SUP Advice Needed

[Seaworthy Lass]

Up and paddling with a lot of hestitation . Tip for beginners: don't look down.

The board needs a bit more air. Is the 10-14 psi recommended for hot or cold weather? If inflated and then stored on deck in summer the pressure will increase. Is this taken into account with the recommended pressure?

[monte]

I pumped ours up pretty hard when we bought it 3 months ago and haven't touched it since. It's been stored on the davits in the tropics and so far no ka-boom...
It came with 2 pressure gauges for the pump but both didn't work, I guess that's why they put 2 in the package, in case one doesn't work

[s/v Beth]

Tips for turning- I row backwards on one side and I can turn on the length of the board. Looking good guys! My SUP is on its way!

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Tips for turning- I row backwards on one side and I can turn on the length of the board. Looking good guys! My SUP is on its way!

Thanks for the tip. That helped. I had another session today .

My board is quite a long one which means it tracks beautifully, but is harder to turn. Alternating a couple of strokes sidewards away from the board on the opposite side of the turn and and towards the board on the same side of the turn (both forward of the centre) gives a reasonably efficient turn, particularly downwind. Upwind I am much better now, but it is still hard work.

I did a bit of reading (I really should have done this first ) and found the most efficient turn is stepping right back on the board in a surfing type position to get the front up. This helps pivot it around quickly. If you are not a surfer this produces an awful amount of instability and had me in gales of laughter as I wobbled precariously. I think I will wait until the water is warmer and I don't mind falling in before I try this again .

SWL

[bratzcpa]

Excellent, SWL.

We bought two inflatables from Tower last year and love em. Both of ours were 8'6" long. I'm a pretty big guy (6'3" and 215lbs) and found mine pretty wobbly.

I talked to the tech support people at Tower and they advised getting a longer board. They allowed me to send mine back and gave me 100% credit on their longer model (11 or 12' long and thicker). That works GREAT for me.

We really enjoy our boards. Favorite thing to do is once we've got the hook down for the night, take the boards out for a little paddle around whatever anchorage we're in for the night. Nope, they don't take the place of the dingy. They're not the same as the dingy for sure.

BUT they are great for some exercise and pleasant evenings.

We made some little "clips and rope thingys" that allow us to quickly use the d-rings on the front and back of the SUP to attach them outboard of the lifelines at a stanchion. This is great for protected waters. When we're offshore, we just lay the on the foredeck and take a ratchet strap (or lashing) across the top to secure to the deck.

Love 'em!

Have fun.

[Seaworthy Lass]

An update for anyone considering buying a SUP:

A week ago gusts to 60+ knots were forecast so we thought it best to deflate it. This was far easier to do than expected. Took just a couple of minutes to undo the opening and roll it up and store it (floor of the cockpit in this case, but the shape it rolls into goes through an outside locker opening easily). As inflation only takes 4 minutes with a foot pump, deflating and inflating is not the big deal I expected it would be. I think we will end up doing this reasonably often.

Today we had an onshore breeze of about 15 knots with open seas upwind, so there was a bit of chop in the anchorage. I managed to creep a few boat lengths upwind before my trembling knees gave up. That was exhausting! Kneeling and paddling worked extremely well in these conditions though and I resorted to that. The occasional wave washing over the board meant wet knees, but not a wet bum, so I didn't get cold. The downwind dashes back to the boat were fantastic. Almost managed to surf down the some of the waves that were cresting .

Breakfast tasted sooooooo good after hard exercise and a shower .

Originally Posted by bratzcpa

We really enjoy our boards. Favorite thing to do is once we've got the hook down for the night, take the boards out for a little paddle around whatever anchorage we're in for the night. Nope, they don't take the place of the dingy. They're not the same as the dingy for sure.

BUT they are great for some exercise and pleasant evenings.
.....
Love 'em!

They are just plain indulgent fun aren't they .

SWL

[Seaworthy Lass]

3 month update:

The board is earning its keep .
One feature I hadn't really considered is that it provides another means of getting ashore. A replacement part was kindly, but unexpectedly delivered to the beach several weeks ago and the dinghy happened to be ashore at the time. I was able to go and collect and the part using the board. Very useful!

Today's paddle was sheer magic:

[Tayana42]

We often use our SUP to take the dog ashore for his walks. It is nice to have another option to the dinghy.


S/V B'Shert

[nias]

I recently got a RED Paddle Co 11' inflatable sup. One of the best investments I've made in a long time. So cool exploring anchorages, getting to shore, friend's boat or dinghy dock quickly, using as a platform for fixing or cleaning things on the hull or stern and just getting some exercise in the marina, and what a great workout that is! The particular model I got is called the sport and a cool feature it has is removal stiffening battens on the side rails which are supposed to make the board considerably stiffer. The board is very stiff, can take 25psi but I usually pump up to about 17psi as I'm only 150 pounds and it's hard to tell the difference between inflatable and a hard board. I think inflatable is the way to go for a boat as it stows nicely in a large backpack.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, nias.

[Gary H]

We have a Jimmy Styks inflatable SUP. It's fairly rigid and stable with a 10.5 foot length and we enjoy it. If we do a good job when we deflate and roll it up, we can fit it into the included bag, so it stores smaller than a folded jib. Probably takes five minutes to inflate with a RIB foot pump.

[weavis]

These are nice..........
No paddling required and can just roll all the parts on and roll the people off.
er.......
yeah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYO2Trt4gjI

[nias]

Thanks GordMay, good to be here.

[KP44]

We tried a few this winter on Sea of Cortez. I don't know enough to give advice. But I hope to read what others have experienced. The inflatables were well-liked by their owners.

I remember the RED Paddle Boards stood out as good quality and form.

[laika]

Our Red Paddle Explorer iSUP (13'2" x 31") is very high quality and we've had no problems with it over the course of a few years. We expect it to last for a long time.

Our Starboard iWindSUP (12'6" x 33") has not held up so well. The main rail seam that runs lengthwise up and down the board started to delaminate on one side.
We left it stowed belowdeck last summer on the hard in the caribe. Since getting back, it's been like whack-a-mole patching blowouts along this seam. I assume the heat in the cabin while on the hard started to melt the glue. Starboard is known as one of the higher quality boards, so it may be we just had one that was poorly glued together in construction.

iSUPs are great but obviously none are as bulletproof as the rigids. If you plan on relying on them and using them to cover ground in remote places, buy the highest quality iSUP you can afford and consider a cover. Practically, you will likely not find yourself inflating and deflating the boards very regularly as they are a bear to get to pressure. Also consider investing in additional repair materials beyond what they come with as standard.