Paddle Articles

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While we love to focus attention on local California waters, we are equally excited when Cali Paddlers breach the borders of other states and explore. Thank you Maggie Adams of Blue Paddle SUP for sharing with us your recent experience paddling the Gorge on the Columbia River! time to add this experience to our bucket list!

Is the Wind Blowing?

Is it going to be windy tomorrow? That seems to be the question of the day when you are in Hood River, OR. On our first trek down to the river it was blowing, or “nuking.” Nuking = A very windy day! There were at least a 100 kiteboarders & windsurfers on the water. Usually when I paddle board, I don’t want it to be windy. It makes the water choppy, and I get tired when I have to paddle against it. But we were at the Columbia River to learn how to downwind on our stand up paddle boards, and compete in the Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge. For a downwinder on the Columbia River you need a West wind. Conditions are best when wind gusts are 20-30 kts.

 

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I'd like to think I have never taken paddling for granted. And the good health that lets me paddle. But I am sure over the years I have enjoyed this sport, I have done just that. Taken for granted our waters, the camaraderie of teammates, and the athleticism paddling provides me. So as you can imagine, when a back injury took away my ability to comfortably sit, stand, walk and paddle, I scolded myself for having not appreciated it even more.

Little did I know that a chance to paddle in a race I have dreamed about doing for 6 years would come along. And that I would be able to resume a paddling addiction that had been threatened in the year prior due to injury.

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Cali Paddlers are lucky to have such a great state to paddle in and we tend to make friends with folks who come from far away places to enjoy our waters and paddle alongside us. Ever wonder what they enjoy most about it here? First impressions, and funny tales? We reached out to our friend 'Aussie Steve' from Melbourne to hear his take on things here and remind us of some qualities about our home state and community. Enjoy!

CP: Steve tell us how you ended up coming and paddling in California.

Man that’s such a cool story and it goes to show the power and importance of putting yourself out there and making yourself open and available to interaction with other humans.

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Cali Paddler is stoked to be able to share this story from Maggie Adams of Blue Paddle SUP who recently went up to Big Bear PaddleFest and got to enjoy the race and the surrounding package. Check it out!

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Cali Paddler is stoked to continue its exploration and mapping of amazing places in our state to paddle. We welcome back Team Writer Bret Warner as he explores this gem in Monterey Bay...Del Monte Beach

The first place I ever paddled was Del Monte Beach right in front of Monterey Bay Kayaks. OK, that’s actually not true, it was on the Rogue river in an inflatable kayak, but my dad and I loved it so much we signed up for an Intro to Sea Kayaking class the day we got home. At ten years old, I had no idea what a special place I was getting to paddle.  It is protected from surf so knowing how to launch and land in the surf is not a requisite for paddling there. I know that some of us salivate with desire at launching/landing/playing/cavorting in the surf, but sometimes you need the calm start as well.  It is also solidly in a Marine Sanctuary so seeing seals, sea lions and sea otters is a regularity and not an anomaly. Also, if the wind picks up it will almost assuredly be at your back once you turn around, and you can hug the coast enough on the way out that paddling upwind won’t affect you too adversely.

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Cali Paddler welcomes Team Writer Tiffany who took a trip to South Lake Tahoe to see what racing on this famous location was like. Altitude. Fresh Water. Fun crowd. AMAZING scenery. If you weren't there, see what you missed. If you were, well, relive it!

As I headed up to Lake Tahoe in the early hours of the morning - 4:15am to be exact - on the day before the first Tahoe Sup Series race of 2016, all I could think of was the lakes majestic blue and green waters. I had only been to Tahoe with my parents when I was maybe eight, so this in many ways was my first time getting to experience Tahoe. For those who have made the 8-10 hour drive you know it’s a long one but so worth it. Side note – it’s a crap shoot trying to drive there in the summer as many highways have construction going on to repair the roads from the winter and wild fires can be an issue causing long delays and/or detours.

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Cali Paddler is stoked to have had a chance to hear from our friend Marie who recently went to Santa Cruz and did the Jay Race. Read our interview below about how this race is unlike most other races out there and what the scene was like.

CP: Hi Marie! We are stoked to hear about your recent trip to the Jay Race in Santa Cruz for a first time! What made you decide to go to this race?

I am fairly new to the OC1 racing scene so most local/mainland races i hear about through friends or good old Facebook. I had never heard of the Jay race till Charlie Banfield posted a link to the event page highlighting OC1’s and Surf skis were being included for the first time in the history of the event...

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Curious about the tuna crabs? What are they and why are they here? So were we! Please welcome Linsey Sala from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and fellow paddler to teach us more. ~CP.

If you have been paddling, swimming, surfing, or beach combing with your pup you have probably noticed the periodic presence of a beautiful bright red crustacean inhabiting our local waters these last two years – the pelagic red crab.  The scientific name of this crustacean is Pleuroncodes planipes.  This species is well known off the west coast of Baja California, in the Gulf of CA, and the CA Current with its center of distribution off central and southern Baja CA.  This red crab is unique because it can live its entire life cycle in the water column (surface to seafloor), from larvae to adulthood.  It starts off as a microscopic free drifting larva living close to the surface, feeding on microscopic single celled algae called phytoplankton.  As they get older and bigger, they will continue to graze on phytoplankton but can also eat small planktonic animals called zooplankton like krill and copepods.

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