New Name II

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Last night I told my wife, Donna, about the name change and she reminded me that I would lose a fairly wide spectrum of readers if I limit WHAT SUP to Surf.  While I love to surf, I’ve also loved paddling through the South Florida mangroves; around the harbor by Jeff Clark’s Paddle Surf,  through the Marina at 101 Surf Sports, along the kelp beds off New Brighton Beach, and down a river in search of Manatees.

From a relationship point of view, paddling promotes connection.  We strap the boards on the roof and hit the road.  We plan a day around getting in the water, exploring new locations, getting great gobs of time out in nature, and after exercising all those muscles we get a nice meal out.  It’s been pretty romantic at times.

Plus there’s such a huge variety of topics to discuss like board selection, sites to SUP, fitness, diet, technique and SUP shops.  I did a whole post on SOPOSUP, a cool little shop in Portland, Maine.  We never got in the water, but being with the owner, reviewing his blog, and checking out the local surf, which was flat, was just fabulous.

I remember the first blog post like it was yesterday.  It was from this past mother’s day when I sat on the sidelines with a bit of a cold.  It was Donna who wanted to paddleboard.  It was Donna to get in the water first.  It was Donna who inspired me to give it a try.

She’s even asked about paddling at night.  Here’s what it might look like from a pin I found.

Stand Up Paddleboarding for Life will still include SUP Surfing, where my little wave passion ignites in cool water.

New Name

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Blogging 101 taught me that the name of the site and the site’s URL don’t have to match.  That was great news.  “WHAT SUP?” was my first choice for a URL when I started shopping for a name, but it was taken in all its forms.  So I stuck with SUP Days, The Stand Up Paddleboarding Life, which really didn’t communicate my intent.  So what is my intent?

Stand Up Paddleboard Surfing for Life is more like it.  Not just for the rest of my life, but for life now, today, in this moment.  I see the world differently when there’s surfing in my life.  The pure joy of standing on moving water; the sound of a wave breaking around me while balancing on a board, is transcendent.

Once again, I’m getting into shape, working on my balance, keeping an eye on the weather, the surf, and my time.  This evening I took a walk to the beach and got a shot of some rocks and watched waves.

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It was chilly and windy and not right for me.  The sun set and left a trail of light on the incoming tide.  There might even be good SUP Surfing conditions tomorrow, or the day after.

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WhatSup with Blogging 101?

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I surfed today via Stand Up Paddle Boarding which is what got me into blogging.  I’ve published 30 posts without really knowing more than write what I want to write.  None of the pieces were long, and most included photos, since I love photography and find that photos tell a good part of my story.

In many of the posts I’ve included video, see below, since I do video for a living.  And most posts are about Stand Up Paddle Boarding but sometimes it’s a stretch, like a post I did about Fenway Park while visiting Boston last month.  But now it’s time to learn to blog from the helpful folks at WordPress.com, and my fellow Blogging 101 classmates including @michelleweber, @chrissiepollock
and @aisajib .

I live on the coast, about 15 minutes from San Francisco.  I have a wife, two kids and a cat.  We see the surf from the back of our home.  My oldest son and his wife are about to bring us our first grand child who’s a girl that I nicknamed Sprocket.  I’m  a lucky man.  Yes I am.

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

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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.

Bye Bye Boston

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Blog post

We started and ended our New England adventure at Logan where water surrounds the greater Boston area. It was odd to have the ocean so near yet not be aware of its presence, it’s scent. But the leaves left me longing for more.
The stately yellow tree on Letti and Dan’s quiet little Cambridge street was my favorite. It must have peaked the week we arrived. In the early morning light it simply glowed.


One windy afternoon we returned to find the street littered bright yellow. The stairs to our neighbor’s porch wore a fresh dressing from the fallen leaves.


Returning from a week in Maine where I found flannel-lined jeans and an extra thick beanie my best friends we found our tree quite barren. The wind and chill had shaken the color right out of the hood.

 The final image hints at winter with blues and cool pastels.

  We’re headed for warmth and paddle boarding in the Florida Mangroves.

SOPOSUP in Portland Maine

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SOPOSUP is what. We met the owner, Raf Adams, at his store in South Portland, just a few miles from the surf at Higgins Beach off Cape Elizabeth.  After driving around Portland for a few days we realized that all you need is for the wind to lie down and there’s paddle boarding everywhere.  There’s so much water it’s just nuts.


The store was stocked with surf, glide, and race boards.  I was drooling over the lovely shape of the Focus boards.  Raf told us about great October waves they’d had at Higgins.

IMG_0477This Higgins right was photographed by Dustin Turin and it makes me want to see the place on a nice little 2-3 foot day.

We bought a SOPOSUP T Shirt and the latest STANDUP JOURNAL then drove out to Cape Elizabeth to watch the very flat ocean and grab a pretty solid bowl of clam chowder.


I took a minute to stick my hand in the water. It was cool but not the high 30s that settles in during the winter.  Raf told us he wore 7mm boots and wanted 9mm.  He’s seen below on the Presumpscot in January 2013

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Wish there were waves since SOPOSUP rents boards too.

The Speckled Ax

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If the waves were larger, if the temperature was higher, if the wind would lie down I’d get in the water. Or so I tell myself.

We even saw paddle boards, yesterday, at the L.L. Bean mothership, where I went to buy boots but left with a bright blue non-spill mug with LL Bean stamped on the side.  I’ll curl up with it this winter watching waves while wondering just how cold it would be in Portland.  I might even ask my iPhone.


Outside L. L. Bean, in the breeze, I couldn’t pull my hands from the warmth of my flannel lined pockets to touch any one of the boards on display.   But today, while Donna stretched herself back together at Portland Power Yoga, I started a post from the Speckled Ax and felt like I’d come full circle and don’t really know why. A double cappuccino and salted chocolate donut can do that.

the speckled ax

What SUP Portland Maine?

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There’s water. There’s color; a hint of winter in the sky.  And there’s paddle boarding that might be a shade cool, if not down right freezing in the early morning light.

I bought my first pair of flannel-lined jeans to walk around the breezy streets, before an evening with writers at Longfellow Books. Tonight G.A. Morgan, author and editor, was in conversation with Kate Christensen, author of How To Cook A Moose.

The two were clearly connected to each other and embrace the people, the land, and the work ethic shared by Mainers.

G.A. discussed the second book in her Five Stones trilogy, Chantarelle.  It’s a young adult fantasy whose setting was inspired by her childhood trips to the Acadia area.

She and I briefly discussed SUP and writing. She told me to check out Higgins Beach. It’s 20 minutes from our Portland home.  There’s a paddle board shop close by. When in Maine?

D.A. Morgan, left. Kate Christensen, right

Walden Pond

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I tried to like Thoreau. I admire his sparseness. I almost bought a Simplicity Tshirt from the store. But would Thoreau approve?  How many shirts did he have for his two years two months and two days at Walden Pond?  And the winters in a one-room house. How much work did it take to stay warm during the long, low-light, bitter-cold season.

It’s only 1.8 miles to Concord where he lived as a child. Did the two hour hike through snow and ice test his resolve. I think the book has the answer. If only I had the patience to sit through it.

And would he laugh or cry at this photo?  Or would he even care?