Board size, salt vs fresh water

Sent VIA Standuppaddlebend.com contact, a question from the Mid-West...
I am very glad to have found your website. I live in central Ohio, haven't had much time to get to the beach, and I have been keeping up with stand-up since I started seeing the pictures of Laird years ago. I do not own a board but as I was shopping for one I came upon an issue that needed resolved before purchasing. Do I need to buy a longer board for fresh water (lake, reservoir) than I would for salt water? Is the density of the water a huge issue with the board length vs. rider weight ratio? Please advise.
thanks, Brett W

Brett, Board sizing is a very complicated issue. The simple answer is obvious, fresh water doesn't float a board as well as salt water. I use the same board in salt water and fresh but I paddle in boardshorts in freshwater. I wear a wetsuit in our cold ocean waters. A wet wetsuit adds a lot of weight so I've never noticed a difference in salt water flotation. If you wonder how heavy your wetsuit is when wet, soak it and put it in a plastic bucket on the bathroom scale. With the extra weight in mind, boards made for Oregon have always been a little bigger than Hawaii.
Keep in mind that volume is what determines flotation in a board more than length. Length, width and thickness should all be considered. The best board-shapers have figured out where to put the volume in the board. Where you stand (therefore weighting the board) should be a sweet spot that doesn't cause the nose to plow or the tail to drag. The extra cost is worth it for a board shaped by a reputable shaper and if re-produced, replicated exactly.
I like bigger, high volume, boards for flatwater. 11' to 12.5' and 29" to 31" wide.
Any other comments out there?
RB

Deck Traction - Wax & Sawdust Part 1.

Slipping off your board? A lot of standup boards come with a glossy deck and need something for traction. The traditional surfboard way is with a bar of wax. You rub it on the deck of the board until it builds up little bumps. This needs re-waxing regularly to restore the wax gripiness and the bumps. This way is very inexpensive and it leaves a nice patina on the deck of the board that shows your actually using it. It also allows the beautiful graphics of the board to show and aesthetically is very pleasing. I've got a board hanging on the wall as home decor. It has a lot of meaning to me, a Bill Barnfield that Bill gave me as his best man present in 1970. My wife said,"why don't you clean of that icky wax." My response was,"no way. . .the wax is part of that boards character.

But, wax has its downside. In hot climates it can melt and drip off the board or worse, onto your car! If you carry your board on your head fin-up you will get wax in your hair. If you stack boards on top of each other the wax transfers to the bottom of the other boards. If you lay a hot board wax side down in the sand it embeds the sand in the wax and you have a mess.

To remove wax the best way I've found is with sawdust. (or foam dust if you are around a board shaper) Grab a bunch of sawdust and rub it on the wax. If the wax is warmed in the sun it works better. The wax will stick to the sawdust and the more you do it the cleaner the board will be.

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Senior Standup Paddling - You're Not Too Old for this Sport!

Do an internet search on Standup Paddling and you'll find plenty of photos of gorgeous guys carving big waves and battling the surf. What you'll have a harder time finding is pictures of seniors getting water-time on a stand up paddle board. Well, don't think your time is past for learning to paddle. Stand up paddling on flat water is easy. You can learn in less than thirty minutes if the water is smooth and your board is stable. A stable board is long and wide with a lot of flotation.

If you still have doubts, here's a photo of Janelle Willett, 67 yrs. young. She's enjoying her first stand up paddle boarding lesson from her son Matt Willet. Thanks Matt for the photo.

Here are a few of the benefits of Standup Paddling:

• Standup paddling is a low impact exercise.
• Wear a heart monitor and you'll know when you're paddling fast enough to get an aerobic workout.
• Falling is safer in this sport than many others.
• Whether you're social or solitary you'll love this sport. Paddle with friends or find solitude on the water.
• Buy a board with built-in carrying handles so it is easier to handle.
  

. . . . and best of all -- get on a stand up board and you'll make friends of all ages!

If you're interested in getting a friendly standup board for your conditions and abilities, contact www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com for board sales advice.

If you're visiting Bend, Oregon be sure to read our blog entries of the Places to Paddle Circa Bend, Oregon.

Deschutes River Water Trail Proposal in Bend, Oregon

River trails enable pedestrians, cyclists and nature lovers looking for an accessible outdoor experience. Cities around the nation have discovered that a trail on the river is even better. This idea, referred to as a whitewater park is successful in different parts of the country. Combining recreation needs with wildlife and river preservation, whitewater parks bring a growing variety of gasoline-free visitors to any town with a trickle of water and some foresight. Kayakers, riverboarders, rafters, floaters and standup paddlers are the players riding the water.

An inclusive list of whitewater parks is on Ripboard.com . The US National Whitewater Center in North Carolina, East Race Whitewater course outside of Chicago, Clearcreek Whitewater park in Golden, Colorado and the Reno Whitewater park in Downtown Reno, Nevada are examples of towns on-board with whitewater parks. The widespread popularity and resulting financial revenue this type of development brings to inland waterways around the country is inspiring others to do the same.

Wednesday, Jan. 23rd in Bend, Oregon, the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District held a public meeting asking interested residents to comment on three conceptual designs for improvements to the Deschutes River at the Colorado Avenue dam that include a whitewater park and replacing the existing pedestrian bridge with a safer structure.

Jayson Bowerman put the word out and paddlers of every type attended. Standup paddlers from the Bend community that attended the meeting were Kerie Raymond, Tod Wooldridge, Ron Thompson and me, Cristina Acosta. Kerie Raymond was quoted extensively in The Bend Bulletin, Sec. C, page 1, continued to page 5, Jan. 24, 2008. Here's an excerpt:

Residents weigh concepts to improve safety at Bend's Colorado Avenue dam . . . . . . . . Several people who attended said they favored concepts that separated whitewater paddlers, who would gravitate toward the pool-drop area, from floaters and boaters simply passing through. "If you're developing (pools) and (whitewater) play spaces but you can't play because people are constantly coming down, it doesn't work." Raymond said. Raymond said she wanted a design that would work for many river users.

Ron Thompson made the public recommendation to ensure that the proposed new bridge height would be tall enough to accommodate Standup Paddlers.

Keisha Burns of Central Oregon's News Channel 21 KTVZ-TV interviewed me at the meeting. Like Kerie, I'm very supportive of and excited by the proposal. The KTVZ link has a video Here's text excerpts:

Deschutes dam safety improvements win favor. But Colorado spillway plans have no funding, timetable.
By Keisha Burns, KTVZ.COM Posted: Jan 24, 2008 12:02 AM

Central Oregonians shared their thoughts Wednesday night on safety improvements for a popular recreational activity in Bend that has claimed two lives in recent years.
The Deschutes River attracts locals and tourists every summer, but it's the spillway at the Colorado Avenue Bridge dam and spillway that poses a threat to floaters.
The Bend Metro Parkand Rec District does not own the dam, but it is doing its part to help increase boater safety, while taking input from the public.
Cristina Acosta is a stand-up paddler and she said floaters don't always make good judgement while floating in the water.
"Sometimes they don't always judge well, like the winds pick up and their craft is such as a large inner tube," she said.
Snow, ice and wildlife are attracted to the Colorado Dam during the winter, but by summer the potential for trouble floats. . . . Those who attended the meeting were impressed with the ideas and sketches, including Acosta.
"I'm excited to see the mix between the natural riparian areas, with the different water animals being nurtured along, with making it more fun for humans," she said. "I think that's a good combination, I was happy to see that in the sketches."
Laughlin said the public's input is important to get the project going.

Public meetings will continue to be scheduled to allow the public to be involved in the design process.

Flatwater Wind Waves on Yellowstone Lake

Standup paddling on inland waters is not about boring. My family and I went on a camping trip to Yellowstone last summer and brought along the standup boards. We put the boards on top of the van and left Bend, Oregon traveling east through the Eastern Oregon high plateau desert, Idaho and into Montana. Gas stations guys and diner staff along the way would nod towards the east and ask us if we knew the ocean was "back that way."

When we got to Yellowstone, we went to the Ranger station and got tags for our boards. (Required for any watercraft.) We parked at the North end of Yellowstone Lake and after about 45 minutes on the water we noticed a dark wind-line on the lake in the distance to the South. It took about five minutes until we were hit with a line of wind that built to a 15-20 mph steady blow within 10 minutes. We turned back towards the shore and paddled with the wind to our backs.

Our daughter noticed that the wave chop was becoming waves that looked surfable. Pushed by the 24 miles of open water, the waves were 12” to 24” by the time they reached Mary’s Bay. The gradual shallow slope of the bay created waves that we could ride for quite a way. Wind generated, the waves were close together and unpredictable. We found that we could walk the boards out faster than we could paddle them. Standing on the lake bottom we’d push our boards into a wave and quickly jump to standing position. We surfed for a couple of hours. A bull bison came down to the shoreline and watched us awhile before rejoining his herd as it meandered down the road to the west. READ MORE. . . .

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Ke nalu E-Zine Features the Bend Scene

Freezing Your…Toes Off in Bend

Kenalu.com e-zine is Pono Bill's new venture. It's full of great stories, videos, and more. Check out the site. Here's an excerpt from the article he posted after Randall sent him an email about winter flatwater paddling in the Northwest. The photo is of Randall Barna and Ron Thompson on the Deschutes from another session. It was a toasty plus-32 degrees that day. (Thanks Peter Miller for the photo):

December 31, 2007

I knew it was really cold when I glanced down at my booties and saw the toes were ice crusted…

Bend, Oregon is famous for lunatics–on the mountain, in the desert, on skis and snowboards, in the whitewater and in the bars. One of the most infamous is Randy Barna, who sent us this by email:

Last Saturday my friend Eddy Miller and I had arranged to go for a paddle on the Deschutes. Ed is a mountain man who doesn’t like modern conveniences and is known for winter adventures like rafting the Grand Canyon. He was introduced to SUP at Elk Lake by friend Win Francis in the warmth of last summer so you think Ed would know better than to SUP all winter. Well, Ed was determined to go since he had paddled every day since he got his first SUP board from me last Tuesday and didn’t want to spoil his record. We couldn’t let the fact that it was only twenty-two degrees out influence us. I had to experience it and so did Win Francis.

We started at Aspen Camp launch. This stretch if the river is completely wilderness and very beautiful. Also, Ed likes it because. . . . . READ MORE

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Sup Bend OR Group slideshow #1 2007/8

Photos of members of our Standup Paddle Bend group: On the Cascade Lakes, Deschutes River and the Oregon Coast.