Something To Chew On

August 27 - September 2, 2018

By Becca Bona

becca@dailydata.com

Paddle on

A few years ago, while on an early morning walk with my Dad along the Emerald Coast, we noticed a man standing on what looked like a surfboard in the bay waters. He was standing with feed wide, as if in a power stance, and holding what looked like an elongated canoe paddle to direct his progress.

I was worried that he might be attacked by the infamous Jaws, as I’d just seen that movie a day prior.

As he paddled up to the shore Dad asked, “Is that a workout?”

“You better believe it,” the man responded before hefting the board under one arm and leaving the beach.

That was my limited introduction to paddle boards, until I recently had the opportunity to try it myself. We planned an all-day lake trip while in Austin, Texas, a while back. Upon unloading the car, I noticed two big backpacks, but had no idea what they held.

It wasn’t until 30 minutes later, when our friend finished inflating what I assumed was a huge inner tube that I realized it was a paddle board. I was introduced to inflatable stand up paddle boards (ISUPs, for the internet savvy) that day, and my mind was truly blown.

Our friends had bought them as a way to get outside more, and they had two individual boards. Equipped with a hand pump, you inflated each one to a recommended PSI, and then grabbed your paddle and headed to the water.

And, while the pumping wasn’t ideal, the paddling was. I spent the better part of the day trying to find my balance, falling more than once, but once I figured it out, I already felt like an expert.

My boyfriend and I were intrigued with the idea – and wanted one of our own. Arkansas is no stranger to watering holes, so when we came back to Little Rock, he did all the research and we chose one to share.

I’m calling the one we purchased the “party board.” It’s twelve feet long and can hold up to 550 pounds – which is enough for me, my boyfriend, an ice chest, snacks, and the dog, if we felt so inclined.

The day it came in the mail we unwrapped it, pumped it up and tested it out in the pool. Its stability – even with both of us on the board – is pretty amazing.

I had no qualms when we took it out to Lake Sylvia at the next chance we had to practice paddling together and strengthen our sea legs. Towards the end of our three hour lake jaunt, we were both standing and moving around each other on the board as if we were old pros.

“It’s like we bought a boat,” I kept saying, happy and jubilant. My boyfriend agreed, and thus, we ventured out to the Ouachita River this past weekend to check out how the board behaves with a current. The river is relatively tame, but there are a few spots where you need to navigate to avoid rocks and trees.

The first bend we rounded that saw even the slightest of white caps, I went slack, frozen in fear.

“Paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle,” my boyfriend said, calm but firm, and I did my best to comply. In fact, we managed the whole trip without any bumps or bruises and neither of us fell off. Later, when he asked me why I was so scared, I could only come up with this.

“I didn’t want to get eaten by Jaws!”