creative with non-slip deck options is good for your mind

6. Getting your dog the best life jacket possible = priceless

7. Scooping poochie out of the surf, with tail wagging after a wipeout = team work!

8. Wonder, mostly found in great quantity when SUP is shared with a kid – multiples with doggie exuberance. Did you ever wonder what your dog is thinking as the waves lap under the board and the paddle swirls rings among the ripples on a lake?

9. Friends – you’ll discover plenty who want to stop, chat, take pictures and exclaim over your cool dog – and you can bask in the residual great karma.

10. Fun is so much more fun when shared with your best friend. OK – ready, go hand 20 with your best friend!

Sprocket goes Hawaiian during the Bend Paddle Challenge in 2011. Photo by Ed Shasek

Standup Paddle AZ

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Water Words

Board shaping in AZ – by Chad of StandUp Paddle Arizona

Chad Brockman’s finished product

Facebook Page, Standup Paddle Arizona, for a few weeks before I contacted its author, Chad Brockman. I finally caught up with him during his race training season. He was paddling about 7 miles a day for the 10.5 Parker “Another Dam Race”. So many people have enjoyed SUP with man’s best friend, but not so many have surfed a chest high set or two.

When not training, Chad spends his time sharing the sport we all love with paddlers across Arizona. According to Chad, ” I try my best to instruct the proper stroke, giving the newbies a head start. I share insights on how to read the water and be safe in and around water, which has the potential to be the most destructive force on earth. I feel it would be an injustice if I did not share my trials and tribulations of living in and around the water for 51 years. SUP Health not only improves your physical condition, it will gift you with a heathy mental outlook. I take pride in giving the straight scoop about purchasing SUP equipment that a paddler can grow into, not out of. ”

I asked Chad to fill us in on some of the fun he has had with his dog, Red, and SUP.

Red and the surf. “I took Red to doggy beach first and he ran with his buddies. Then we headed to the cliffs and suited up to hit the surf. Red and I paddled out with the surf chicks oohing and ahhhing. The guys said howzit as I recorded our surf session with GoPro. I started Red out on the small stuff then paddling out to catch the outside sets. Red first stayed behind me on the small waves and went between my legs to the front of the board on the big waves. Everybody was stoked to see Red surf stand up style. I was having twice the fun! Living the dream : )

Chad Brockman of Standup Paddle AZ and his cool dog, Red.

We paddled over to the bigger wave break and caught a decent ride. I fell off and tangled up with Red. He came up grasping for air, climbed over me, coughed a little salt water and gave me the look, ‘Get on the board dad, let’s catch another one!’ Surf On… We paddled out and caught even bigger waves, I was still recording. During a lull, I saw some dolphins. I paddled over as Red looked for them. I knocked my paddle three times on the board to get their curiosity. It worked! They surfaced within a couple of feet next to Red and me. Red saw them and remembered them from our fifty Dolphin paddle in Rocky Point. This time there was just two, a pair of 12 plus footers. What a feeling of being welcome within the ocean society.

Back to the lineup to catch a bunch more waves. Red ruled the nose as I caught waves from shoulder height to overhead in size. We were loving the performance of my 12 foot SUP, it surfs with ease, dog and all. I have to brag a bit, Brockfish Boards always work better than you can perform. We caught our last wave and headed into a Sunday family gathering.

Out surfing with my dog keeps my heart pumping warm blood from my head to my toes. Kokua at it’s best in the line up with your dog.”
Aloha, Chad & Red

Surf is Where?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Water Words

A few weeks ago a group of friends headed off to Pacific City, Oregon for one of the last summer weekends. With temperatures cooler in the easterly cities, we hoped to avoid the ubiquitous fog that generally shrouds the Cape Kiwanda shoreline. Not so – we had foggy conditions throughout the weekend. The picture to the left shows one of the big sun breaks and an average of the wave conditions. Sure, the occasional larger set rolled in. and so did the wind. The picture to the right shows the chaotic sets we enjoyed for most of Saturday.

An interesting thing to note is the lack of crowds on the water. Many who came to check out the surf left grumbling about this or that, fog or wind or chill or wave speed. When we got out about 9:30 there were a few prone surfers and about 5 standup surfers. The sets were fairly infrequent so paddling out wasn’t too difficult, staying up while waiting for a wave – more so!

Looking over to the southerly side of the haystack rock, just off the south corner of the Pelican Pub, I noticed a silhouette and surf style that’s not easy to miss. It was Gerry Lopez. He’d been out long before any of us. With ease, he’d caught dozens upon dozens of rides that made the graceful most of every wave.

The exact same waves deemed not good enough for many who’d visited the shore that day, were providing plenty of rides for one of surfing’s greatest – and for hours on end. In the few hours I was out there honing more standing and balancing than surfing skills, I watched Gerry watch the waves. Patience to look for the right wave is not my forte, so I learned as I watched him watch. Observing his easy-powerful paddle strokes and graceful rides provided some serious lessons. On each wave, Gerry decided when to cut out of the wave to both avoid getting tousled in the washing machine shore break and to make the paddle out an easier task. Simply being aware of that important phase of riding the wave – exiting it at the right time – can save a lot of hard work.

I finally scored a wave that allowed me a very sweet ride. It seemed like so many I had missed so far, then out of the blue it held up and invited me to dig in for those last few strokes. Once on, I let it direct me right – so easily. Catching the second build of the shore break, I decided to end on that note and go ashore to warm up and watch some more. I was still perched on the tailgate of my truck when a few hours later a friend came in plenty exhausted. He commented on how cool Gerry was, giving a few pointers and generally bolstering confidence among some of the SUP surfers sharing the waves. The foggy, windy day warmed – maybe it was just the “aloha.’

I reflected on that surf session today at noon, oddly, while stretching into a forward fold at Groove Yoga. Instructor Cynthia Latimer was giving just the class my mind and body needed. She was bringing our breath and focus to the mat with the unique spirit she shares via her teaching I looked at my mat below my bare toes and considered if riding my breath and movement in this yoga class was really so different from riding a wave. This just right class seemed in many a bit like the ONE wave last Saturday. Similarly, that wave was just naturally, easily right too.

My thoughts turned back to watching Gerry on some fairly mediocre waves last week riding, playing, sharing aloha with the other surfers and being in the moment. Truly living what he shares in his book, Surf is Where You Find It. Gerry explained in a recent interview that was part of his book tour, “So I would like to say that we are all here in this life to LIVE. Life is moment to moment, if somehow one moment escapes you, if you haven’t lived it to the fullest, live the next one too. Keep paddling, keep breathing through your nose, live with aloha.”

In the moment when you get to your favorite surf beach and it is too flat, too hot, too windy or not enough of something, consider making the most of that moment. If there is a way to go with the flow in a manner different than the agenda that brought you to that beach or that moment, consider making a considered, aware choice on how to live it.

In various studios and retreats in which Gerry shares insights and guidance through his yoga classes, you are likely to hear him say something like this, “This is why surfing is such a great metaphor for life. Life doesn’t hold still for us. If we don’t move with it, life just passes us right by, it leaves us behind. Surfing teaches you to be in that moment spontaneously, go with the flow smoothly. That’s how you get the most of the wave and it’s also how you get the most out of life. ”

At work, at play, on your yoga mat, and of course in the ocean, surf is where you find it. And being a “surfer” is what you make it.

Who’s “Saving the World” in 2012?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Water Words

Just read a disturbing article that included a picture of a sad-faced beach-goer who had collected a huge black float that drifted ahead of the massive amount of tsunami debris. Disasters like that tsunami are horrific events generating devastating human and personal loss. The side effects ripple out in thousands of ways. Like many disasters and challenging events, there is also the opportunity to join together and create community and positive impact from them.

One example is the non-profit group Stopping Oregon’s Litter and Vandalism says it’ll be ready when that debris does wash up. The group already organizes two massive Oregon beach clean-ups every year. “We know that we can organize people to get out and help take care of the problem once it’s there,” said SOLV executive director Melisa McDonald. Peterson anticipates debris from the tsunami will continue to show up on our coast for about three to five years as it keeps circulating around the Pacific Ocean. Alone, the few things we might pick up in a river, lake, stream or ocean as we engage in our sport amount to a drop in a bucket – but there is amazing power in our collective efforts.

Jim Moriarity, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, shared how Surfrider which is comprised of 250,000 supporters and 84 chapters across the U.S will Change the World in 2012 by protecting the coasts through engaged activism and by scaling effective ideas across a connected learning network. “A network becomes stronger, more valuable and more potent when it consistently learns from itself,” said Moriarity.

As 2012 opens we’d like to showcase and report on other water-efforts that you might be involved in. We can promote your websites, blogs and links so that more people can make a choice and make a difference – collectively.

Let us know if you are on Twitter so @eldersup can follow you.

Jimmy Spithill: Standing up for Standup

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Water Words

During the Louis Vuitton Junior Trophy, BMW Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill – who first sailed in the America’s Cup as a teenager – was among the senior sailors encouraging the kids. He said, “We appreciate all the people who come to see us and congratulate us with the Cup. But for us, the exciting thing is meeting the kids. Especially the kids sailing these great little boats. These kids are the future of world sailing. And I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they’re sailing boats like these, but on a bigger scale, in the America’s Cup.”

Next generation – always the key to a great future, whether it’s sailing, SUPing, the environment or any number of challenging causes. It makes sense that Jimmy would practice balance and core strength on a standup board between his adventures with Oracle Racing. Getting the job done in an ocean race means moving quickly on an unstable platform and maintaining a strong core for the demands of racing. Sounds like the recipe for a SUP workout – for sure!

Dear to my heart (A few levels behind the passion for standing on water of any kind) is fitness. Jimmy Spithill chats, in the video below, about noticing what consumers are doing for fitness. (bye bye treadmill and crunches). Not just sailors, but the general public is embracing a new fitness fun in the form of standup paddling. Right on, Jimmy! he says, “We grabbed people from the shore, people who had never tried SUP and they loved it. When people are engaged with the ocean they want to protect it.”

Enjoy!

Elder SUP

Connecting Across Generations and Oceans

Category Archives: Ocean