SUP or stand up paddle boarding is yet another non-motorized way people can enjoy spending time on Lady Bird lake. Since Austin is currently experiencing 100+ weather, I met a group of other women around 10:30 Saturday morning to SUP in relatively cool 80-degree weather.
GPS got me in the vicinity of water sports rental dock, but I asked several strangers along the way to make sure that I was on the correct path. Literally. I’d parked under an overpass and took a hiking trail to get to the dock. I had no problem picking out the woman who’d organized the excursion even with her baseball cap and big shades–she was talking like someone who’d organized an excursion. In the meantime, I was dressed like someone who’d never SUPed before: a black and fluorescent spandex top with black spandex pants. I’d planned to look sleek and stylish while flailing about.
Our fearless leader had called ahead and secured a terrific discount of $20 for the whole day. Contrast that with the strange pricing of $20/hour or $40 for the day. We all placed our few personal items into a numbered plastic container along with our pre-death certificates (I think they were actually called “waivers” or “disclaimers” or something along those lines), paid our money and then picked out our life jackets.
The most experienced in our group scoffed at the necessity of wearing a life jacket . Two of us who’d never SUPed before diligently put on our life jackets like obedient women. Then we walked down the dock to select our paddles. Based on the one video that I’d watched about SUP, I knew that I needed to adjust my paddle handle so it was 8″ higher than me. A real useful piece of information if I had any means of measuring what 8″ looked like. Even the most experienced woman among us had just eyeballed it. There I was, of course, trying to be logical. I stretched my arm, keeping a slight bend in my elbow and then adjusted the length of my paddle.
Once we had our paddles, we walked to the dock’s edge in order to get our boards and the guy working the docks rightly guessed that some of us had never SUPed before. (Was it the fact that two of us were actually wearing our life jackets?) He gave us a brief summary of the rules and some tips, including that fact that we weren’t obligated to wear the life jacket, but had to wear the ankle leash that was attached to the board. Again, the most experienced scoffed, but complied by hooking their life jacket to the leash before fastening it to their ankles.
Another rule stated that we had to be on our knees while near the dock. The guy added with a laugh that he didn’t want any of us falling off the board and splitting our heads on the dock– a fear I hadn’t thought of until then. I eased onto my knees on a padded board. I concentrated so much on my balance that I didn’t realize that I’d grabbed the paddle incorrectly. I mean really, holding the paddle is about as difficult as putting together a two-piece jigsaw puzzle, but at least I kept my balance!
I gently started paddling away from the dock and, using the guy’s advice, I placed my paddle perpendicular to the board, did the downward dog and stood up, feet already in a wide stance and knees slightly bent. From there, my balance was just fine, but I’ll have to practice paddling on a few more excursions. The three newbies all stuck together–at times, a little too well. My paddle board smacked into others three times before we set off in the direction of the Congress St. bridge. At first, I didn’t think we were making much progress toward the bridge. One newbie kept bouncing of the other newbie’s and my board before safely removing herself from the middle.
I kept playing with how to paddle while talking with my fellow newbies who had both, at some point in their lives, lived in Libya. The closest to Libya I’d ventured was on vacation in Siwa Oasis when I taught at an American school in Alexandria, Egypt. Interesting conversation flowed beautifully down the lake between one newbie and me when I started noticing turtles whose backs were covered with vegetation. Then we were nearly stuck in vegetation ourselves. We looked around and discovered that other people in kayaks and paddle boards had avoided the middle of the lake. As the two of us guided our boards to the side of the lake, the third newbie cried out, “I’ve got an equipment malfunction!”
First thing I thought about was the infamous Super Bowl half time show where Janet Jackson experienced a wardrobe malfunction. Then I replayed her words in my head. She held her paddle completely out of the water and stated that the clip wouldn’t lock. Just as the idea crossed my mind that I’d have to paddle back over the thick foliage to help, she locked her adjustable handle in place. So much for a dramatic rescue.
Since I wasn’t wearing a watch, I made an effort to go to the bridge, turn around and hustle back to the dock, leaving my newbie companions. As relaxing as SUPing was, the whole way back, I hoped that I wasn’t wearing out my arms or lowback since I’d planned to take two tango classes later that afternoon. I did like the fact that paddling isolated core muscles, which are also important to dance tango.
As I neared the dock, I assumed the position and paddled while on my knees. All flawlessly executed. Next time I SUP, I will scoff at wearing a life jacket and ankle leash.