Inflatable Kayak Blog

Kid Rock arrived at his latest concert announcement in a rather unusual way this past week, on a stand up paddle board. Rock is a big Detroit sports fan, so he brought along a couple of his Detroit Red Wing hockey buddies, Nick Lidstrom and Chris Chelios. The trio paddle surfed across the Detroit River and landed on Belle Isle Beach where the official announcement was made.

The concert is scheduled for August 12th at Comerica Park and is hoped to be a daylong celebration of Detroit, Kid Rock’s hometown. Other artists will perform during the show as well, then join in with Rock for a “jam” to close out the concert. Tickets go on sale June 11th. For more details you can visit the Detroit Free Press web site.

Former Detroit Red Wing Chris Chelios was the instigator of the stand up paddle board arrival. Even after his long career in the NHL, Chelios still keeps in great shape and has become a real enthusiast of stand-up paddle surfing.

Stand up paddling has become the fastest growing water sport over the past 2 years because it’s fun to do and it’s great exercise.

By Sam Wright

“Hoe he’e nalu.” I couldn’t help but listen when I heard this strange word in the next room. Imagine my shock when I overheard my mother-in-law talking to her friend from Maui who was visiting and realized that these two ladies were discussing stand up paddle boards. Someone told me years ago that if you heard of something new that within twenty four hours, you would hear about it again. That must be true because only yesterday at work, one of the guys was talking about how he was into stand up surfing on a paddle board. He discovered that it was the perfect cross training workout. This dude is the real athlete who only works to pay the bills. His passion in life is his weekend marathons, white water trips, sky diving, and most anything on water.

Last winter he took up snowboarding and he said his instructor also recommended using the stand up paddle board for full body exercise. He said it was the best thing he found for a strong core workout. He explained this really isn’t new and as I joined my mother-in-law and her friend, they told me how this was an ancient form of surfing. The Hawaiian’s have been doing this for years. She said a lot of the instructors liked to do this because of the visibility. They could watch a large group of surfers by this method. In fact the visibility was one of the amazing benefits of this type of sport. You could enjoy a warm coastal climate, and have a better view of the horizon than almost any other type of activity.

My friend at work said it felt like walking on water. I shared his stories with the ladies and the friend from Maui said that Maui was about as close to Heaven as you could get so walking on water made a lot of sense. She invited me and my family to visit and I’m definitely getting a stand up paddle board when I get ready for this trip.

The author, Sam Wright is Kentucky born and bred. Sam lives with his wife and two sons and often enjoys the many lakes and rivers in his beautiful state. Sam occasionally writes about his adventures and enjoys sharing his journeys.

by Victoria L. Holt-Adams

My husband and I decided to lose some weight about a year ago, but because I have asthma I have problems doing any vigorous and high impact exercise like walking, running, and jogging. I love the water and I enjoy the outdoors so we decided to try a fairly new sport that we had heard about from my husband’s brother Mike who lives in Southern California. It’s called stand up paddle boarding or SUP for short. Most people like to use their surf boards and just buy a paddle since a SUP is basically a surfboard and a paddle, but a lot of your newer SUP’s have a non slip surface on the top, so you don’t need to use Surfwax on it.

The first time I used a SUP I had borrowed Mike’s, he has this banged up surfboard and a paddle he rigged up by taping a broom handle and a kayak paddle together with some waterproof tape, it’s not very conducive to learning how to SUP, and after a few wet episodes, I think I landed in the water a grand total of three times before I found the “sweet spot” on the board and the proper paddling stance I was cruising along and paddling like a champ. I kept at it the whole week we were in California and lost about an inch and a half around my midsection and my arms felt tighter and well more muscled than they did before, of course that well defined arm feeling could have just been my imagination but it makes me feel good. My husband on the other hand is quite a bit shorter than I am and got the hang of everything a lot quicker though he did jab himself with the longer paddle more often.

My husband and I wanted to continue doing the stand up paddle boarding at home, so I have been checking into buying us our own Stand up Paddle Board and paddle. I have decided that I am going to go with the Sevylor Samoa Inflatable Stand-Up Paddle Board and a Cannon Adjustable Stand Up Paddle. Now we both will be able to use the same SUP and paddle because it will adjust to my taller height, and his shorter height with just a couple of clicks. I am also buying Mike an adjustable paddle for Christmas so the next time we are out in California we can race to see who is the better SUP’er, and because he really needs a proper paddle to compete with me and my hubby. Cannon paddles make a really good Christmas gift idea for him too because he can pack it down into his suitcase to take it back to California instead of us having to foot the bill on the shipping cost.

If you’re interested in buying your own SUP or adjustable paddle, or you just want a great holiday gift for someone. You can check them out at PortableKayaks.com. Stand up paddle boarding is a lot of fun, it’s a great way to get out and enjoy the water from a unique point of view, it is great exercise, and a fun way to spend time with your family.

This article was originally published it’s author, Victoria Louise Adams in eZine Articles under the title “My Excellent Experience With Stand Up Paddle Boards and Paddles“.

(Victoria L. Holt-Adams is the mother of two wonderful children, a stay at home mom, semi-professional photographer, and self taught graphic artist.  She enjoys a myriad of other activities to stimulate her creative processes.)

By Sam Wright

The family was over this weekend to celebrate a birthday, so I had to do some bragging. I brought out the inflatable kayak to show the guys my toy and explained how much fun I had. Of course I went through all the benefits. The biggest was enjoying the “peace and quiet” a few days out of each month so I could ponder the universe without any interruptions. After working my demanding job all week and all the other obligations that we all face each day, a day or two on the river does the trick to rejuvenate and invigorate the soul.

The last benefit won the crowd, well all except one.  Bobby is my brother’s son. At age 21, he looked at the kayak and agreed that looked like fun for a few old guys who wanted to wander around the waterways and get away from it all, but he had grander plans.  Bobby talked about going to Hawaii (someday) and surfing the big waves. Not to be outdone, I got out the laptop and pulled up the PortableKayaks.com web site. Low and behold he saw something that he didn’t know existed; a paddle board. It was perfect and he was sold.

The paddle board wasn’t a surf board and going away to Hawaii was at least a couple of years down the road, but it could be used here and now and, even with Bobby’s new job, this was in the affordable range. He ordered the LongBoard 11 Stand up Paddle Board Startup Package. The fact that it touted giving you a fantastic work out and a greater view of the water were two attributes that sold him on the new toy.  With the paddle board you can stand up to paddle and enjoy the near surfing experience or you can sit down for some comfort and still have a great workout.

Showing Bobby the paddle board made me ready with my upcoming birthday wish. Just wait until I tell my wife about this new addition to our water equipment. We can’t be outdone by a mere 21-year-old. My wife is equally as energetic and competitive as I am. I bet we might have to have two just like we did with the original kayaks.

I wrote a while back about our two Sea Eagle portable kayaks. Sometimes we take one and spend a day together and sometimes we take them both. My best bud and his wife like to travel with us and more often than not, the two ladies travel together in one and have their “girl talk” time, while me and my pal kibitz in the other.

I hope my 21-year-old nephew finds himself a good woman that is as much fun as my wife. We are raising our own team of kayakers and the family four passenger version is on the purchasing horizon a couple of years down the road.

In the meantime, we are having a blast with our weekend sport. This is much better than joining a gym.  You can watch the incredible scenic water ways, enjoy a day in the sun, and get exercise in the best way possible – while playing –after all, if it works well for the kids, why shouldn’t it work for us.

My advice to my 21-year-old nephew at the end of the day was to buy great toys and find a girl who enjoyed playing the games he liked to play. It’s worked well for me.

For those of us who don’t live in the sun belt, there’s a time of year when kayaking is not an option because of the weather conditions. We call it the “off season”. A customer, who lives in Michigan, recently purchased a PakBoat folding kayak hoping he might have time to get out on the water only to fall victim to an early rush of winter. He asked what to do about the new boat he received and I suggested that he should try to assemble it indoors just to see if all the parts are there and they fit together correctly. A quick inspection of the surface will also turn up any defects. That’s a good idea no matter what type of product you purchase in the “off season” or the “on season”. It’s always disappointing to get your inflatable or folding kayak or portable fishing craft (i.e pontoon or float tube) out to the water and find that you’re missing a small part like a valve cover or wing nut that might keep you out of the water. Check it out ahead of time. Also, especially in the case of a folding kayak or inflatable pontoon, it’s a good idea to practice the assembly so you know what to do when you’re ready to hit the water.

The “off season” is often a good time to buy a kayak because of manufacturer’s discounts, clearance pricing and holiday gift specials. But remember to check out your purchase before you use it. Most of the time everything fits together and all the parts are there. But, if not, you’ll be happy you inspected your purchase instead of standing on the shore wishing you had.