2014 SUP Season Continues

Getting a little bored of posting about every outing, so unless I have something important to say I'm just going to share some photos of my adventures.

-TreeburnerCT

Week 4 - Wednesday

Since I didn't get out on the water at all Week 3 of the season I was itching for a ride, so Wednesday I left work at 3pm, went home to get all my stuff together then headed straight for Birdseye Dock.  I got there about 4:20, and after loading up my gear and connecting my speaker to my phone I paddled out into the river.  I was surprised by how few people were out there - it was one of the hottest days of the year so far, but I guess most people were still stuck at work.  I headed upstream while I could, as high tide was at 4:59 and soon after the water would come rushing back out of the river.

Paddling up the river, I saw a couple large water rats sitting along the shore together, one holding a small fish in its mouth.  I thought about stopping to try to take a picture, but they were not easily visible so I continued my upstream paddle.  I was trying to make it to the Washington Bridge before the current got too strong to continue.

I made it to the last marsh entrance closest to Rivercliff before the tide began to withdraw from the river at a meaningful speed.  It was also at this point I began to tire, so I knelt down and paddled faster but much more softly, allowing me to rest my arms while continuing to move forward.  After a few minutes kneeling my arms were rested well enough, so I stood back up and continued my paddle towards the bridge, slowly making progress towards my goal.

After finally making it to the bridge I paddled around one of the pilings and headed back downriver, enjoying the aid provided by the very fast outgoing tide.  I knelt down again, snapping some pictures of the Rivercliff Landing as I floated by with my music cranking.

The rest of the paddle back to Birdseye was uneventful, other than the fact that there wasn't a single moving boat in sight my whole way.  I snapped a picture of the empty river in both directions, but pictures don't do it justice so I only included one below.

I got back to Birdseye and sported a smile my whole ride home - getting out on the river sure beats staying at work!

-TreeburnerCT

Week 2

Surprised but excited that the water was already so warm, I was happy to head back out.  Unfortunately the weather forecast for the week did not look so great for Friday (my paid day off during the summer), and Saturday I would have to work our booth at Stratford Day.  Fortunately Wednesday was nice, so I took the day off as comp time for Saturday.

I got to Birdseye Dock around 1pm and it was beautiful.  I unloaded my board and walked down to the water, which was about two hours from high tide, so I didn't have to walk through the muck or duck crap to reach the water.  I stretched at the edge of the water then carried my board over before loading up on sunblock.  As I paddled out into the river I stood up and took my first look through the water, and was pleasantly surprised to find there wasn't a single jellyfish visible, red or otherwise.  After waiting for some boats to pass I headed across the river towards the marsh.  I tried to go in the first entrance upstream, but unfortunately winter and spring weather had dammed that path since last year.  I headed farther upstream, my music cranking from my waterproof speaker, and soon reached a more significant entrance to the marsh (although not the main channel through it).

I paddled into the marsh, sending ducks flying as I passed the first corner.  I stuck to a familiar path, taking left after left until I ended up in a nice calm pond in the center of the marsh.  I could see a few turtles checking me out from various spots across the calm water, poking their heads up above the surface of the water.  I paused the music and sparked up, enjoying the calm water and not having to paddle every few seconds to keep myself in position like my first paddle of the year.

After finishing I started paddling back out, again scaring some ducks who had settled in my path out.  After a few rights I saw some kayakers approaching in the distance.  They quickly neared, and I saw it was an older gentleman and his very cute daughter of probably 20 or so.  They asked me if they could get to the main channel of the marsh through this path, and while I advised them there was a path through one way or another, it had been a year since I had found it and their 14-foot kayaks were unlikely to be able to turn around at the dead ends in their attempts to find it.  I gave them directions to the pond I had used, knowing they could easily turn around there.    We departed company, and I turned my music back on as I continued my paddle back out to the river.

I headed back downstream, paddling up the middle channel of anchored boats from the Yacht Club.  I slowly approached Birdseye Dock, arriving just as the anchored boats began to turn with the changing tide.

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day on the water.  It would be nice if I could go out again Friday, but I wasn't getting my hopes up.
-----

Friday came with strong winds, making it too dangerous to go out on my SUP.  Saturday I did Stratford Day with our agency Access Independence (formerly Disability Resource Center of Fairfield County), and by 5pm when it ended I was wiped.  Fortunately Sunday brought nice weather, so I was able to go out again, launching at Birdseye around noon and heading upstream then into the main channel of the marsh.

Sunday's paddle was rather uneventful, other than having to head back to the dock to grab some bottled water from the food truck after my Camelbak bottle abandoned me overboard.  I didn't even see it go, so having only one bottle of water left I was forced to head back to the dock, fortunately only 10 minutes away at that point.

The only other thing worth mentioning is the very strong upstream current that made my paddle back from the marsh to Birdseye an arduous task.  I stopped at a small beach along the marsh briefly to change my music specifically for the hard paddle, throwing together a quick playlist of faster-paced music by Offspring, As I Lay Dying, Suicide Machines and NOFX.  That made my strenous paddle against the current a little easier, and I finally reached Birdseye after almost an hour of paddling (a paddle that takes like 15 minutes in calm water).

Unfortunately week 3 was a week of thunderstorms and strong wind, so tune in soon for updates on my week 4 paddles including pictures, which I will make sure to include from now on (per request)!

About Me (Responses to Readers' Questions)

I've gotten a few emails asking me different questions about myself, so I figured others may have some of the same questions so I'm going to answer them here.  Since I'm doing this as a narrative, just for reference some of the questions I've gotten are:

How old are you?

What do you do for a living?

What else do you do for fun?  Are you into any other sports?

What kind of car do you transport your board with?

My name is Joe, I'm 31 years old and from Stratford, CT.  I work at a nonprofit in Stratford that serves people with disabilities of all types and ages.  I've always loved the water; when I was younger we owned a boat which I loved to tube or kneeboard off the back of.  I've always loved swimming, fishing, and anything else having to do with the water, so last year when I had the opportunity to try my cousin's standup paddleboard it was love at first paddle!

I've always been the adventureous type - when I was younger I was an avid freestyle BMXer and snowboarder, as well as doing some skateboarding and inline skating.  As I got older I became more concerned about getting hurt, so a car replaced my bike and I started spending more time smoking weed and less time riding my bike or board.  Fortunately my first stint in college brought me up to Vermont, so while I got away from BMX I had snowboarding readily available (my campus had it's own ski-lift!)

After high school my original field of study was E-Commerce (internet business and web/graphic design) which I studied for two years at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center, VT.  I didn't finish my degree, but instead came back to Connecticut and went through a period of working dead-end jobs and drug addiction.

Nov. 2, 2006 I got clean off heroin with the help of suboxone and marijuana, and have been clean since.  After working for three years in a newspaper factory, third shift, I went back to school at Housatonic Community College where I studied Human Services, with a plan to get into either substance abuse treatment or disabilities.

My second internship brought me to the Disability Resource Center, and after exhausting my 180 hours required as an intern I was offered a part-time position as Youth Transition Advocate.  That was fun, working with kids with intellectual disabilities on independent and pre-vocational skills, and my successful development of the program led to another position working with Social Security on a vocational program called Ticket to Work.

After half a year of those positions I was offered a promotion to Assistant to the Director, moving me to the administrative side of the agency.  After our Executive Director retired I was quickly promoted to Operations Director by our new Executive Director, effectively making me second-in-command at our agency.

In addition to my love of SUP I also have some other unique interests.  I have a pair of jumping stilts which I like to walk around my block on when it's not too hot.  I'm also a huge fan of target shooting, so weather permitting I like to spend a few minutes after dinner each night shooting targets in my backyard with my airgun.  I'm also a big fan of knife throwing, and also target shoot with a bow.  Other than those I also like hiking in Roosevelt or Sleeping Giant, I play a little golf, and enjoy swimming and playing volleyball.

The only question I haven't covered is about my car.  I drive a 2013 Toyota Camry Hybrid, and I carry my SUP with a soft rack since my car is a lease.  For anyone considering getting a hybrid I would highly recommend the Camry hybrid as it doesn't have the boring hatchback look that most hybrids do, and it's very quick for a four-cylinder so you can't go wrong.  The combination of the gas engine and electric motor make it great on gas mileage, and although hybrid technology is not at the point of being cost-efficient as far as savings on gas, by supporting the developing technology you are encouraging car companies to continue to develop the technology and help us overcome our dependence on fossil fuels.

Any other questions feel free to ask, and thanks for reading!

-TreeburnerCT

2014 Season Begins!

Hello all!  Sorry I disappeared at the end of last season, but when the weather got too cold there was nothing new to post so I moved onto other things.  However, with the long-awaited warm weather this SUP season has finally begun!

Sunday, June 1 was a beautiful day, so there was no way I was missing out on a day on the water.  I loaded my board on top of my car and my new Ke Nalu paddle (picked up a factory 2nd blade which saved me some good money) in my car and headed for Caswell Cove in Milford.  My last launch of last year was at Caswell, and it was a nice change of pace from launching at Birdseye.

When I got to Milford the marina was very busy, and there were two guys launching jetskis forcing me to wait a few minutes to launch.  After stretching, putting on some sunblock and connecting my waterproof speaker to my phone I hit the water.  I was slightly concerned because the wind was blowing constantly, but stepping into the water I was pleasantly surprised to find it a comfortable cool, probably around 65-70 degrees, not icy feeling at all.  As I headed out of the manmade cove some guys fishing from shore brought in a large bluefish.

I paddled out into the river, checking both ways before heading across and slightly upstream with the current, enjoying the added push provided by my upgraded paddle.  I reached the other side and headed around an island that divides the river, planning to head downstream against the current around the island then ride the current back to the cove.  Even though it was only 2 hours from high tide the current was strong, making my paddle more difficult than expected.  By the time I was a third of the way through the island I was winded and my arms were exhausted, but any time I tried to take a break I would lose all my progress as the tide brought me back upstream.  I focused on the music and the pleasant view rather than the burning in my arms, and after some painfully-slow progress I finally reached the tip of the island, which fortunately featured some small marsh channels that allowed me to rest for a few minutes and burn one, only having to paddle lightly every 30 seconds or so to keep myself from drifting backwards.

It was at this time I noticed all the red jellyfish!  I had seen a couple during my strenous paddle downstream which I found strange since they usually come with the warmer water, but in the slow-moving water of the marsh there were thousands of them!  I had to be careful not to scoop water onto my board for fear of bringing a red jelly into contact with my feet!  After burning one and having some water I headed out a channel on the other side, enjoying the easy ride with the current pushing me.  I gave my new paddle a bit of a speed test and really dug in as I crossed, hitting a new top speed for my board (not that that's saying much!)

I enjoyed my music as I cruised back to the cove, but turned it off as I paddled back into the cove past the fishermen, not wanting to scare the fish away.  I went all the way around the protected cove, checking out the egrets hanging out on a sunken log in the middle of the cove.  Finally I floated back to the ramp, easily taking my board out without even getting my suit wet.  Overall a great day and a great start to the 2014 season!

-TreeburnerCT

Aug. 23, 2013

This last weekend was beautiful.  Fridays I get to leave work at noon, so as soon as I got out I headed home to eat and then to Birdseye Dock with my SUP.  There were a lot of cars parked there, and I happened to run into a guy I know through work (no surprise, I work like 1 minute from the dock and lots of people go to Birdseye to eat lunch).

By the time I launched it was only about an hour from high tide, so I rode the current upstream a bit and popped into the marsh.  I am really loving cruising through the marsh between Stratford and Milford (also known as Duck Island according to Google Earth) - around each turn there's either seabirds, ducks, or a turtle popping his head out of the water checking me out.  The only bad thing about the marsh is the gnats and flies, which end up eating up my feet and legs regardless of if I wear bug spray or not.

After kneeling down to burn one, I paddled out of the marsh and upstream farther, heading across the main marsh-channel and the secondary, Milford-side channel.  I kept paddling, passing the docks on the Milford side, at which point I stopped to snap a picture just for the hell of it.  I cruised up to the Washington Bridge and turned around the pilon, now heading directly into the wind and current.  The wind was barely blowing so I had an easy paddle back downstream, and with the tide changing the current was almost non-existant.  There was some awkward cross-chop from the changing tide coming through the harbors, but my Ark handled it with ease even when a following wave caused the front of my board to dunk below the surface of the water, causing me to quickly get swamped but fortunately didn't put me in the drink.  Overall a great paddle and a very nice day!

Went out Saturday and Sunday but the weather got too cold and that was the end of the season.

-TreeburnerCT

Indian Wells

Saturday I went to my cousin Lindsey's house right on Indian Wells in Shelton.  She introduced me to SUP a few weeks prior, so now that I had my own we had arranged to go for a paddle together.  She also brought along a very hot (and unfortunately married) friend of hers who had never been on an SUP before, but had borrowed one of the neighbors' plastic SUP.  I got there around 10am, and after carrying my cousin's board to the dock and then my own, we launched into the lake, joining her friend who was already standing and paddling around (not bad for a beginner!)

So we head upstream towards the Stevenson Dam.  They estimated it's around 2 miles, which took us quite a while since we had a newbie with us.  At the start I had to point out that she was holding the paddle backwards, but once we got going she held her own.  As we cruised along I knelt down periodically to take pictures, including a picture of "The Beach With No Name" (unfortunately the sign is illegible in the picture, stupid zoom) and Indian Head Rock.  Every bend we came around my cousin was convinced would bring us within site of the dam, and eventually her friend began to question whether she would be able to make it all the way there AND back.

Very soon we did come around the final bend and saw the Stevenson Dam in the distance.  At this point we were paddling in only about 12 inches of water with smooth, rounded rocks dotting the bottom below us.  Rather than continuing up and actually trying to touch the dam, we decided to turn around.  You could see rocks sticking out of the water on the way up to the dam, so we were worried we would hit our fins on the rocks.  I snapped a picture then spun around, paddling to catch up to the girls.

Just as I caught up to them, BAM!  I hit something, which almost threw me off the front of my board head first!  I was paddling up the middle of the lake/river, but hadn't noticed the water getting shallower and shallower above the rocks.  When my fin hit it was a good thing I had my knees bent and my paddle in the water, otherwise I would have gone in the drink.

As we paddled back I snapped a few more pictures and chatted with my cousin's friend as my cousin sped off for the house to check on the baby.  After a while paddling, we finally reached the dock where the woman's husband was waiting with her kids.  I decided to continue down the lake, so I set up my wireless speaker to play music from my phone then headed off on a faster paddle.

Without the girls I could push much harder, and the dock was quickly just a dot in the distance.  As I paddled towards a bend in the river, I could see two police boats sitting right in the middle.  As I passed them I waved, and looking back I could see two jet skis speeding up behind me.  One of the jet skis calmly passed the police, but the other darted in and out of the skiing buoys, attracting their attention.  They quickly pulled him over as I paddled off into the distance.  Once I was a good way away from the cops I sparked a jibber and continued paddling along, listening to the music and enjoying the calm water.

I was almost to the park when I decided to turn around.  I sat on my board for a few minutes on the side of the river, having a cigarette and the last of my water.  As I paddled back I could see the jet skier still sitting on the police boat!  As I neared them they finally let him take off, which had to be 45 minutes or so in total.  I kept paddling along the Shelton-side of the lake, the seagrass sweeping the bottom of my board as I cruised just outside the boat docks.  I kept imaging my fin getting stuck in a loop of grass, throwing me forward, but really the grass isn't that strong and my fin is pretty sharp, so if there were any closed loops I just cut right through them.

When I got back to the house my cousin was shocked at how long I had been gone.  They were waiting for me to get back so they could go over to the neighbor's house for coffee, so we quickly said our goodbyes as I packed up my gear and headed for the car.  Overall a great day, and a nice change from my usual route on the Housatonic River.  It was also very nice paddling with someone else for a change, so hopefully eventually I can either find a girlfriend who's into SUP, or at least some friends who are!

Marsh Madness Part 2

After having so much fun in the marsh Saturday, I headed back out Sunday.  I launched from Birdseye Dock around noon, with the tide very low but coming in.  I paddled upstream towards the northern entrance to the marsh, but rather than going to the main channel I instead went up a smaller side channel with a decent flow of water almost directly across from Bonds Dock.

As I paddled up the channel it broke off into two; I took the left because it seemed to have more water flowing through it.  As I continued into the narrowing channel, I noticed something sticking out of the water ahead.  As I approached it ducked below the surface of the water, and as I coasted over I saw a turtle swimming beneath my board.  Knowing to look for them, I noticed turtles at almost every turn in the smaller channels, their heads peaking above the water to check me out then quickly fleeing as I neared.

After half an hour or so of cruising around channels of varying sizes, I decided I better start trying to make my way back out to the main channel or the river.  However try as I might I couldn't find my way out!  Every time I found a channel with some current I would follow it, expecting to find my way out but instead running into a dead end every time.  After about an hour in the marsh I was getting a little concerned, so I sat down and burned one, had a cigarette and some water, then again made my way forward.  And what do you know, right after I finished smoking the slow-moving channel I was resting in lead right into the main channel!

Once in the main channel I headed upstream, out of the marsh and into the river.  There was lots of boat traffic, but my Ark seems to handle wake and swells very well as only once did I even feel off balance, and that was only because a following wave caused the nose of my board to dip about 8 inches into the water, and even then I was able to maintain my balance with a sweeping brace.

I got down to the George Washington Bridge before turning around.  I headed back downstream as I started to feel winded from the wind and waves.  I alternated between kneeling and standing, making my way down the river as passing boats honked and waved.  I passed the main channel of the marsh and again entered where I originally had that day.  I paddled up the channel but took a right this time, which led me down a nice, lazy path that went by a large egret nest with the bird sitting on top.  I also saw more turtles, and two mother or father birds with a bunch of babies who were not happy with me passing by them.  I came to a fork, but taking a left quickly brought me to a dead end.  There was barely enough room for me to turn my 11 foot board around, but I managed, and headed down the other path, only to find it also lead to a dead end in short order.  Fortunately this one was easier to turn around in, so I slowly paddled my way back out to the river.

I headed back to the dock from there, and as I unstrapped my gear from my board a women in her car commented "Aww I was waiting to see you go out, I thought you were just leaving!" and then proceeded to lecture me about why I should carry a knife in case I'm attacked by a shark, because the Housatonic River is a perfect environment for bull sharks which can live in salt and fresh water!  I tried to explain to her that bull sharks and other dangerous sharks are not found in the Housatonic or even Long Island Sound for that matter.  There are some sand tigers in the Sound, but they feed primarily at night and aren't large enough to eat a person anyway, and while a Great White could technically find its way into the Sound, you'd have a better chance of winning the powerball jackpot than getting bit by a great white in Long Island Sound.

Looking forward to heading out into the marsh again, but after getting lost I decided to order a waterproof case for my phone (a Galaxy Note 2).  Since I was ordering that I figured I might as well get some water resistant headphones, and I also ordered a Pyle Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth stereo speaker.  Once I have the waterproof case I will finally be able to add pictures to my blog!  Tune in!

Marsh Madness, Part 1

Saturday I headed out around 11:30am and launched from Birdseye Dock.  This time I kept my t-shirt on, and was careful to put sunblock on my neck, face, ears and arms.  Having the rigging on the front of my board is great - I brought a frozen Vapur anti-bottle of water, my type 4 pfd, my inflatable lifejacket and my dry bag, which held my car key, cigarettes, lighter and sunblock.

It was low tide when I launched, so I headed across the river towards the marsh.  I paddled upstream a short ways to the main entrance to the marsh and made my way in.  There were not a lot of boats as people tend to avoid the marsh at low tide, but it's perfect for a paddleboard!  I paddled up the main channel a ways until I hit a spot where the wind was whipping through and I had to kneel down to cut down on the resistance.  I was about 1/3 of the way through the main channel when I took a left and headed into a smaller channel in the marsh where I could see very little current and protection from the wind behind the tall marsh grass.

As I slowly eased into the narrower channel, I was worried about bumping my fin on the bottom.  I sat down and had a cigarette and some water, then slowly made my way forward through the smaller channel on my knees so that I could clearly see if I was going to run aground.  After continuing for a ways the small channel broke off into two, and having been paddling through for 10 minutes or so I stood up, confident I wouldn't be hitting the marsh floor.  I took a right and continued forward a bit, with every bend bringing another set of shocked ducks bursting from the water!  Soon I spun around and headed back the way I came, concerned about getting lost (a justifiable concern, see Part 2!).

Before exiting the small channel I sat down again and burned one, then had a cigarette and some water and continued out towards the main channel.  I headed upstream a ways, then turned into another smaller channel that had a decent flow of water through it.  As I paddled through I could see fish splashing at the surface along the banks, and as I continued forward I again encountered a lot of shocked ducks.  I continued through the channel as it widened out, and started thinking about where this channel was going to come out.  I was heading downstream quickly and was approaching Milford when I finally saw the way out to the river.

Paddling out towards the River was quite a chore.  The current was pushing against me strongly, and the wind coming off Long Island Sound made standing and paddling a pointless endeavor, as any forward motion was defeated by the wind and current.  Kneeling down I paddled towards a beach at the entrance to the river, working hard to fight my way there as I passed two kayakers leasurely paddling in the opposite direction.  As I reached the beach I was relieved, as I needed some water desperately.  I drank most of the remainder of my water and sat for a few minutes, preparing for the remaining trip back to the dock.

As soon as I launched from the beach I was surprised by the size of the waves.  It didn't help that boat traffic was at it's max, with large vessels charging through the waves leaving big wakes for me to contend with.  Most of my way back to the dock was done kneeling as I can make a lot more headway in the wind and chop kneeling.  I actually like to almost sit but in a kneeling position, and use my core muscles as much as possible as I maintain a windmill-type motion with the paddle, six strokes per side.

When I finally got back to the dock I was spent but at the same time felt great.  It's a very freeing feeling being out in the open water, nothing but you and the board.  I did try fishing with my homemade trolling rig, but it's too awkward trying to let the line out while paddling or even drifting and trying not to have it tangle on my leash or end up on the bottom from going to slow.  Sometime soon I'm going to bring my regular fishing pole out with me in 2 pieces and just assemble it out there.  Can't wait to get out there again!

Burnt to a crisp at Short Beach

Wednesday morning after attaching the rigging to my board, I headed out for Short Beach.  When I got there I went all the way down to the far end of the beach where I didn't see anybody swimming, and after unloading all of my gear I walked the short distance across the sand with my 11 foot board acting like a sail in the wind.  The swells were coming in consistently around knee-high, and as I strapped everything to my board and attached my leash to my ankle I prepared to launch into the breaking surf.  "You can't use that here Sir!" I hear from behind me.  I spin around, and a young blond lifeguard is approaching me, hands on her hips.  I asked her why, and she said all boards and crafts had to be launched from the other side of the jetty as I was in a "designated swimming area."  There was nobody swimming, but I relented and trudged down the beach.  The wind wasn't making carrying my board easy, but I eventually got to the other side of the jetty and was able to launch into the incoming tide.

As I paddled out, the sun broke through the clouds.  My shoulders got burned the day before, so I was happy I was wearing a light colored t-shirt under my inflatable pfd.  As I paddled out through the knee-high and occasional waist-high waves, I grew accustomed to paddling up the front of the wave, using the paddle as a brace to increase the stability of my already very stable board.  I quickly got out past the jetty, continuing to paddle out through the swells.  As I looked back, I realized the incoming tide was carrying me up river into the "swimming zone" - although I was very far out, I didn't want another encounter with the wannabe-beach-police, so I turned around and started to paddle in and downstream.  Having never dealt with following waves before, the first waist-high set that came along caught me by surprise with my paddle out of the water, sweeping my board out from under me on the backside of the wave.  I quickly jumped back onto my board, but quickly realized the downside of wearing a t-shirt:  The howling wind was freezing!  I paddled in and ditched my t-shirt in my car, swapping it out for some sunscreen.  I burned one on the beach then had a quick conversation about the local sealife with a good looking mom and her two boys.  "No sharks here, but I did see a man-o-war the size of a garbage bag" I told them.  Not entirely true, Long Island Sound is home to a variety of shark species including sand tigers, browns, and threshers, although it's entirely safe to swim at least in the daytime.

Heading back out into the growing swells, I could feel the sun beating down on my back and shoulders.  While I had put sunblock on my neck and shoulders, my back was exposed and quickly started to burn.  I paddled in and out a few more times, getting used to the feel of paddling through the heavy chop, especially with following waves on the way in.  After about 3 hours out, I packed up for the day, content with my day at the beach.

That night I realized my big mistake in not doing something about uv protection on my back.  Even my shoulders which had a generous helping of sunblock were burnt to a crisp, but my back especially was lobster-red and very painful.  Fortunately after one night of sleeping on my stomach it felt somewhat better, and after another night the pain is almost completely gone.  Definitely have to get some kind of surf or swim shirt that is made to get wet then dry quickly, because sunblock just is not effective enough.

Next time out I'm going to try fishing off my board.  I'm going to launch from Birdseye again, and go to the marsh-side of the docked boats and troll from there out towards the Sound.  I made an interesting setup for fishing which I will show pictures of next time!

Review of Seattle Sports Lashmates Superstik Attachment System

Wednesday morning before going out on my SUP I attached the new Seattle Sports Lashmates Superstik Attachment System.  With my Ark being a foam board with soft top I was concerned that the super glue used with EZ-plugs would cause damage to the board, but I knew I needed some kind of cargo-carrying system on the board.  Searching Amazon the pickings were slim, but I settled on these and I'm glad I did:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009V60I92/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1375990379&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX110_SY190

I measured out a 15in x 15in grid on the front of my board, and attached the lashmates with the easy to use peel-and-stick 3M adhesive that comes pre-installed on the bottom of the lashmates.  An hour later, I strapped a bungee cord to the lashmates and took off for the beach.

I was out in heavy chop for about 3 hours, with waves crashing over the front of my board constantly.  I had a type 4 pfd cushion strapped to the board, as well as my water bottle, dry bag and for a while my inflatable pfd.  The lashmates held strong, and upon arriving home and hosing my board off (don't leave salt water on the lashmates!) I was happy to find them still completely secure to the board - not a single spot that looked like it was coming loose one bit.  I know one day doesn't say much about durability, but after drying they are still securely attached today, and I'm confident they will hold for a long time to come! 

Below is a picture of my Greco Ark with Seattle Sports Lashmates Superstik Attachment System:

Got my Ark!

Got my Ark w/ Staff of Moses from http://www.grecosurfboards.com Monday!  The DHL guy wouldn't go under the Merritt Parkway bridge, so I had to drive down the street and throw it in the back of my mom's car.  So I got it back to my house, took off the box DHL trashed, and marvelled at my first SUP!  I threw it in the pool and jumped on, paddling back and forth to make sure it would float me.

Tuesday I loaded my board up on my car with my soft car racks, which are suprisingly easy to use.  I put washcloths around the edges of my board where the ropes make contact with it, and was happy to find that no marks were left on the board on my 30mph drive to Birdseye Dock.

Launching at Birdseye, my first thought was how windy it was and how big the chop was.  I've only been out on an SUP once, and although I had no trouble standing I was using it in a lake with only minor boat wake.  Between the wind and the waves I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get going, but as soon as I launched I realized how stable my Ark is which allowed me to quickly get accustomed to the feel of paddling through the waves.  I crossed the Housatonic River, paddling along the edge of the marsh checking out the fish swimming beneath.

As I crossed back to the other side, I was suddenly greeted by a "BANG" on the back of my board.  Thinking I might have hit a piece of driftwood I looked back quickly only to see a silvery streak as a large fish flapped and darted away.  A few minutes later I cruised by a man-o-war the size of a garbage bag, it's brainy-looking tentacles hanging far beneath the large, bell-shaped head.  I saw a few smaller red jellyfish, but mostly just harmless white ones which scattered the river (I knelt down at one point to scoop one up, remembering my brother and I having a white jellyfish fight on the docks when I was younger).

Definitely hooked on SUP!  Next time I'll write about my 2nd time out, even heavier chop launching from Short Beach, as well as my review of Seattle Sports Lashmates Superstik Attachment System.

-TreeburnerCT