Re-inventing the Wheel, er, The Paddleboard
This not a lighthouse story, but it shows what interests a lighthouse keeper. If you live near the sea, you are always interested in ways and means of travelling, fishing , and exploring on the ocean. It is only natural. Here is my newest find – a SUP!
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After posting the story “Stand” – An Adventure Documentary on November 14, 2012, I was really intrigued by the surfboards the people were using in the film. They were not really surfboards as they appeared to be too heavy even though made of native British Columbia (BC) cedar wood.
As you can see from the photo above, they are called a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP). I had never heard of them before, and thought they would be ideal for adventurers on the BC coast, or anywhere!
I live in the Philippines right now and the local people here use a bamboo raft for a similar purpose, travel, but also for fishing. My photos at left and right show one of the Philippine rafts. Not as manoeuvrable as the SUP but quite stable and usable. This is what got my interest in the SUP. It is more streamlined than the bamboo raft and maybe lighter – bamboo is not a light wood even though it is hollow!
So after many fruitless Google searches (it is hard to search for something when you do not know the name of it), a Google Image search came to the rescue when I input the first photo at top. It led me to Dash Point Pirate Blog AND a complete essay on how to build a SUP! Cool!
How to Build a Wood Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) Free Step-By-Step Instructions
I also discovered this Bella Board Shop where they make SUPs in the school on the Central Coast. I know nothing about them but this would be my approach as a non-woodworker to obtaining one of these unique crafts. This is an educational, not a business project, but perhaps they may branch into a commercial line of SUPs, if enough people were interested.
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OK, if you are not a woodworker then how about an inflatable SUP? This inflatable Sea Eagle LongBoard 11 is right up my alley. No work; no delay; instant fun! 🙂
