Jack Gillen Shares the Stoke

Standup paddle season in Bend starts with a party. And Ed and Judy Shasek shared the aloha with the first party of the season at their home on the Deschutes River. We were lucky enough to get another visit from Jack Gillen, owner of Wave Chi Hawaii. Jack visited Bend last year and inspired our then-new paddling group with his stories of inter-island crossings. Jack recently returned and gave us an excuse to kick off our party season.

Jack talked to our local Bend, Oregon, Standup Paddle group about his physical conditioning and awarness business, Wave Chi Hawaii. It was a great time. Judy made her famous Florida-Style Pulled Pork and the rest of us added our potluck favorites.

Captain Sawdust shared his new handmade wood Stand up Paddles. Jack included a new physical fitness option for paddlers (or anybody using their arms and shoulders - all of us!) in his presentation. He demoed a few moves with Indian Clubs that are specific to paddling. You can contact Jack Gillen to order a pair of Indian Clubs. He's working on a video to share his Indian Club exercises.

Jack Gillen was recently featured with a 10 page article in Surf and Sail Standup Journal. If you live Bend, Oregon, stop by and see Randall to pick up a copy.

www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com

1st Annual Deschutes Wooden Boat Gathering

Capt. Sawdust brings us the news of the 1st Annual Deschutes Wooden Boat Gathering on Capt. Sawdust's fine handmade wood-strip SUP stand up boards will be on display along with his new line of wooden paddles. Be among the first to see the Captain's craftsmanship and sample the new Silver Moon Brewery handcrafted beer, Trail Ale, made on location in Bend, Oregon by Silver Moon Brewery. Part of the proceeds from sales of Trail Ale go to the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance.

WHEN: Sat. May 2nd, 3:00PM to 6:00PM
WHERE: Alder Creek Kayak store - grassy area behind the store on the edge of the Deschutes River.
Bend Store
Phone: 541.317.9407
Address:
805 SW Industrial Way Suite 6
Bend, OR 97702

www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com

Whitewater Slalom Event on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon

Jayson Bowerman is no stranger to whitewater but this is a first! Jayson is SUP Stand up Paddle surfing the Deschutes River. In March!!!! Brrrr!!

The Riverhouse Rendezvous Kayak Slalom Race on March 29th in Bend, Oregon was Jayson's public debut on a standup paddleboard in the Deschutes river rapids. Jayson is an expert kayaker and all-around water man. When he's not paddling he's a master craftsperson, making custom guitars for Breedlove Guitar. Click the Breedlove Guitar link to see a video with Jayson in the shop.

Good job Jayson, and what's with that kayaker hogging the course?

Thanks Al Paterson for the photo.
www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com

Places to Paddle: 60 miles from Bend, Oregon - Prineville Reservoir, Oregon

Paddling Season: Year Around (Not usually iced over in the winter)

Prineville Reservoir is about an hour drive from Bend, Oregon. Jerry Lear, a pioneer windsurfer in the Central Oregon area is well known for both his knowledge of the local lakes and his sailing ability. Jerry sent us this note and a Google map image with his windsurfing course mapped.
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April 6, 2009: Here is the image of my Prineville Reservoir sail today. It is only 9 miles but it took me almost 4 1/2 hours. The wind was east initially and switched to west at the dam. That, of course, caused a huge dead area between the east and west winds so it took a bit to get home - even got a rescue offer from a nice guy in a boat. Whole lake turned to mirror just after I got back so good to be home.

See you soon, Jerry
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NOTE: Prineville Reservoir is very popular with motorboats and jet skis, so unless you are on the water during the off-season, like Jerry (it can be VERY cold in April), you are usually going to be breathing a lot of engine exhaust. During the summer months, if you visit Bend, Oregon and are SUP Stand up Paddling, we recommend you stay to the Deschutes River and the High Cascade lakes that have 10 mph. limits. Check out our Places to Paddle titles for suggestions and stories about SUP standup paddling on the local central oregon high cascade lakes.

www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com

Whale Watching Up Close!

Dennis Oliphant is one of the founders of our original SUP paddling group in Bend, Oregon (he's 4th from the right and Mike McColms is the guy in the white tank top on our blog header photo). Dennis sent us these photos and story about SUP stand up paddling in Mexico:
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While in San Jose we spent a few days going out and paddling with the whales. A cow and calf had been out most mornings so I paddled out with Mike and Judy McColms to hung out with the pair as the past mornings we seemed to observe without much disturbance.

They were swimming around with us for about 30 minutes when the mom suddenly swam toward me and when just a few feet away she turned and dove. With her tail straight up in the air, she shook it twice (lobtailed) and slapped it just few feet from me. Boom!

The water shot into the air and I bounced around on the board and was totally immersed in water!! Mike got a couple of photos but missed most as he had sat his camera down on his board, still you can see the splash and how close the whitewater ring was to me and my board! I was just a few feet from the epicenter.

It was one of the most exciting experiences EVER! Her tail was about 10 feet across and I was looking right at it maybe 15 feet away. The strange photo with the paddle was when I was
covered/underwater. I tried to take the photo just as she lobtailed but theshutter was slow and I was just hanging on when the photo was taken. You can see the splash and turbulence in the underwater photo. A once in a life time experience!

See you on the water!
Best Regards,
Dennis Oliphant

www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com