Stand Up Paddle boarders only

[BoMan]

Stand up boards are definitely on the rise. The local guys have learned to ride outside peaks that we can't catch and to surf on days that are too small for surfboards. I no longer hear complaints about wave hogging at BO. Check out the SUP lineup on today's Steamer Lane webcam.

http://www.surfershot.com/steamer-lane-surfcam

"Success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared." - Sparky Anderson

[oldmansurfer]

It seems to me all the old surfers are going to SUP as well as all the wave hogs. I am fortunate that conditions I like are often too difficult for SUPs.

[Tudeo]

Jup SUP is the way to go when your shoulders make it too hard to (prone) surf.
I was out of the water for 2 months due shoulder injury, and my bicycle wasn't a strong enough motivation to keep active. Then an interesting 8'6 shortboard shape sup showed up in the lokal adds, that got me thinking..

Long story short, I'm in the water again and stoked!

There's this spot where you've got to cross 1km+ lagoon of flat water before the surf starts.

The flat water paddling is easy, but balancing in the surf seemed impossible the first sessions. I only had to *see* a wave, to fall off...

On the 3rd sesh I catched the first few small, knee/thigh high waves and on the 4th I catched a bunch of hip/waist high. Balancing in the surf is still very difficult though..

Thanks to YouTube I found this popup trick, to get from sitting like prone to the feet in surfstance, in one quick move. I know where to sit and which wave to go for. That gives me just some stand up time to get in a few paddle strokes to aim the board before the wave reaches me.

What I like a lot is the standup view at the approaching wave, that helps a lot catching it. Just a good deep stroke when the wave starts lifting the tail, gets u in. After that it's business as usual..

Or is it? Then u suddenly notice something strange going on, there's a paddle in ur hand!

At first I tried getting the paddle out of the way, but the 2nd time I already started using it in the ride, to paddle through weak sections, to balance. I even started using it as a pivot point during cutbacks!

I surprised myself doing that, when I saw them doing it in videos it looked so complicated, but it's just the natural thing to do.

Ahh too many things to write in one post!

It's a complete different stress on the body, as I'm writing this I'm in full recovery mode. It's a great workout!

Thanks to Waikikichan for creating this Surfing Waves SUP section!

Edit: added an informative thread from Supmad forum, what led people to supping.

http://supmad.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/What-led-people-to-SUP-surfing-

[oldmansurfer]

SUPs over here have gone through some changes. Originally the boards started getting shorter and shorter. One of the guys who surfed at my break had a 5'2" SUP. It had maybe 8 inch pontoons built something like a catamaran. Now the majority have foils. I am glad to hear you have found a way to enjoy the ocean and wave riding again.

[BaNZ]

There are two types of SUPers that I encounter. Ones that does not share and the other one that just keeps falling off.

I don't mind the latter but the ones that takes every single wave is an a*hole.

[Tudeo]

Thanks OMS! How's your shoulder doing?

BaNZ, how about a Sup surfer that keeps falling off, but still catches many setwaves?

No worries, for my learning/falling period I stay away from crowded lineups.

But it's crazy, I do manage to sometimes stay up in the chop but when I see the setwave coming I fall off..

There's A..holes on any craft, believe me I met more than enough in the water.. But a big sup cruiser makes it possible for relative beginners to catch waves. Often these people don't have a clue about etiquette..

I looked around this sup forum where most of the guys are older and come from surfing background. For me it's beautiful to see the stoke they can still have in the waves. This group of sup surfers is *very* aware of the tensions in the water, and do what they can to not bother others.

OMS, about the different kind of sup surf boards, not talking foils, wings, sails or whatever. I see Cruisers, big stable allround beginners boards, all kind and shapes of Shortboard style boards, and Longboard sup's.

I took the risk of skipping the beginner board and jumping straight in with a narrow nose/tail shortboard sup. When I'm riding the wave I'm happy not being on a bigger board, and the balancing will get better in time.

Strange thing is I can 'rodeo' over powerful white water going out or kicking out of waves and keep paddling. But paddling in chop throws me off.

Those longboard sups sure look attractive

[oldmansurfer]

I know a guy that uses a regular longboard for an SUP. He is short and light and an excellent surfer. I think that the idea of catching waves before other surfers can is appealing to wave hogs so some SUPers are SUPing to hog the waves PERIOD. Different reasons for others. My shoulder is currently doing pretty good with minor aggravations from work. My wife however is getting a shoulder replacement surgery tomorrow. I haven't tried a wave riding SUP yet. I have these huge (12 foot and 11 foot) boards that are soft top and meant for beginners but I did ride waves with them. It's like steering a boat but fun. I used to do it to stay in shape when the waves were small however I found it didn't use the right muscles to stay in shape so I quit.