Yesterday was Donna’s birthday.  Donna is my wife of almost 29 years.  We’d gotten her a VESL 11 foot SUP, carbon paddle, and a leash for her birthday.  I mean, she was the one who got this ball rolling.  Seemed only fitting to get her a board.  And she loves to paddle.  She looks great on the VESL.  Color and all.  It’s so Donna.

We wanted to paddle in the sun, so we headed to Marin.  There was wind on the water in Sausalito so we continued to San Rafael where we’d heard about 101 Surf Sports.  We stopped at a cool little diner for breakfast.  Our boards were on my RAV4 roof.  Donna’s was in the VESL bag but my new F-One Manawa was getting hot in direct sun and I worried that it could delaminate or explode.  I’d heard these horror stories about boards overheating.  So I called 101 Surf Sports and a friendly voice told me I’d be ok at this temperature for a while but that I should consider a board bag to protect my precious Manawa.

So after breakfast we showed up at 101 Surf Sports.  I’d expected a small kiosk with a few rental boards, maybe a dozen or so flatwater boards and some T shirts.  If I’d visited their web site I’d have been more prepared for the football field sized facility with dock, more boards than I’d ever seen in one place, and a staff of informed, friendly folks that wanted to make life more enjoyable.

By the end of an hour paddle through the marina to the bay and back they had installed a new set of lockable Thule racks on the RAV4.  I dried my Manawa, stuffed it into my new FCS board bag, and Cort Larned showed us the ins and outs of loading the boards and locking them down.

It was a great afternoon.  We will return.