Friday, April 30, 2010

StandUpPaddleOut is moving

I'm am currently updating and migrating this site to Wordpress.

The new link will be:

standuppaddleout.com

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Great Lakes CleanUp

A 50 degree overcast morning was the start to a cleanup effort on the Black River.
This is the waterway that runs through lower Michigan and empties into Lake Macatawa and eventually
into Lake Michigan at the Holland harbor.

There was a crew there to help the Macatawa Greenway clean up the river.  Canoes, gloves and trash bags  were provided to help accomplish the task.  The majority of the volunteers took to their canoes and four of us launched our SUP's in hopes of helping out.  We focused on the area east of Windmill Island and paddled up river to check for sites that needed to be cleaned.  We turned back downstream when the river turned shallow and rocky and began the downstream paddle in search of any debris.

The majority of the trash consisted of plastic bags and bottles and snagged fishing line, etc.  There was some great efforts to remove a couple car tires, a steel barrel, lawn chairs and numerous spent shotgun cartridges.

The effort ended back at the launch point with about 18-20 bags of garbage that got properly disposed of.

The simple lack of regard for a great waterway is hard to take.  The large number of people that come to this area and use it's waters doesn't compare to the 15-18 people that we had out that day to lend a hand cleaning up.  Hopefully we can shed some light on the problem that our waters are facing and get more and more people to spread the word about keeping things clean.  Lets focus on making people aware that they can be a part of the solution and not just a part of destroying our Great Lakes and waterways.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Check the Link

A little comment I made on a site that actually got linked to my site.
Cool.
Spring is in the Air.

http://www.standuppaddlesurf.net/2009/04/06/stand-up-paddle-boarding-in-chicago/

Friday, March 26, 2010

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Windmill Downwinder

Another day out on the water.....
Jim and I got out for a paddle about 2pm for about an hour and a half downwinder from
Windmill Island to the southwest end of Lake Macatawa.
We made a pretty leisurely paddle and saw plenty of geese and ducks.  Even got to see a little beaver cruising on the shoreline.
There was a pretty steady East wind helping us make the trip. 
In the open water, the wind was strong enough to make for some decent wind driven waves.  Luckily, neither of us checked the water temp.
The temps are coming up and I'm looking forward to a spring/summer season full of some paddling adventures.  Keep checking back for news/updates.  Feel free to email me with questions or comments.
supaddleout@gmail.com

Thursday, February 18, 2010

In the News

Just in case anyone missed it, Jim and I were in the Sunday edition of the Holland Sentinel.
Here's the link:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/features/x626052955/Walking-on-water

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Indoor Paddle Sessions

The Outpost of Holland will be hosting indoor paddle sessions for people interested in learning to paddle or working on theirs skills in the comfort of a warm pool.  No icy waters.  Check the link at the bottom of my page for details and times.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Sunny Sunday

Sunday, Feb. 7th a group of us made our way out to Lake Michigan for a paddle.
We couldn't have asked for better conditions.  Mid 20's, but full sun and a calm lake.
It seemed a little crazy at the time, but the chance to get out this time of year in Michigan
on a sunny day is rare, so we had to take it.

Check this out:   http://wernerpaddlesblog.com

Monday, January 25, 2010

Icy Waters


Yes, we did in fact go out and paddle today!  We made the trip down to Allegan and paddled on the lake.
I'll have to say that the lake was a lot bigger than I thought and it was a great paddling location.  I can't wait to try it out in some warmer conditions.

There is a nice launching spot East of M-40, across from the public shooting range.  Once we got on the water there was quite a wind for the first stretch of our journey, but we stuck to the shore and has some pretty nice water.  The scenery was great too, we witnessed a bald eagle in flight, pretty cool.

Jim was nice enough to bring out some demo boards and let us try them all out.
So, we were donned in our warm gear, ranging from no wetsuit, a 3:2, a 6:5, and a drysuit.
Jim always seems to be the brave one.  Although no one fell in, there's some sort of mental security
from wearing a wetsuit when there's ice on the water your paddling on.

Monday, January 11, 2010

We Made It!

After an early wake up Saturday morning, a race, and a post race ceremony, we
were able to get back on the road.  We returned to Holland, Mi, about 9:30am to
find more snow than N.C., but temps almost as cool.
The race was a great experience.  There were a handful of pro racers and lots of
exited stand up paddlers.  The friendliness of the whole event was pretty great.
Coastal Urge put on an awesome event. 
Check out some links.  I was even quoted in a local paper the day of the race...... crazy.

http://distressedmullet.com/

http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=5653&iid=200&sud=30

Hoping to post some pics on flickr soon.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Arrived at 7:30am

After a 16 hour drive, straight through, a run in with the very nice N.C. police we made it.  (My fault)

We were able to check into our hotel, get breakfast and take a well needed nap.
Checked out the ocean and went out on a paddle in the Atlantic intracoastal waterway on parts of
the course that we'll compete on Saturday, where cold temps of 35-40 degrees made it feel more like home, but the sunshine was welcomed with smiling faces.


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Departure, T minus 12hrs

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go,
There's a forcast of snow outside my door...

Can't believe it's gonna be so brisk in N.C. for the race, but thats
not gonna stop the Michiganders from racing their hearts out.

Hoping for a smooth road trip.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Cold Stroke Classic

Two work days until the road trip to N.C. for the
Cold Stroke Classic begins.
Excited and nervous all at the same time. It will be
a great experience and nice break from the cold and snow
here in west Mi.
Hoping for good weather and great paddling.

www.coldstrokeclassic.com/