Standup Paddle Christmas

I got a Kialoa all-carbon paddle for Christmas two years ago. I hadn't even tried standup paddling but I was obsessed with it. I'd seen the first article about "beach boy paddling" in Surfers Journal and my friend and now the Kialoa Paddle sales rep Peter Miller had shown me his paddle on a surf trip several months earlier. He never got out and used it that weekend but even without seeing the action, I was hooked.

My wife Cristina called Meg at Kialoa and Meg hand delivered it to her studio in time for gifting. Of course there was two feet of snow on the ground, just like there is now, which brings me to the point of this story. The timing of Christmas sucks for standup paddlers. In all the cold- weather parts of the country our sport is forgotten at gift giving time. Its great for skiers and snowboarders, with all the snow, skiing and riding is all people think about at Christmas time. Of course, excepting crazies like me.

I wish we could initiate a gift-giving tradition on fourth of July weekend and then we could surprise our loved ones with SUP gifts. Start planning now and here's a few suggestions:
1. A paddle. (Its the first thing I got, the board came later)
2. A self inflating PFD. (they are small like a fanny pack and it's now the law)
3. A new board. (best gift in the world, makes you feel like a kid again)

Happy Holidays from Randall, Cristina and Isabella at StandupPaddleBend.com

Nelscott Reef Oregon

It looks like the Nelscott Reef pro surfing contest for 2008 had another epic swell! JB apologized for the photo quality, are you kidding? Although you can barely see the tiny surfer at the bottom it's the wave!

Congratulations to the surfers brave enough to go out there and escecially those that paddle-in.

I haven't heard of any standup paddlers in this wave yet. If so, send photos!

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