Event: Gorge Games Stand Up Paddle Race, July 18-20

New this year, the Gorge Games is including Standup Paddling. SUP racers will be grouped with the outrigger canoe paddlers. Though the focus is on outrigger, anyone that pays the entry fees can tag along and take advantage of the safety boats and other race infrastructure. Because this is the first year for this event, information isn't complete and things aren't planned to the inth degree. You can read more about the games on the Official Gorge Games website. And also on the Bend Outrigger site. Thanks to the Bend Outrigger site for the photo of the canoes. The Gorge is about 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from Bend, Oregon.

When: July 18th, 19th and 20th
Where: Stevenson Fairgrounds on the waterfront in Stevenson, WA in The Gorge
Cost: $40 includes entry fee, paddle shirt, insurance and camping
Required: Life jackets and board leash

Standup Events at Stevenson Fairgrounds:

• Friday, July 18th, 1:00 p.m.: un-official downwind event. From Stevenson. . . . (we don't have more info, yet). Aprox 10 miles. Note: You MUST team with a partner for safety AND have a life jacket. There are No chase boats and the water is knarly.
  
• Saturday, July 19th (after completion of the team outrigger event is over. It begins at 11:00 a.m.): Standup paddle head-to-head, one-design race. Sponsors provide Laird boards and adjustable paddles so that all of the racers are on the same equipment. This is the first time for this race, so that's all we know.
• Sunday, July 20th, 9:00 a.m.: Up and downwind course race, 2.75 miles total.
  

We think this is going to be a super-fun thing to do this summer and urge everyone to come to the Gorge and join in this event. There were about 300 competitors last year. Let's get the standup group numbers up in this outstanding traditional outrigger event.

Note: photo of the Gorge at twilight is from the 3 Gorge net blog.

Stand up Journal - The Fire Inside Gerry Lopez

Standup Surf & Sail Journal is a must to add to your coffee table quiver of magazines. Each issue is a Photo journal rich with images and articles that are sure to add to the buzz that's building SUP into the next big worldwide sport.

Published by Clay Feeter, Standup Surf & Sail Journal features our local surf icon, Gerry Lopez. Gerry wrote the article, The Fire Within, on page 94. It's beautifully illustrated with photos including a portrait of Gerry with Kialoa paddle maker, Dave Chun (also from Bend, Oregon). Some of the local Paddlesurf Bend crew have their picture in a group shot with Gerry taken by Meg Chun on the shore of the Deschutes River near the Healy Bridge.

Gerry's article will whet your appetite for his new book, Surf is Where You Find It. We highly recommend this book.

SUP Bend Group (photo Meg Chun): L to R - Gerry Lopez, Isabella Barna, Mike McComb, Randall Barna, Dave Chun (red shirt), Dennis Oliphant, Jeremy McKelvey (farthest back), Peter Miller, Susie Miller

Surfing the High Desert - The Source Weekly

All of you ripped hard core surf guys on the Deschutes River are real press magnets. Kevin Grove, a writer for the Source Weekly, the best freebie paper in Bend, Oregon, wrote a piece about our local group of Stand up Paddlers. He interviewed Randall Barna and Peter Miller along with Ron Thompson and Al Paterson. These guys always have something interesting (or funny) to say, and they didn't disappoint.

Our local group is a loose organization of about 45-50 paddlers. We are usually seen in gaggles numbering from around 6 to 15 folks. The variety of local paddle conditions along with the support of SUP industry leaders in the area stokes the passion for SUP on the High Desert.

Dave and Meg Chun (owners of Kialoa Paddles) and Gerry Lopez (our local surf celebrity), built businesses that are key players in the Standup Paddle world. Randall Barna started www.StandupPaddleBend.com last year to stoke the sport both in the Northwest and online. Peter Miller has stepped in to rep gear. Randall is convinced that anybody who has ever surfed or had the dream of standing on a surf board can share in the surf passion as Standup Paddlers on the nearest flat water.

Here is one of my favorite quotes in the article:
"Ron Thompson paddles with his dog Lucie on his board. Living on the river, he saw the group out several times last year, decided it looked like a fun activity and signed on. "It's a really good full-body workout," said Thompson. "That is why we're all incredibly ripped," joked fellow paddler Al Peterson."
READ MORE on the Source Weekly site. The article is titled, Surfing the High Desert, Stand-up paddle surfing. . . page 34. OUTSIDE section.

www.StandupPaddleFlatwater.com

Pono Bill at Pacific City

Oregon original, Pono Bill aka Bill Babcock publisher of the online zine and blog Ke Nalu, devoted to Stand Up Paddling, is back home in Oregon. A snowbird, Pono Bill escapes the doom and gloom of the rainy side of the state of Oregon and lives on Maui every winter.

Randall recognized Bill in the surf, as he's obviously an experienced paddler. Randall and Bill paddle surfed with Paul Montgomery, another long-time Oregon surfer.

I took this photo of Bill after the winds had kicked up and he was ready for a brewski at the Pelican Brew Pub, where he had conveniently parked about 10 feet from the door. Great to finally meet you Bill -- Aloha!

www.StandupPaddleBend.com

Race: Odell Lake, Oregon Pioneer Cup, July 2008

Hey everybody, it's time to plan for the annual Odell Lake Pioneer Cup race. Join this race whatever your preferred mode of paddling is: Canoes, kayaks, surf skis, Standup Paddle surfing, etc. It's all good! (And you get an official Odell Lake Lodge hat!)

2007 was the first year that Standup paddlers entered as a class. In order of finishing, the paddlers were: Randall Barna, Isabella Barna, Cristina Acosta and Kerry Raymond. We were slower than all other forms of paddling, so we were at the end of the race. Kerry Raymond won The Sightseers' Award -- a golden trophy we all thought was pretty cool.

The race is alot of fun. The course is 5 miles downwind and if we're lucky and the wind is up, we'll have some nice waves to ride. At the end is a BBQ on the deck at the historic Odell Lake Lodge. If you're traveling, there are clean Forest Service Campgrounds both on the lake or nearby, or stay at the Odell Lake Lodge. Remember that you can get your gear (maybe even FASTER gear) at www.StandupPaddleBend.com

Here's the Pioneer Cup Race info:
Date: July 26, 2008
Time: Registration at Shelter Cove 8 to 10 a.m. Race Starts at 11 a.m.
Cost: $15.00 per person which includes a official Odell Lake Lodge race cap.
For More Info: John Milandin 541-782-2815

Places to Paddle: Pacific City, Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

Summer is sort of finally here in the Northwest. Celebrating the end of school (for the kids) some of the Bend Standup Paddle crew went to Pacific City, Oregon, by Cape Kiwanda for the weekend. The weather was warm and the sun was out, you'd hardly even know you were at the Oregon Coast except that everybody in the water was sheathed in black neoprene and only the toughest weren't wearing gloves and hoods.

Pacific City has something for anyone that likes a scene. You won't find pristine wilderness beaches on the South side of the Cape (but you can look over the cape from the top of the dune at some beaches on the North side). Surfing south of Cape Kiwanda is a vibrant beach scene, except that all of the bikinis and board shorts are under wetsuits. You can watch the fishing dories skid onto the beach as they return with the morning's catch. Climb the Cape Kiwanda sand dune to the north, walk around the tidepools at the base of the dune or just sit on the patio of the Pelican Brew Pub and enjoy a handcrafted ale or stout. Some of us stayed at the Cape Kiwanda RV Resort, and others at the hotel next door, the Inn at Cape Kiwanda.

Pacific City is about a 4 hour drive from Bend, Oregon.

It's a great trip. Check out the waves on the Pelican Brew Pub Surf Cam

Here's what's going on in the photos:

• Peter Miller is showing off The Big Board Schlepper. Not only does The Big Board Schlepper make getting to the beach easier, when the wind gusted, the Schlepper helped keep everything together and under control. Peter's paddle is a artisan made Kialoa.
  
• RV Camping at Cape Kiwanda RV Resort.
• Cape Kiwanda in the early morning. Note the trucks on the beach that trailer the fishing dories.
• Get Your Stand up Paddle gear for Surf SUP or Flatwater at StandupPaddleBend.com
  

Group Event: Deschutes River, Oregon - Harper Bridge, Sunriver, OR to Benham Falls

Last weekend's paddle was a great time! The sun came out a few times and the company was stellar. Thanks Kay for shuttling us back to our cars. Here's the note Randall sent out that explained the trip. If you have a fun trip in mind, leave comments about what you'd like to try as a group and we can get the event set up. Let's do this again!

This is an easy and beautiful Deschutes downriver ten mile paddle through the Sunriver Resort area. The Harper Bridge launch does not require a U.S. Forest Service permit as it's Highway property. The Benham Falls launch area requires a parking pass. You can get a NW Forest pass for $25.00 at most any sporting goods store or National Forest office. Sometimes the parking area has a paid parking box where you can buy a $5.00 per day parking pass.

Photo credits for the slide show: Kay Jaskolski, Peter & Susie Miller, Pam Stevenson
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Hi Everyone,
Here's the news on the Deschutes downriver paddle. The stretch we'll do is from the bridge just south of Sunriver to the Benham Falls takeout near Lava Lands Visitor center. The stretch is about ten miles and takes around two-three hours on water. We'll stop at the Sunriver Marina lagoon for a break. They have food and nice restrooms and are anxious for us to see their standup paddle operation with rentals, shuttles, lessons etc. The forecast is temps in the mid sixties and partial clouds. We meet at 1:30 at Lava Lands Visitors center just south of the High Desert Museum on Hwy 97. When you pull in you'll see a sign to Benham Falls to the left and immediately a parking lot. We'll meet there to consolidate into fewer cars and leave some cars at the takeout. Leave food and liquid refreshments at the takeout too. Bring your extra rack straps. It's OK to stack boards on top of each other if they're padded. Kay has volunteered to shuttle from the finish, so that will get 4 or 5 of us back to our cars right away. There's no whitewater, the river is similar to our Old Mill stretch but much wilder. Last Sunday we had a deer swim downriver with us right in Sunriver!

Mahalo,
Randall Barna
standuppaddlebend.com

Places to Paddle: Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park, Montana

Our nation's tenth National Park, Glacier in the state of Montana, includes more than a million acres of land. The Salish and Kootenai reservation is southwest of Glacier. The Blackfeet Reservation is on the east side of the park. This entire area holds great spiritual importance to the Blackfeet, Salish, and Kootenai people.

Eddy Miller, a member of our Bend Standup Paddle community sent us these photos of his time spent paddling on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. The lake is 10 miles long and 472 feet deep. There is a speed limit, so you won't see any wake-board boating or jet skis. The morning Eddy went out the water was cold and the day was beautiful. He said that the best time to paddle is in the early morning or late evening. Lake McDonald is a high mountain lake and wind and storms can come on quickly, so take precautions and plan for safety. Thanks Eddy for the photos.

The National Parks service has a Webcam so you can see this lake and others in Glacier Park.

Information to help you plan your visit to Glacier National Park is on the official National Parks Service website. There are 13 campgrounds within Glacier Park and several historic lodges, so there are plenty of options for travelers.

Here's how the National Parks website describes Glacier:

Glacier National Park preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Its diverse habitats are home to over 70 species of mammals including the grizzly bear, wolverine, gray wolf and lynx. Over 260 species of birds visit or reside in the park, including such varied species as harlequin ducks, dippers and golden eagles. The landscape is a hiker's paradise that is traversed by more than 750 miles of maintained trails. Glacier Park's varied climate influences and its location at the headwaters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Hudson Bay drainages have given rise to an incredible variety of plants and animals.

Read about more Places to Paddle on our website.

Whitewater & Surf Safety - Wear a Helmet!

Rocks in the river and on the Oregon coast amp up the danger of an ordinary SUP wipeout. For safety in surf or whitewater wear a helmet. This is especially important if you're trying out your Stand up Paddle skills on the Deschutes River. The changing water levels (due to irrigation) can make yesterday's riffle today's mid-river boulder.

We have these surf helmets in stock at StandupPaddleFlatwater.com Buy the Predator Lee 8 Helmet in one of 2 colors, red or black. The Lee 8 has a sun visor that shades the sun but is not so big that wipeout hydraulics jerk your head around. It also has stronger plastic than their other helmets. And, at only $99.00 it's cheaper than brain surgery.

Buy the Predator Lee 8 Helmut and other Standup Paddle accessories on our website. We also sell leashes, locks, board bags and more.

River, Lake & Ocean Flatwater Circa the Willamette Valley

Michael Carpenter, is a very stoked Standup Paddler. He recently bought a 12' Ron House SUP board and Kialoa Nalu Stand up paddle from us at StandupPaddleFlatwater.com and is exploring the flat water options in the Willamette Valley, Oregon area and the nearby coastal waters of Florence, Oregon. Thanks Michael for your stories and great local knowledge about this part of Oregon. Florence, Oregon is about a 4 hour drive from Bend, Oregon.

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Hi Randall,
Looks like a lot is happening in the SUP world on your side of the Cascades! Despite the wet weather here in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, recently I have been getting out several days a week to the local reservoirs. Last weekend I paddled on both Dexter and Fall Creek Reservoirs in complete glass with absolutely no wind. Talk about glide! I have been scoping the Willamette, but with the high water and strong flows, it feels rather intimidating. I have yet to find a smooth safe section of the river and source a good PFD or wake vest for standup paddling.

Two weeks ago I was on the Oregon coast for three days getting a good feel for my equipment and trying it out in different conditions. Friday morning in Florence, Oregon, the air temp was a clear and very sunny ninety degrees with howling offshore winds! I spent the first half of the day surfing and paddling the mouth of the Siuslaw River between the jetty's. There is a good put in site with a sandy beach in a rocky cove near the crabbing pier on the inside bend of the south jetty. From there it was a short paddle to a mushy but fun left/right peak that was breaking knee to waist high on a shallow sand bar in the middle of the river. I paddled over to the popular left the breaks along inside of the south jetty but as I got closer, it seemed a little bigger than I was ready for. With a lot of water moving around, swells rolling in at all kinds of angles, a offshore wind blowing me toward the ocean and the slack tide beginning to change, all I could manage to do was stay on my board and paddle back to calmer water.

The following day I returned to the Siuslaw to do a little more surfing and cruising around among the many curious harbor seals. The swell and wind had dropped significantly, so it made things a bit more relaxed. Later that day I went back to the my campsite along the Siltcoos River between Siltcoos Lake and the ocean. This is a great stretch of flatwater river paddling, where you can paddle a good distance in the estuary on out to the ocean. There are lots of shore birds and wildlife, the water is calm, somewhat shallow and comfortably warm. The campground is peaceful and there is great hiking and secluded beaches as well.

Hope to see you soon for a paddle,
Michael

"I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding." John O'Donohue

New Lopez Stand up Paddle Board

Gerry Lopez surfboards are pure art. The shapes are no-nonsense function and derived from an heritage of experience thats unprecedented. It's rare that an athlete, performing at the pinnacle of their sport, also has the mastery to design and hand shape the equipment.

Gerry has stacks of surfboard orders from around the world and it takes months of planning to get one. I've teased about him ever getting around to make us some standup paddle boards. I think we're very fortunate to have Gerry share with us what he rides, that's aloha!

I talked with Gerry about the new standup paddle surf boards, here's the interview:
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• The two standup paddle boards you shaped are a 9'6" and a 10'2", why the two sizes?

Gerry- The two are exactly the same design, meant to do the same thing. The 10'2" is for bigger surfers. (I usually split light/heavy at 170#, I think this applies here too)

• What type of standup paddle surfing are these boards meant for, they don't look like the noseriders in your longboard shapes?

Gerry- They're not noseriders, these boards are rippers!

The Gerry Lopez standup paddle surfboards are the highest performance SUP boards available.



Lopez's new Standup board is here! standuppaddlebend.com

Travel Story: The Shaseks in Troncones, Mexico

Judy Shasek has some sort of shark karma - luckily, shark karma that doesn't involve getting bitten. She was circled by a shark while swimming in Florida this year and then vacationed in Troncones, Mexico (on the Pacific Ocean in the state of Guerrero, MX) last week during a string of shark sitings. Judy and Ed Shasek sent these 2 emails to our land-locked Stand up Paddle Bend (Oregon) group this past week.
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Hi SUP of Bend (first email)

We went to Troncones Beach in Mexico yesterday. It was a 45 minute cab ride from our resort - along the way Santos the cab driver taught us a lot of Spanish, including the word tiburon - which means SHARK!!!!!! We arrived at Troncones and caught up with some hard core surfers (3-4 times out each day) but they were all on the beach. No one was out on the break. Why-we inquired.. look at this link http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/29/shark.attack.ap/

Three sightings of sharks had occurred that morning chasing everyone out of the water. They suggested we go to a different beach with better surf, called Salitas Beach. It is one of the best long board breaks in the world. It is a point break with long lefts. Our cab driver had waited for us so we hopped back in and began the 30 minute drive - along the way we traveled mostly on dirt roads learning the words vaca (cow), mango (the fruit) and calla (fighting rooster) - we taught Santos many important English words as well.

The first thing we saw at Salitas beach was Jacquiline's restaurant - 20 plastic tables and chairs on the sand with a tarp over, and cages with huge cock fighting roosters. Our cab driver recognized the bird immediately as a champion. Along the beach we saw no one in the nicely formed surf except for 8 caballos (horses). They waded and swam the whole time we were there.

Walking toward a green sign that said "Zurf Shop" we ran in to a nice young woman from Phoenix. She chatted about her morning surfing - apparently several sharks were lolling around and looking up at the surfers and freaked them all out and no one was in the water. She was still wide eyed hours later as she told us about it. She thought it was only right that she tell us since she wouldn't go back in the water herself and we were heading toward the Zurf Shop.

We met a lot of hard core surfers who have been surfing there and they were using the thatch roof Internet cafe or playing ping pong - many had tattoos and were quite fond of the F word. Luckily only Ed experienced that. Judy stayed on the beach with a nice couple from Marin County, California (Mitch and Erika). The surf dudes told Ed that there had been three shark attacks in 3 days and after seeing the sharks this morning it wasn't worth it.

Ok - now think about it. What would you have done. You are an hour and 20 minutes from the resort after traveling gravel and dirt roads and paying $50 one way. The next thing I knew Ed is walking toward me with a surf board. he said "screw the sharks and paddled out." I simply picked up the video camera and pulled on my surf booties to document whatever was going to happen. The water was crystal clear and warm, with a rocky reef bottom but no urchins. It was knee deep 800 yards out. Ed - to his credit- did not go out to the second break (well just to the edge of it ) where the sharks had been sighted.

He paddled for his first wave, made a left turn and surfed it in to the beach. He paddled out again and now there was a second surfer (quite an expert) with him. The tattooed surfer asked him if he knew about the shark attacks. He told Ed not to paddle to the outside break and to keep his legs on the board (read attached article)

Ed took one more wave but about halfway in to the beach, wiped out and cut his knee on the reef. He was bleeding, so he decided to come in and give me the board for my turn. Inexplicably I happily paddled out and took 3-4 waves. Amazingly I caught the waves and had the best surfing I've had in 40 years (can you believe it is 40 years???) Mitch and Ericka (from Marin County) thought we were quite the rock stars. We learned it was Mitch's 40th birthday so we opened out cooler and shared a few beers before calling it a day.

We hooked back up with Santos who had made friends with the owner of the champion cock fighter and we learned it was going to the US (we were perplexed...is that not illegal in the US??) Santos shrugged and told us about his cows and his soccer team all the way home.

Upon reaching the resort we took a dip in the pool with our maragritas, chatted with various club members about our day them showered and went to the wine tasting. We learned the history and culture and passion of the wine makers in Northern Mexico from Yesenia the hotel's sommolier. She was entertaining (sadly, Judy was still in "la turista" and sipped guava tea)

Looking forward to kayaking today, will update later.

Ed and Judy
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Hi SUP of Bend- (Second Email)
Ed and I just got back from Z-town and surfing at Troncones, Mexico (actually the shark attack all but closed down Troncones so we went to La Salidita.)
http://www.courant.com/news/custom/latest/ats-ap_top15may28,0,1059238.story
The surfers there were all out of the water too after spotting three sharks right near them on the outside break. We analyzed the situation and the fact we were only going to be there that one day and had some fun surfing the inside break.

We recommend that the group reads Gerry Lopez's book, SURF IS WHERE YOU FIND IT- it's one that kept both Ed and me engrossed throughout two long travel days and lots of plane delays. We both started loving waves and salt water at the same beach in Florida as toddlers - and the stories hit the ocean-spirit right on!

See ya Friday!
Ed and Judy