Stand Up Paddleboards

Happy Paddlin' on SUP

More and more manufacturers are flocking to the stand up paddle world. Take a look at the new
magazines devoted to this sport that are reminiscent of the explosion in kayaking 5 to 1o years
ago. Small specialized companies, imported and exported products. "Dealers wanted". Everyone is building "the best". The beginnings of brand warfare.


In certain locales, the sport has indeed exploded. In other areas the beginnings of interest in
rentals and day tours. Those that are pioneering the sport have gained a foothold above the rest.

Those that are watching and wondering may soon be trying to catch up.

The question on everyone's mind:
Is this going to stay?

My answer...who cares!
It is here right now. If you own a store, give it a try. Just a few years ago, Crocs foam shoes were the coolest thing ever. Now there are knock offs and imitations. Also, the fad seems to have finally worn off. People have realized that those colorful foam shoes are actually quite annoying. But I bet you own a pair. I have four pair (one set in pink).

Did you own or try roller blades? Of course you did.

I bet you even owned stone washed jeans.

I was a huge skeptic of this sport even after playing on the lake a few times. It wasn't until I
got a thrill on a wave and a workout on the river that I became an enthusiast. I was hooked with
the elevated new vantage point on the water. I found that this sport was a very fast full body
workout. Faster than anything I've done before. It uses all your muscles and balance. And if I'm in a rush to get out on the water there is no other kayak or canoe that is as fast to load/unload and get going.

I suspect the same questions of longevity and appeal were in the mind of ski shops when
snowboarding first came out.

Happy Paddlin' has aligned with www.tahoesup.com . Tahoe SUP builds board from durable Carbonlite 2000 and glass/epoxy using some of the same hull features that make kayaks so efficient. Here's some videos and photos of kayakers and SUPers mixing it up on the Cowlitz River earlier this month.

Why we don't paddle

Why We Don’t All Paddle. Why We Never Will.



Chances are if you are an avid paddler you have at one point evangelized the sport to everyone you know. “You just HAVE to come kayaking with us up to the lake…” If you have done enough of this you have found that it is not easy pulling a human off the couch. Who is to blame them? Couches are super comfortable. They usually have food close by and are a wonderful vista for tv watching.



It takes a lot to get to the water with a kayak or canoe. If I’m after exercise, I can be on my bike and back home before I’d even get the boat off the car at the put-in. The paddle outing is an Excursion. It is just waiting for an excuse to not be executed. Too hot, too cold, too windy, too much time, too much to do. At the checkout counter of life, paddling is not an impulse buy. You can just put it off until next time, the next season or never. It is like the garbage bags you keep forgetting to pick up at the store. Maybe next time.



Accessibility. The greater the access the more likely you will find paddlers. I was once amazed at how few kayaks sell in the Bay Area of CA. There seems to be water everywhere. However, access is sparse, roads are crowded and very few live right on the water. Way too much work to just go relax on the water. The fastest growing kayak segment in this area is kayak fishing. These enthusiasts are used to working a bit to get out on the water. For them, launching a kayak is way faster than their old motorized fishing boat. Now they are saving time and easing their access to water. Their access has improved through the kayak.


I use a few tricks to improve my chances of getting out on the water. I try to keep a boat on the car and gear in the back as much as possible. I motivate myself by knowing that it doesn’t take much to be the only one out on the water. I’ll drive further, endure a little weather and stay out later. While I’m cruising along on the water by myself I now take delight that the bicycle is easier for most and the couch is even easier.

River Retreat Sunday and Monday

The River Retreat was a blast. We had perfect weather for five straight days. I was so happy that so many people were willing to take time and travel to get together. The conversations that erupt when so many passionate people get together to share in the sports and business we love.

I understand that many shops are still busy or had other plans but what could be better than this...

I took about 60 pics of Tom Strauss from Emotion. He was smiling in every one of them. Try doing that with someone else you know. I bet Tom wins everytime.
There was one brief moment I wasn't carrying boats up and down the hill. Mako joined me on a Tahoe Rubicon. Don't tell Bamboo.

One of the many basecamps to hang out in.

Ed Vater from Bending Branches and Aquabound Paddles showed up with Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and some great stories up northern Wisconsin Christmas BBQs. Ed made a lot of friends with these delectables.

Moon Mountain Ramblers rocked

My Dad showed these Northwesterners how to steam 50 head of corn at once over a fire. They were perfect.

Tom liked the 30 lbs of Salmon. We enjoyed fresh Salmon all week.


A highlight for me was paddling with Tom Derrer from Eddyline Kayaks. We huffed and puffed our way upstream before enjoying the lazy float downstream.

River Retreat 2009 Set Up Day

We payed our bills last year at the retreat with weather so we were rewarded with beautiful weather this year. I have been traveling so much that the riverhouse needed a year's worth of yard work packed into seven days. My dad flew out here on Tuesday and we have been running ever since.

The support crew and some of the closest friends from all over the west arrived. The Moon Mountain Ramblers made the trek over from central Oregon. They entertained an eager group
of us. Tom, Lisa and Denny brought the new Shasta down from Eddyline with a trailer full of other Eddylines.

My dad fine tuned his midwest tradition of steaming 30 head of corn in a steel drum over the fire. Steak, Chicken and Veggies off the grill!

More to come!

Outdoor Retailer Show On Water Demo

The trade show for Outdoor Retailers comes early this year so we all left our posts in the heat of the season and headed to the heat of Salt Lake City. The on water demo takes place the first day of the show. Here are some pics from the day.

The on water hydration station from Emotion Kayaks.

Tahoe SUPs come to Salt Lake.

Andy Knapp Memorial Paddle.

A perfect day for Costa Del Mar to help people "see what's out there".

Tom Strauss of Emotion Kayaks is ready to play.

ESP Outdoors and Penguin Paddler's Demo Evening

What a blast we had a Whiskey Town Lake just west of Redding CA last Friday night. The weather could not have been more agreeable. The lucky people that call this area their home are fortunate to have nice warm water to play in. It just makes you want to get out messin' around in boats...

Owner of Penguin Paddlers/ESP Outdoors, Garth Schmeck took some time to show all the cool ways to roll his new Greenland boat. What a fun way to spend a Friday evening.

Here are some underwater vids that show the body mechanics of various front and back sculling braces and rolls. Thanks Garth...you make it all look so fun. Ain't that the point...!?

Spitfire Kayak

I had a great time showing Northern California Kayaks the 8' Spitfire Kayaks. Head Instructor, Del Davidson, is really excited to use the Spitfire as an introduction to the sport of kayaking craft. Specifically, he think that it will work great in a pool course he teaches that emphasizes the ease of re-entering a sit on top. He also hosts kid's kayaks camps and plans to use the Spitfire to be a great launching point for young new paddlers.

Del had no problem making the boat go where he needed it to go and was impressed with the capacity of the 8' Spitfire.

Bending Branches and Aquabound Rendezvous, St Croix WI

The entires sales force all flew in from our own hamlets and territories to meet at the Aquabound & Bending Branches Paddle factory this week. I know that everyone had to put a lot on hold back in the home turf but it was well worth getting together.




Everyone should have a hand made wood paddle in their quiver. They have the benefits of natural flex, comfortable on the hands, smooth in the water. In the under $200 price range I don't think there is a better choice for kayak paddles. Mother nature had it right all along.

The last time I toured the factory was in February of 09, shortly after the merger of Aquabound and Bending Branches paddles. A lot of new machinery, equipment and raw materials had just been moved from British Columbia. Everyone at the factory had already put in 2 exhausting months and yet there was still work to do. Viewing the factory this week was a wonderful "show and tell" of how much can be accomplished in such a short time. All the paddle materials were now neatly organized in large industrial shelves. The various machinery had clearly been whirling all season and the paddle craftsmen/women had proudly mastered another bag of tricks.

Bending Branches/Aquabound can now build to order the entire wood, aluminum, fiberglass and carbon paddles all the Osceola WI facility. Every day, yesterday's orders are shipped!

Put a pile of enthusiastic paddlers and industry insiders in a room together for two days and ideas begin to rain like it has been out west this spring. Everynight, we buffered the intensity of the day's meeting with good wisconsin fried cheese curds and ale.

The final day of the meeting left us with enough time to take a lazy float down the St Croix River. What a great spot to have in your backyard. We paddled and joked all afternoon. I enjoyed being on a river that has so much history with the trade, timber and native aspects of our country. Like any good Fourth of July paddle, we finished up with a grill out at one of the many parks that line this National Wild & Scenic designated river.

Eddyline Repair: Thermo Form Repair, Carbonlite Repair

Here's a fracture from this kayak being pinned against a piling with a lot of water pushing against it. No one was hurt and this kayak will be as good as new in one hour.

Here is a detailed step by step video and photo tutorial on how to repair thermo-formed kayaks. This repair was completed in less than 1 hour with materials easily available at any hardware store or even Walmart.

Here's what you will need:

1. Devcon Plastic Welder: This is the adhesive that is used to seam and bulkhead Eddylines. You can get this from Eddyline or find it at most hardware stores and even...Walmart.

2. Fiberglass Cloth: 2-3" wide Fiberglass cloth can be purchased from Eddyline or found at Marine stores. The Eddyline stuff is especially nice because the sides of the cloth are closed stitching and won't fray.

3. Carboard Working Surface

4. Piece of Rubber to Spread Adhesive.

5. Hobby Pigment: Used for coloring Devcon Plastic Welder adhesive for the exterior repair. Krylon Fusion Acrylic Spray Paint can also be used by spraying small amount on glue.

6. Rubbing Compound for final sanding. 400, 800 and 1200 Wet Sand Paper for finishing.

6. Masking Tape: Keeps it all clean and your work within the "lines"

Clean repair area of kayak with rubbing alcohol.

Apply Devcon Plastic Welder on one side of the tape and user your rubber squeege to spread evenly to entire cloth.

Pick up this strip and apply wetside down to the inside of the damaged surface.

Wait a minute and then add and spread Devcon Plastic Welder to the exposed "dry side" of the cloth.

Repeat the same process for the second patch, covering the first patch.

Move to the outside of the repair and use a dremel tool to create a "V" where along the fracture. This will receive pigmented Devcon Plastic Welder for the exterior cosmetic repair.

After filling the "V" with pigmented Devcon Plastic Welder, you can use a razor blade to take down the extra adhesive before it hardens.

Back to the Water!


For Those Who May Need More Detail:

I use the above repair materials for repairing Royalex Canoes and even Composite (Glass, Kevlar and Carbon) Kayaks and Canoes. The reason I prefer the method and materials described above is that the materials store easily in the field and mixing the adhesive is a cinch. Using conventional polyester resins and hardners like MEK (a known carcinogen) in the field is not only hard to mix correctly but also more cumbersome to carry and store after use. Devcon Plastic Welder is really an amazing adhesive that cures to full strength in 20 minutes. In the repair above we use Devcon Plastic Welder as the "resin" to laminate glass to the inside of the kayak. We also use devcon plastic welder mixed with a small amount of hobby pigment to match the color to the outside of the boat. This step is not necessary in the field.

The repair materials pictured and used above are small enough to even fit in my Life Vest as a field repair kit.

You can also just use Devcon Plastic Welder as a filler for scratches and gouges:

• First lightly sand or dremel the gouge to be filled. Then clean the area with rubbing alcohol.
• Squeeze a little Devcon Plastic Welder on to a working surface and add a little pigment to color match the color of the boat surface. Acrylic Hobby Pigment works fine but I prefer Krylon Fusion Spray Paint because it is easier to find around town and can be used for spray painting my name on bridges. I'll just give a little spray to the Devcon Plastic Welder as I'm mixing the two parts.
• This colored Devcon Plastic Welder is great for filling gouges and scratches. I have even used it to rebuild the ends of the boat if you have a very well used boat.
• Once you have filled the gouge you are working on you can use a razor blade to scrape off the excess.
• Then you can used wet/dry sand paper to smooth the surface
• If you are really a polisher, you can use a rubbing compound to give it the final shine

How Tough Is Carbonlite?

Carbonlite is harder than gel coat (composite kayaks). Carbonlite boats will not scratch or gouge as easily as a Fiberglass boat. I think that Carbonlite does even better on glancing impact than a fiberglass boat that can get spider fractures. Loaded Impact and Torsional Flex is more debatable and probably unique to the individual injury. In a rough surf zone crash you might end up doing repairs on both glass and carbonlite. Different types of repair...and in my opinion a glass boat is more difficult because spidering gel cracks are a real pain.

Emotion Mojo

Emotion's Mojo is a very stable 12' sit on top kayak that is available in a basic or angler version. One of the neatest features of the Mojo is the large rear compartment that can be used as a rear facing child seat. With a child or pet in the seat behind, the front paddler can make an easy forward stroke.

Emotion Kayak Tandemonium

Emotion Tandemonium
Emotion's Tandemonium is the family sportsmobile. You can paddle it solo, tandem, or load it up with the whole family. In the video below, two over 200 lb paddlers are shown in the Tandemonium.

In the video below, I sat on the bow seat facing the two paddlers above. At a total weight of 585 lbs, the Tandemonium still cruised right along proving its stability and load capacity. We were having a ton of fun with this boat. The Tandemonium would make a great rental kayak or family boat to leave down by the water. If you are looking for a lighter and smaller tandem, Emotion offers the 12' Comotion.

Spitfire Kayak

Nick from Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Bend OR, treated us to a test paddle last week of the new Spitfire Kayak from Emotion Kayaks. This little 8' value kayak did just fine with the current. I think we are going to see a lot of new paddlers with this kayak.

Nick (6'1" 200lbs), having fun in the Spitfire Kayak.

Emotion Kayak Temptation

Emotion Kayak's Temptation

Here's a video of the new Temptation from Emotion Kayaks. The fine gentleman paddling the boat weighs in around 200 lb proving the boat has plenty of stability. The Temptation just received Paddler Magazine Buyer's Guide 09 "Recreational Pick of the Year"! Emotion also offers an angler version of this boat called the Stealth. The Stealth has 2 flush mount rod holders and 1 front mounted Scotty rod holder.

I think that the Temptation is one of the most versatile sit on tops that Emotion offers. It has a very predictable lean to it and tracks exceptionally well for a 10' kayak. The kayak has a built in seat back and a sculpted seat that offers a lot of comfort and great water drainage.

Spitfire Kayak

Spitfire Kayaks have introduced their first model on to the market and I just had a chance to get it out on the water. Spitfires were designed to introduce people to kayaking at a very affordable price. The boat is fully equipped and has a lot of nice features for the money--mounted seat back, sculpted footbraces, stern deck bungees, drain plug, and carrying handles. The molding of the boat is extremely clean compared to other models at the same price. What a looker too!

I wish they made these when I was looking for my first kayak on my grade school allowance!
I found the boat stable and easy to maneuver. Best of all it fits right in the back of the SUV, truck or van. Now there is no excuse for not being a paddler!

Eddyline Journey Review

I've been paddling Eddyline's new Journey. At 15'6" and 24" wide, this is the perfect hybrid for both touring and day to day paddling. Eddyline uses the larger cockpit on this boat which can be equipped with or without thigh braces. The boat fit me perfectly with thigh braces (5'11" 170 lbs). Eddyline's new seat system (pictured below) allows for the paddler to customize fit and boat trim by moving the seat forward or back. I really like that this seat can be adjusted for forward lean and seat back height on the fly. For those who like a clean boat, you can even remove the entire seat for cleaning or maintenence.

The Journey was quite manueverable, edged with ease, and accelerated like any touring kayak should. The Journey is equipped with an adjustable skeg which can help with wind management in bigger water. I found that I only needed to use the skeg slightly in a downwind or quarter down wind. The adjustable seat can also help with adjusting your trim for the day. There is also ample storage for weekends or lighter expeditions.

The Journey combines the sensibility and fit of the Equinox with a lot of the performance chararistics of the Fathoms. Another great boat to help round out the line!

River Retreat Day 2 Night 2

Looking down river from inside the house.

Seth capturing a moment of sunshine up river. Thanks for the Artwork!

Bill Walker makin' it happen on the grill.

Sarah and James Decker all geared up and ready to go!

Eric Wilborn lookin' good...even with an upside down paddle!
Brett Conrad from Stohlquist brought a bunch of donations for the treasure hunt. He made going up stream look easy. Thanks for everything Brett and Stohlquist!

a spot in the sun for Bill.

Moon Mountain Ramblers at the Retreat

River Retreat Night 1 and Day 1

For 8 straight days there was perfect sunshine in preparation for the Cowlitz River Pickin' and Paddlin' Retreat. I mowed, built trails and campsites, and stocked the fridge and cupboard with plenty of good food. Though it started raining on Thursday many dedicated paddlers, friends and musicians traveled through bad traffic and heavy weather on Friday and Saturday to the retreat.

The Moon Mountain Ramblers set up on Friday and really tore it up after a great BBQ of chickent and brats. Folks were arriving all night and some braved the weather to set up tents while others decided they would sleep right where and when they stopped dancing. Eddyline Kayaks and Stohlquist WaterWear both arrived with gear and donations for the attendees. Some great friends of mine from Seattle and Portland also joined in. The Ramblers played 2 sets and then late night antics and improv jams lasted into the early morning hours...like any good festival! Olympic Raft and Kayak, Alki Kayaks, Kayak Academy and many other great paddlers around the NW also came to check out the house and river for future events. We missed all the stores and staff that were unable to attend but understand that the first big storm of the year takes some of the thrill out of camping.

The paddling on Saturday was a lot of fun. The rain broke some in the afternoon and we paddled up river looking at a nice rainbow. The rain had increased some the pushiness of the river. Thankfully, everyone was in good gear and the few swims we had could turn out to be just good fun. The upstream treasure hunt tempted several contestants to paddle into some hard to get to areas and challenge themselves with the promise of free Costa Del Mar Sunglasses and Stohlquist WaterWear. All this created quite a hunger. Steaks and fresh salmon were grilled to perfection with the help of the crew with great sides and dessert to go with.

Esquif Square Stern

Just picked up a new 2.5 horsepower motor to power the Esquif Cargo square stern canoe. The neat thing about a sqare stern canoe is that it still paddles well. Unlike a larger motor boat it is easy to get this boat off the car and into the water without the need of a boat ramp. I took the boat out on the Cowlitz River with my dog upfront for ballast. As I got more experienced with the boat and motor, I was able to use outside leans to turn the boat. This allowed me to just keep the motor straight and then use my body to turn the boat. I also played with ruddering the boat with my paddle. The combination of leaning and ruddering really worked well. Of course, I was also able to use the motor to turn too.

To keep my dog from jumping back toward me I lashed his leash back and forth across the seat behind him. I was able to cover the distance with the boat that would have taken me about 4 times longer to cover. I turned the motor off and floated and paddled for awhile too. The boats was easy to paddle.

Emotion Kayaks

The new 10' Temptation and Stealth Angler from Emotion is so predictable edge to edge that I see the boat great on rivers and rough water. Anyone can paddle this boat. Often times 10' sit on tops can only handle smaller paddlers but this model can accomadate any size paddler.

Emotion's Tandemonium. It is stable and big enough to put the whole family on. It reminds me of the type of boat I would have loved to have growing up. Swimming off it, dogs on board, maybe anchored as a "fun island". It can be paddled with 1, 2 or 3 people.