Paddleless Paddleboarding

We interrupt or regularly scheduled  North Carolina trip post for a quick reminder that I am in Florida after all…

One of the reasons paddleboarding never gets old is because it can be the most calm, peaceful activity you can imagine or it can be a crazy good workout or adventure.  It just depends on you, your location, and the weather.  Mostly the weather.

Your body acts like a sail, and when the wind is particularly high it can become impossible to paddle against it without kneeling or sitting down to catch less wind. It can be exhausting and dangerous if you don’t know your limits. So, tip of the day is always paddle out against the wind so when you are getting tired the wind can help you back.  There was one time when just as I turned around the wind changed direction and I think by the time I got back home I slept the rest of the day, but it usually works.

Last weekend we headed out to Fred Howard park, and though the wind was moving along pretty good we hadn’t been out on the boards for 2 weeks so decided to give it a go anyways. After all, who could resist heading out into a morning like this?

SunriseNeedless to say getting to the other side of the little bay area we were in took about 3 times longer than usual.  Heaven forbid you decide to stop to rest, you would end up moving backwards.  Which is actually kind of fun because the fin on the board makes it turn around for you. But still. Tiring, remember?

Heading into the sun is beautiful, but you can’t see a thing in the water because of the reflections.  Heading away from the sun the water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom.

2015-11-02Here’s the cool part.  Once we decided to head back we just stood on the boards and on occasion made a slight course adjustment to come in where we needed to.  Check out how fast we were going – no paddling needed.  Keep in mind I was standing on the moving board when you judge my mad videoing skills.

I kind of had a squirrel moment with some birds, but the point is the board was going that fast all by itself.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwuMelMfSnU] This is what Tampa residents come home from vacation to. Groovy, right?