SUP #3 - 10/13/13... and #4 - 10/14/13

This evening I made my way down below Fernbridge right after sunset for a 25 minute SUP session - my third trip with the new board.  The breeze that persisted all day had gone, temps were mild, and a pair of boardshorts, a rashguard and booties were all I needed as I enjoyed the practice in balance and a new kind of paddling that the SUP provides.



I paddled upstream against the current to the base of a riffle that represents the entire flow of the Eel River.  It was a wonderful, natural treadmill as I spent 10 minutes paddling against the clear water under the autumn moon, thinking about salmon which were undoubtedly nearby and how spending some time keeping myself in one place on the water provided a connection, me to them.



As dusk approached I turned with the current and made my way back downstream to my truck, spotting the wake of a fish on my way.  To stand on this board, floating on water that is more wild than most anything around me, paddling up and now drifting back down, I was content to have found this time OTW.



My priorities in life are wrapped up in my family and the journey that we're on together.  I was pleased to spend quality time with my son and daughter and wife over the weekend, and a little solo time on my SUP was a good chance to reflect on where I would've been if not for the need to be with my nuclear fam.  I would've been at a special gathering south of here, and, for those who were there and those like me who wish they could have been, I appreciate the energy and commitment, the caring and the sharing, and the Love of my NCKA family. 



To everyone who took part in the memorial for Mooch:  Great Job.   

Great Read, and looks like a fun time on the SUP.

My thoughts were in the same place as you today.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Eric.

glad to see you having fun on your board!
25 mins is a good stint on the SUP.
Your NCKA fam missed you yesterday

Thanks for sharing Eric. I hear that your core gets ripped when paddling the SUP for a while?!

Thanks for sharing Eric. I hear that your core gets ripped when paddling the SUP for a while?!

My core IS ripped!  It's just covered in a protective layer of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in the form of flab!   

glad to see you having fun on your board!
25 mins is a good stint on the SUP.
Your NCKA fam missed you yesterday

Thanks.     Happy B-Day, Tony. 

I SUP'd again this evening.  It was a near-clone of last night.  Right after dinner, sun had gone down before I got out of Loleta, OTW around 648PM, wind had died, temps mild, attire changed to flip-flops from yesterday's booties...  The water and the sky and the rhythm of the river were exquisite.  As I laid down 500 strokes at the base of that riffle above Fernbridge, I was loving it, and there was nowhere else I wanted to be.  Feeling it on the Eel right now - early season rains rock.   

Sounds like you are getting a little workout while clearing your mind, and you don't have to worry about waiting for "your " turn on the treadmill.