SUP

The Manatees of Weeki Wachee!!!

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We’d heard about paddle boarding in waters where Manatees live and took a tour with Anik Clemens from Anik’s Perspectives.  She’s lived in St. Petersburg, Florida the past 9 years and knows the SUP shops and venues for paddling.  She took us to the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park where we put in for the 6 mile down-river paddle.  She’d set us up with boards from the Kayak Shack that sat right on the water at end of the trip. We parked at the shack and got ferried, with our boards, to the put-in point at Weeki Wachee Springs.

The water was cool and clear.  The surrounding jungle close.  The river was teaming with small schools of Mullet and a smattering of Sheepshead thrown in for fun.  Needlefish slipped in and out of sight while Anhinga and Kingfishers punctuated the trees.

We shared the river with a few tour boats, and some fun-loving folks who climbed a tree to a diving platform.  As it turned out, Anik and our very own Donna were not afraid to take the plunge.  Check out the video for a two minute look at our trip.

We’d found six Manatees by the end of the trip.  The first one glided under my board like a ghost.  Down river a pup scratched its back under a submerged log.  My GoPro Hero 4 Silver captured most of the footage.  Super Slow Mo thanks to iPhone 6S Plus.

The little one is Kyra, Anik’s lovely 4 year old daughter.  Donna, Kyra, and Anik took a stab at singing Nimo’s song “Planting Seeds and Nothing More,” in front of one of the Weeki Wachee Springs mermaids.

If you like this post you’re sure to like our tour through the mangroves.

Sarasota Mangroves

~ tomadaonline ~ 2 Comments

The weather in St. Pete cooled for us which is a good thing given the 60 degree swing between the lows in Maine and the temperate Florida gulf coast.  We’re here to visit our niece and her daughter.  They’re cuter than cute and they love St. Pete.

Yesterday we drove to Sarasota where we shot video for a Chakra Meditation with Anik Clemens, Janice Baxter, and Donna Blethen.  Janice and Anik then guided us through the mangrove tunnels on SUPs provided by Surfit USA.

South Lido beach is a serious wild life area full of White Ibis, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Common Egret, Horseshoe Crabs, Little Blue Heron, Mullet, and more.  We had to lie low paddling through the close cover of matted mangroves that squeaked in the wind.  The overhead sky leaked through to shallow clear water then came blasting out in full fall blue once we exited a grove tunnel.

If only there was more time we’d surely do it in the early morning light.

Twenty-Nine and Counting

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What SUP?  29 years, that’s what.  We spent our anniversary in a quiet Aptos AirBnB retreat.  A stunning little jewel tucked away in the woods.  Cora’s of California.  Sunday morning we got to the ocean with our SUPs and energy to paddle.  The tide was high, so we paddled from New Brighton up toward the Hook.  Donna had enough enthusiasm to push us both forward.  Keeping us company were sea otters, dolphins, murres, caspian terns, brown pelicans, harbor seals, and kids on the Capitola shore who sounded like they were at an amusement park.

Donna dropped me off at Sharks and continued to Pleasure Point where she stayed well outside the surf zone.  She was a spec on the horizon when I lost track of her.  But hey.  I found waves.  Little bitty things.  Just right for a newbie riding his bright white F-One Manawa.

Tom and Donna 29th-0022

And about those waves.

Donna and Tom Celebrate Their 29th Anniversary from Tom Adams on Vimeo.

GoPro, Pelicans, & Paddling

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The surf in Pacifica was Labor-Day-weekend crowded with a bit of west wind wandering our way. So we put in at Princeton Harbor for some exercise, after a solid breakfast at 3-Zero Cafe.  I spent a bit of time setting up my new GoPro Hero 4 Silver for its maiden SUP voyage.

The harbor was jammed with tourists, but the water was calm and bright blue. Boat flags flew, so the wind was a matter of minutes from getting us.  We paddled through the lovely calm in front of Half Moon Bay Kayak, then turned around a jetty toward the pier where the west wind hit.  It was just enough to chop up the surface, but not enough to thwart the scent of a few hundred Brown Pelicans lining the jetty.  During our trip to the pier we were visited by harbor seals, sea lions, and plenty of folks on paddle boards and kayaks.  We met a stand up catamaran guy who had paddled up to Moss Beach and back.  It’s pretty much into the wind all the way there.

We chatted up some folks visiting from the city who’d built tall slender rock sculptures.  We paddled back toward the pier and then down wind to our put in location.

The GoPro captured our journey and gave us feedback on our paddling form.

The Guy Who Paddles Fast

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You remember the post about Golden Rules.  Well, one of them is to learn from those with more experience.  Like the other day, it was sunny and warm in Pacifica. The surf was mushy and quite crowded. I saw a standup paddle boarder in board shorts out at Round House. I hurried to the water and walked along the beach with my long lens, a 70-200 f2.8 on my Canon 5DMII. The guy I’d seen earlier was paddling back. Fortunately he paused at each peak and caught a few waves. After each ride he paddled south to the next peak. He was paddling faster than I was walking. It was impressive.

After he’d ridden a maybe three waves he got out of the water just south of Taco Bell. I chatted him up and learned that he’d been paddling a few years. I told him that he paddled much faster than I could and how did he do it. He asked if I’d taken any lessons, which I had not, other than watch others and watch YouTube videos. He gave me a few tips and said we’d have to get together for a session some time.
Here’s a short photo montage of two waves.

Happy Birthday Donna

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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.