WasSUP?

A few weeks ago I went to a candle party - you know, where you sit around with no husbands or kids and enjoy an afternoon of food and drink!  Afterwards, we were chatting about things that we wanted to do and Stand Up Paddling came up as something we were all keen to try.  To quote Laura, it gives us surf widows something to do of our own!  So we booked in for a lesson down at the marina and prayed for good weather.

Today was the day, and boy were our prayers answered!  30 C with just a light wind, so the bay was like a lake.  Out of our group, only own person had tried before - of course it was the young one!  My main goal was not to fall in, which was shared with several of the others.  We met Dylan, our instructor for the day, and were off.  He started out by telling us how to paddle (don't lift your hand to switch sides, slide it up the paddle).  After showing us how to get out in the water (on your knees) and how to stand up (carefully), we were off.

Good listeners

Off we go

And we're up

We stayed out for a bit, and then came back in to walk around.  My legs felt fairly shaky from being tense.  One of Dylan's big tips was to relax your toes, which is easier said then done.  He had us walk around a bit and sent us back out, promising that it would be easier.  It made sense that it would be, but I was surprised at just how much easier it was.  I was able to relax my legs and no longer felt even remotely shaky.  At this point I was able to think less about balance and more about just enjoying it.

We paddled around for a bit, practicing on our turns.  We headed back to shore when the big dolphin cruise ships came in and Dylan explained how to paddle and get more power.  Back into the water we went for our last 30 minutes.

He spent a few minutes with us each individually, helping us to paddle better.  Your board just takes off with speed when you do it right - go figure!  You also feel it a whole lot more in your core when you're done.  It's possible we'll all be quite sore tomorrow, but it was worth it!

All told, I think we did a pretty good job!  All but one of us stayed dry and I think we'd all do it again.  I know I'd like to learn more, plus I love the idea of exercising without exercising.  And heaven knows you can't beat a day out on the water.

Special thanks to my husband, who was kind enough to take the pictures - even though he felt a bit like a creeper for hanging out at the beach taking pictures of women!

Heading to shore with a smile!