I got this little essay from a friend of a friend who shall remain nameless.
The picture however is yours truly in mid paddle from Swamis to Windnsea. This was a few years back. No more long paddles, just 1-3 miles now.
Enjoy the essay!
The end is awesome
Real Paddle Boarders Do it Laying Down
July, 2, 2010
You know the feeling after a long paddle out to a remote surf break, or paddling hard into a big wave against the wind? Now imagine that feeling for 32 miles, or at least 5 straight hours. That sums up the intensity and insanity of the few "traditional" paddle boarders who take on the Kaiwi Channel every July. Now imagine the millions of people who have tried stand up paddling claim they are also "paddle boarders". Traditional paddle boarding, as its now being referred to, only a few years ago was the only paddle boarding the world knew, and now
with the popularity of Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP), the traditional guys are fighting for their sport --and their name, amongst a bevy of inexperienced stand up "paddle boarders".
Though classified under the same category, and often times confused with stand up paddling-- real paddle boarders do it laying down, along side the ocean, not 6 feet above it. Prone paddle boarding is one of the toughest, mentally grueling and most ocean-sensitive paddle sports. The innate snes of feel each paddler requires to recognize each change in the ocean landscape, distinguishes the sport for only the true water men. On a paddle-board, you can fit into almost every type of bump, which makes you work with the ocean in a more intimate way than any other ocean sport--yet at the same time, any minor ocean change, such as a knot of wind, inch of tide or ripple of surf, effects your performance much more drastically. The lack of leverage from standing or sitting up, forces you to relate and adapt to the oceans current climate using a keen --almost subconscious --6th sense.
Stand up paddling is much different. You have maximum leverage standing, a towering, 6 feet above the ocean, and most of time you don't even have to get wet while doing it. In essence, the two sports are nothing alike, aside from the similar speeds they travel across the ocean and the fact that you are on a board.
Stand up also extremely novice-friendly--the obvious root of its popularity--because literally, anyone can do it. This creates a problem, when novice water men are wielding 7 foot blades and 14 foot boards in the treacherous open-ocean or crowded surf breaks.
This, among other reasons, is why, in spite its many participants, stand up paddling is surprisingly still struggling to find its place among many other traditional and modern paddle sports. Surfing, one of its' biggest overlapping sports, has ironically been one of its biggest adversaries. The size of stand up boards makes it easier to catch waves farther outside, putting SUPers at the top of the surfing hierarchy, which not only crowds local surf spots but leaving "traditional" surfers frustrated with the ease at which they catch them.
Traditional paddle boarders and outrigger style paddlers have watched the sport explode in a sense of shock and awe as it continues to gain national and international popularity, high prize purses and major sponsors. The sense of dismay comes from knowing highly technical sports, such as their own, will never gain as much popularity based on the difficulty of it. However, these traditional paddlers seem to find peace in the fact that they know they can always step up and grab a piece of the action.
Some of the greats have, indeed, broken into Stand Up and have taken top honors. Rooted in the traditional (and now minority) forms of paddling, they have "stood up" to get their hands on some prize money. Take the top four Battle of the Paddle finishers--Danny Ching, winner of the Molokai Solo earlier this year-- Travis Grant of Australia was on the winning Pa'a 'Eono crew--Aaron Napoleon, 11th in the Molo Solo, renown surfer, paddler, waterman and Jamie Mitchell, the king of "traditional" paddle boarding all stepped out of their usual sports to take top honors.
At least there is a sense of justice knowing that although the traditional paddle sports are still lacking financial backing, its easy enough to cross over to the more easily learned paddle sport and get some money.
Maybe the animosity comes from seeing fully clothed (and dry) SUPers leisurely paddling by, or someone paddling a whole race with the paddle angle backwards, or just the fact that Matthew McConaughey and Nicole Ritchie can both do it.
But compared to its "traditional" brother, there is no way they can match up. In other words, if your standing, your hair is dry, you can see your destination easily over the bumps, or you star in corny romantic comedies-- Don't call yourself a paddle boarder.
