Inspiration


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	Respect Standup allows you to catch smaller waves, bigger waves, earlier waves. That doesn't mean you should catch all the waves. Catch a couple and sit some out. Don't be a kook. If a lineup gets crowded paddle to an uncrowded break. You don't need to stay with the crowd.

Standup
Resources
Favorite places to learn about standup

Ke Nalu
Brother PonoBill's Standup Webmag...Home to the Maui 2008 Board and Paddle Showcase. The best single source for gear info on the planet!
How-To's, Tips, Places, Articles (my favorite..the visit to Malama's shop where he builds his beautiful paddles)

StandupZone.
The webs premier standup forum. (You'll see I spend way too much time there) A great group of friendly folks willing to share their knowledge and stoke.

StandupPaddleSurf.net
Evan continues to put up great coverage of the happenings in the Standup world. One on One interviews with the folks that are shaping this sport.

Maui Surf Report
While not strictly a SUP site you have to love Giampalo's style. Windsurfing, surfing, standup, loving life. GC's quality of life index is at a whopping 95% and it was his 1000 Peaks SUP vid that 1st got my heart pounding. Still my favorite today.

Standup Paddle Surfing Magazine
100% Pure Stoke

Standup Paddle Surf UK
The blokes across the pond are rippin. Lots of great stoke for Standup in the UK and it shows by the quality of the content

Inspiration:.
I had planned to take down my story this year. I thought it was kind of cheesy, and while I don't mind sharing it, I didn't want focus on me. I was surprised at how passionately I was disagreed with by many of my friends on the board of the CCBC. Very surprised that it was part of the reason they had decided to join us last year. So...change of plans. I'll be leaving it up...but we also want to share with you other stories that may inspire. Inspiration can be planned, or found in the least likely places. We plan to tell some stories here, to encourage and provide hope for those that are facing their own challenges, and most especially the kids for whom we paddle.

It was one of those kids that provided me with my own inspiration. I was in a waiting room at Mass General Hospital in early 2004. More than a bit depressed about what I had facing me. I was getting prepped to have the proton beam shoot radiation into my head to kill a tumor. A boy of about 9 came into the room. He obviously had been going through chemo and radiation treatment. We started talking. I told him what I was there for and I could see excitement in his eyes. He told me "Don't worry, the proton beam doesn't hurt, it's actually kind of cool" . He told me about the big ring of magnets and how they were able to target the beam so precisely, that the proton beam didn't make him sick like the "other stuff". Here I was 47 years old and feeling sorry for myself, being cheered up by a 9 year old with a lot more to be worried about than myself. I vowed from that day forward never to feel sorry for myself again. I haven't always been successful, but all I need to do is think of that kid for strength. Inspiration can be found in the strangest places...I found mine in a young kid in a hospital waiting room.

While Christopher's Haven didn't exist in 2004, it was created exactly to help kids like him. You can see how it became such an obvious choice for us.

Bob's Story
How can you adequately describe your feelings for a sport that has changed your life? I know that sounds a bit ridiculous so I guess a little background is in order.

When Mike and I first started discussing the challenge in the late fall of 2007 I didn't think it was something I would be participating in....just organizing was my original thought. You see, in Nov. of 2003 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, a vestibular schwannoma, growing on the vestibular nerve. Since then I've undergone radio-surgery to kill the tumor. The ongoing side effects of the tumor and radio-surgery caused severe headches, vertigo, and dizziness, also deafness and tinnitus on my left side. The most disabling issue was loss of balance and vertigo, being unable to trust my body to do things.

Then in the late summer of 2007 my brother Bill gave me his 12-6 Starboard Cruiser when he thought it might be good therapy for my balance issues. It has proved to be one of the greatest gifts I've ever received.. September 2007 I was approaching 50, an overweight, out of shape, balance challenged guy on a downward spiral. In a few short months, by my 50th birthday, January 24th 2008, I was surfing at Nauset Beach. It was a cold but bright sunny windless day. Small thigh high waves rolling in. I paddled and surfed for hours. I was taking a break eating some lunch, soaking up the sun when I started to smile so hard it hurt. I'd realized what an amazing change had taken place. I was loosing weight, in better shape than I'd seen in a long time, I was driving again. I had retrained my system to balance visually. Pushing my need for balance to the extreme on a standup board made the normal possible.

Mike was pushing me to train for the paddle. I started thinking that maybe it would be possible. One of the best things that has happened to me from finding standup paddle surfing is making such a great friend. I wouldn't have done this without Mike's encouragement and support, and I couldn't have done it without the love and understanding of my wife Sue (thanks for babysitting me in those early days babe). I went from barely being able to stand on a board in Sept. to going out in 10' waves in a nor'easter in mid May. Wild wind, heavy chop, and 8-10' waves and I'm not only standup paddling out into it but catching a few waves as well. Talk about feeling alive.

Here I am stronger more flexible and back to living a normal life all because of a sport that is incredibly fun to do. We hope to see many of you that read this out there soon, especially those that might be facing issues like mine. We're not saying that this negates the need for medical care. You can't argue the obvious benefits however. The not so obvious may be just as important. The peace you feel while out paddling helps you return from every session refreshed in spirit.


		How To The Basics Ke Nalu How to book....in the making StandupZone. The zone again. Technique page. Post a question have 5 experts answer. Of course I might answer too but you can ignore that one. Paddle Surf Hawaii tips. My Youtube How to Playlist

	Hardcopy Standup Surf and Sail Journal A gourgeous photography focused magazine you'll look at again and again. Coffee table quality. Pure Standup and Sail porn. Standup Paddle Magazine Great stories, destinations, interviews with the movers and shakers, gear, and of course photos that'll blow you away

		What is so unique about Standup is that it can be done almost anywhere in almost any conditions. Calm lakes, raging rapids, the worlds largest waves. Half the fun of surfing is now fighting the whitewater on the way out

From PonoBill

I'm inspired by kooks. By grossly overweight and out of condition folks who see people paddling around on standup paddle boards and somehow think "hey, I can do that". What on earth makes them think that about a sport I consider pretty darned difficult I can't say. but they CAN do it, and they do. A few days ago at Puamana there was a guy wallowing around in the surf with his huge belly hanging over his boardshorts, flailing away with his paddle, having a ball. He was out so long he was turning visibly pinker, so I paddled in and brought him some of that good old Doc Martins 50 SPF. He was still out there when I left a few hours later. Hook visibly set.

A few years ago I saw a lady at Kanaha that looked to be late 60's, in the same general physical condition as the Pillsbury dough boy. She was paddling around in the lagoon on a huge board, pausing every few minutes to rest her paddle in the middle of the board, lean on it, and catch her breath. I saw her out there every morning for more than a week. About the second week she made it all the way out to the lineup, and paddled around in the channel (not easy, the set waves come through pretty vigorously) to watch the surfers. She fell and got up, fell and got up. She paddled pretty much all day until the wind got too strong. One day I stopped and told her I was impressed by her progress. I assumed she lived in Maui, but she said she was there on vacation from Wisconsin. She came with a bunch of girlfriends who had left, but she extended her stay to paddle. She said her girlfriends were all angry that she had abandoned them but she was having too much fun to do tourist stuff. She had bought the board and paddle the second day and was shipping it back. She said "I'll be doing this for the rest of my life. I just love it".

I bet she doesn't look like the doughgirl any more.

For myself, when I started doing this I wasn't getting much regular physical activity. I huffed and puffed walking up stairs. Now I can paddle all day and feel fine. I'm in the water about as much as I can be. I'm still too fat, but I can see the six pack under the keg. Most importantly I'm having fun whatever the water and wind conditions are. Great sport. As Laird Hamilton said, "anyone can do this sport at some level". And as you do it, the level rises. Start doing Stand Up Paddling today and you'll be joining us on the CCBC next year, cranking out 30 miles of open ocean and partying like a rock star after.

If I can do it, you can do it.

80 and loving it

Talk about being shocked! Last Sunday Sue and I went for a nice cruise paddle in Onset. Nothing shocking about the paddle…Onset is a beautiful place to go for a nice quiet cruise. This is tough to explain if you weren't there. Like any red blooded male I appreciate a well put together member of the opposite sex. As we were getting our boards off my truck I noticed someone else down the beach a couple hundred feet doing the same. First time I'd ever seen anyone else on a SUP there. Slender figure, obviously well toned muscles, strong shoulders…OK…you get the picture…..I thought she looked hot.

She came walking down the beach to say hi….she saw the race number on my board from the previous weeks Run of the Charles, turned out she was there too…racing in a kayak. As she got closer I realized she was older…she was talking to Sue when I strolled over. I was watching where I was walking over some rocks and didn't look up until I got up close….HOLY CRAP….she's not just older…she's OLD! Turns out she is 80+ years old and found SUP this past winter…bought herself a Uli and now rented a board to get her friend…another 80+ year old out for her 1st SUP experience. OK…now…it's unusual enough to find someone at 80+ that is in such great shape and getting her friend out for her 1st time at 80+ but that isn't all there is to the story. I was thinking how amazing it was that they were out for a cruise. We spoke for a bit and then Sue and I started our paddle….down into the estuary…a nice easy paddle on a sunny day.

Things changed on the way back…wind picked up…blowing into our face of course…enough to kick up some whitecaps. After fighting it for a 1/2 hour or so Sue was getting a bit tired and starting to struggle. We decided to take a break and headed in to the beach across the wind. While we are standing there talking who comes around the point paddling hard into the teeth of the wind but our two octogenarians. She was actually having fun paddling hard into it. Her friend was struggling a bit and was on her knees but hey…she's over 80 and its her 1st time..still amazing . They stopped to talk for a bit and then her friend and Sue hugged the beach to make their way back to our starting point.

I was paddling out a few hundred yards and then turning with the wind to have some quick little glides on the whitecaps…she thought that looked like fun and started doing the same. Seeing an 80 year old woman on a SUP is surprising enough….watching her paddling a 10¥' Uli out into some stiff winds was simply awe inspiring.

I hope this means I have another 30+ years ahead of me on the water. Thank you for the inspiration

The People....I don't know what it is about SUP....does it attract good people or do they become nicer as a result. I've met more great folks in just a few years than I have in the previous 50. In my own case I think its made me a better person. I know that I used to be somewhat of a jerk at times, bad temper, and quick to act on it. Not so anymore...well OK, except for those fools that litter the beaches.....:) But seriously, the people I know that SUP for whatever reason just seem happier, kinder, more involved....they care.