Gliding on Water
If you think you’ve seen every type of water craft, look again. The emerging sport of stand up paddle boarding has come to River Country.
Stand up paddling (SUP) combines the planing and ride of a surfboard with the glide and paddle style of canoeing. The board glides easily, pushed by a long paddle and the leverage of using the whole body. By standing, the paddler has a good view into the water and surroundings. The long, wide boards only draw about 8 inches of water, allowing nearly silent access to shallow water.
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| Jack Banks, left, and his son, Hunter, of Wake in Middlesex County build their wooden paddle board (top photo), and hold the finished board.
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Jack Banks of Wake and his son, Hunter, built a paddle board of western red cedar and white cedar, two lightweight woods. The board can be paddled on one side and it will track fairly straight because the board has sharp rails that keep it on track. “If you have wind behind, you don’t have to do much,” said Jack.
The long paddle adds the leverage of the whole body and is used to help steer the board in conjunction with body position or “foot steering,”
Back then, native “beach boys” used their stand up long boards to deliver boards to tourists, Hall said. They started surfing with those same boards and soon realized they could see incoming waves better, and the long paddle could be used to steady the wave rider.
SUP disappeared for a while but resurfaced in 2004 in Hawaii. A group of surfers pushing the limits of big wave surfing were looking for alternative ways to catch the huge waves, said Hall. Jet skis had been used to pull surfers into waves that were too large to catch by paddling with just arms in a traditional manner. By using their whole body to stroke a long paddle, the boards moved fast enough to catch those big waves.
When video reached California, the sport took off.
On the Rappahannock River, the stand up paddle board allows explorers to slip into a marine environment with minimal intrusion. Hunter Banks has seen skates swimming under his board.
“It’s good for eco-touring and a nice way to observe the natural environment,” said Jack Banks.
And, if a wave comes along, the paddle board doubles as a conventional surfboard. See page 19.
Stand up paddling evolved from conventional paddling as in a kayak or canoe. “The reason the Hawaiians first did it was because it is easier,” said Hall.
Some people who have not tried SUP worry that they won’t have the balance or fitness to stand up and paddle, said Hall, who teaches SUP. “Paddleboards are wide, meaning they’re easy to stand on,” he explained. “Because you’re standing, your body is in a more natural and relaxed position and you are comfortable doing it.”
Typically, a paddleboard will have a soft rubber pad that makes it more comfortable. “It also provides a solid foot grip to make it easier to stand in both mellow and rough conditions.” On her first try, a local woman was able to SUP for 30 minutes without falling.
Once people get the feeling of stand up paddling, it’s hard to go back, said Hall. “We’ve met kayakers who’ve come out to try stand up paddling,” he said. “After one lesson, they bought a board and haven’t kayaked again.”
Standing gives paddlers a new and better perspective. “You can see so much more on a paddle board. On a typical paddle, I may see rays, dolphin and any number of fish that I never even knew were there when I was in a kayak,” said Hall.
Hall said the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck areas are two of the world’s best places to paddle. “You can surf, ride big-water swells, fish, or cruise backwater,” he said “And, the aquatic landscape is limitless. Plus, with the number of local and regional public boat launches and water access sites, you have easy access to all kinds of great spots.”
‘Moments of discovery’
story & photo by Tom Chillemi
For more than two years, Steve Casper and Macky Hall have operated Chesapeake Boardsports in Mathews, which offers lessons, tours, fly-fishing and gear needed to stand up paddle (SUP).
In that time they’ve had some great experiences on the water.
Last summer during a hurricane swell, they mapped some shoals off southern Mathews.
On the first day of the swell, they paddled out from New Point Comfort. “At an outer marker, right where we’d hoped, waves were rolling in,” said Hall. “We surfed the rest of the afternoon and for four days after.”
Hall believes that he and Casper were the first to catch these waves. “Paddleboards would have been the only way to reach that spot and the swells,” he said.
“What makes stand up paddleboarding so special are those moments of discovery. It’s like surfing was in the 60s. You find the spots, and figure out how to use them,” said Hall.
Another time, the two men were paddling in a local creek mouth and noticed rockfish feeding along the shoreline. “We went back and grabbed our fly rods, and fished past dark,” said Hall. “It was a total watershed moment.” And it also was the birth of stand up paddle fly-fishing for them.
Of course there are SUP races. This spring Hall and Casper competed in the inaugural SUP race during Dominion RiverRock, one of the country’s biggest outdoor festivals, which is held in Richmond.
They raced three miles in the canal with a pretty elite crew. “Hundreds of people lined the canal to cheer us on,” said Hall, who won his class. “They were collectively blown away… and so were we.”
To try stand up paddle boarding in Rivah Country, contact Hall at (804) 384-3534, or visit their website.
