Stand up Kayaking

I always looked with envy down at the stand up paddle boarders when camping on the bluff at San Elijo State Park during the small surf summer days. They gracefully stroked across the broad ocean canvas, undaunted by the smallish surf and lazy glass of summer. Having a garage full of skiis , surfboards and kayaks, the idea of spending $1000 on a new American made paddle board seemed a bit excessive.

My Ocean Kayak is a Prowler, just over 14 foot long. It is 28 inches wide, just about where the modern stand ups start. I first tried to use a double bladed paddle in Mission Bay. It worked OK, but my hands got tired of gripping the blade fairly soon. I saw a reference in paddlesurf.net to EJ Johnson, who makes laminated wooden paddles of marine grade birch. He sells these finely crafted long paddles from his shop at Dana Point for $175. See some of EJ's creations. With the new paddle, my stand up kayaking got easier in a hurry. In the first 25 hours of doing it at Mission Bay, Lake Murray and Lake Alamo (in Arizona), I have had only one fall. It's not that hard!

I made a little YouTube video to shortcut the process of learning how to do stand up kayaking.