SurfingSports Standup Paddle Surf & Standup Paddling BLOG
The latest BUZZ in new standup paddle surfing sports gear.
We showcase only the best standup paddle boards, standup paddles, standup paddle accessories avaliable, with news and views.
StandUp Paddle Sports has the largest, and best, selection of SUP's in the UNIVERSE at our store in Santa Barbara, CA.
Over 150 standup paddle boards currently in stock...with new SUP's arriving weekly.
Davey Miller was on hand with some of his latest art pieces and a jazz trio…Davey has performed with many Jazz masters including: Mitch Forman (Stan Gets, Wayne Shorter), John Beasly (Miles Davis, Freddy Hubbard), Ric Fierabracci (Chick Corea, Billy Cobham Spectrum band), Brad Rabuchin (Ray Charles), Doug Webb (Horace Silver)…
I used to surf with Davey around Ventura and the Gold Coast back the 70′s and 80′s, as he was carving out a niche while living beachfront at Pipeline on the North Shore…
“In 1980, at age 20, Davey Miller arrived on North Shore Oahu and cut himself out a
niche as one of its top riders. He placed in the finals at Huge Pipeline and Sunset
Beach, and rode Waimea with only a handful of his peers. Charging with no fear or
thought of bodily harm, Davey surfed solid for 20 years. At age 38 he reclaimed a
final at Very Large Pipeline with 19 year-old Andy Irons. He also beat out Kelly Slater
at Sunset Beach in the semi-finals. Davey was mostly noted for being one of the top
10 surfers of all time at Backdoor Pipeline.”
Davey was in the shop checking out SUP’s…we’re gonna hook him up so he can charge some of the big reef breaks this coming Winter…
I’ve always liked Davey Miller’s art…didn’t have enough extra money laying around back in the college days to spend on art…but, he offered me some nice pieces…funny how it all works out…scale of economy…he’s doing his best work now…he’s getting top dollar for it…and, we can actually afford it…go figure!…;-)
The backpacker resupply station where we based from is in close proximity to the 211 mile John Muir Trail (JMT) and brought us in contact with backpackers who spend a couple of weeks hiking the Sierras from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney…
The JMT is part of the longer 2650 mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) which runs from Mexico to Canada…these more hard core backpackers spend months in the wild…
As we ate dinner with groups of hobbling backpackers in need of a hot shower and a cold beer (let alone a washing machine…;-) each night, we observed that there was a stratification between JMT and PCT hikers…remarkably, most of the discusssions that we overheard revolved around the latest backpacker gizmos…however, the camp cook, Joshua, was different…the stories he told us were of bears and lightning strikes…incredible vistas and high mountain lakes…instead of feeling compelled to make 20 – 30 miles each day, he often took a “zero day”…just to stop and smell the roses…that’s how he ended up as the camp cook at this backpacker resupply station…while hiking the PCT, he ended up spending an extra day, just chilling like us…because he liked it so much…he’s planning on hiking over to Tahoe next month, once the trail traffic slows down…then, onto Idaho to visit his brothers…
In the mean time, he expressed an interest to learn to standup paddle…which we were stoked to facilitate…PAY IT FORWARD…
STOKED!
Joshua really loved SUP…and, will be buying a board and paddle to share this new stoke with his brothers…
Joshua’s paddle technique improved dramatically with Deb’s coaching…
Deb and her beloved 11’2″ Starboard Blend…perfect combo of glide, stability, and lightweight maneuverability…
Destination : High Sierra SUP…;-)
We wish to thank Jim Clement and his staff…Ben, Olive, Joshua (& others) up at the Vermilion Valley Resort for their mountain hospitality…see you next year…or sooner…;-)
Our Chocolate Labs, Anna Mae and Molly Claire, love the water…but, having them swim and standup paddle with us the 8 miles up to the headwaters and back seemed like it could be a Sysyphean task, because when they would get close to each other while on our SUP’s, they liked to jump off and swim together…can’t blame them as the days were hot and the water cool…
Annie and Molly doing their beaver imitation…prolly a bear looking on nearby…
With their ergonomically fitted DFD’s (Doggy Flotation Devices)on providing us with a grab handle assist…and, them with extra flotation and visibility while in the water…we loaded them onto a boat and “trailered” our SUP’s up to the headwaters of the lake looking for a nice beach to play on…
This is a “no wake” lake…no worries for us as we putted along in the glassy conditions pulling our SUP’s behind…
Scratch and sniff…the scent in the air was intoxicating…
Enjoying our own little private Idaho…
The pups really liked this beach…
Deb enjoying the scenery on a nice long paddle…
Molly entertaining herself…
The pups played all day in the water with their DFD’s on…
Molly fell asleep on the long boat ride back to camp…
Natural beauty abounds…pictured below is just one of the many peaks that we were surrounded by as we standup paddled around this gorgeous lake…thank you John Muir (1838-1914)…
“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars.
This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”
- John Muir
Paying it forward…stay tuned for the next episode of this High Sierra SUP adventure…
With another successful Summer turning into a blur…our phenomenal staff stepped up to the plate to allow us an opportunity to get away from the daily grind of our mom and pop, one stop SUP shop, and recharge our batteries…we were looking for a little bit of Indian Summer since we run on “solar power”, that meant getting away from the fog monster that has been hanging around the beaches all Summer…we’re calling it Juneuary and Fogust…;-)
We loaded up the Yukon with SUP’s, and our pups, and headed for the hills…no cell phones…no internet…no contests or trade shows…no political ads…we have already voted…YES on NO…;-)
We zeroed in on a lake that was as far away from civilization that we could get to in a day…and, as close to the John Muir Wilderness Trail area in the High Sierras…
This little piece of paradise is somewhere EAST of Maui…WEST of Salt Lake City…SOUTH of Canada…and, NORTH of Plaquemines Parish…can’t divulge the GPS coordinates, just yet…;-)
The barely single lane “road” was not even marked on a map…it is only open 4 or 5 months per year…
It started snowing and sleeting on us as we made our way up past 9000′…we wanted adventure and got it…careful what you wish for…;-)
EUREKA!
We were stoked to be the first standup paddlers on this High Sierra alpine lake…the air is definitely thinner at altitude…
Deb paddling with our Chocolate Labs…
The evenings were chilly…the sky was extra clear with no lights around…you could reach out and touch the gallaxies…
Every morning this really neat “fog” would form once the sun came up and started heating the sand…
A SUP monk at a Zen retreat…or, is it a Zen monk at a SUP retreat?
Base camp…
Our High Sierra SUP adventure continues tomorrow…stay tuned…
Dozens of boards and paddles flying out of the door these last few daze…in addition to folks driving from near and far to pick up new standup paddleboards at our paddleboard warehouse and showroom here in beautiful Santa Barbara, we’re also doing SUP deliveries down at the harbor for folks just pulling in to provision their boats for further SUP adventures out at the Channel Islands, and onward to mainland Mexico and beyond…
This Starboard Avanti is heading to Seattle…
Gorgeous Hobie race SUP and Chuck Patterson designed race fin…
The Handirack inflatable board rack to the rescue again…this time on an Audi…
The consumer confidence index is up in Washington, DC…and, all across this country…at least, in regards to SUP and staycations…
We had a family visit our shop recently to pick out a quiver of SUP’s to ship back to their home in Washington, DC for use on the Potomac River…
This is nothing new to us…as we’ve been shipping standup paddle boards to both sides of the aisle in our nation’s capitol for years…
You definitely can’t judge a book by it’s cover…people of ALL political persuasions LOVE standup paddling…;-)
We customized a dry bag carrying system for this gorgeous wood Starboard SUP…
A lot of work goes into board and paddle shipment preparation…but, our shipping department is the best in the SUP business…
Our VP/CFO takes her job seriously…she’s running back into the shop to do a last minute check of the pick list for this order…
Making progress on the shipment…in between selling another half dozen boards, and setting them up for our local walk-in clients and out of county travelers…it was a busy day yesterday…but, we’re not complaining….keep it coming…;-)
All crated up for the cross-country journey to the land of the founding fathers…
Rumor has it that President Obama has enjoyed standup paddling on one of his trips back to Hawaii…who knows…maybe he’ll bring a little island style SUP aloha back to the White House…and, spread the SUP love all over the world…one can only dream…NO FORKS…NO NUKES…;-)
We have another of our popular free SUP demos coming up this weekend…call the shop at 805.962.SUPS (7877) or email i n f o (AT) s u r f i n g s p o r t s . c o m for details…
BYOP (Bring Your Own Paddle) if you have one…
With any luck, this general weather trend will continue and we’ll get the sun to poke through earlier in the morning…but, no worries…the morning fog keeps the water glassy…
It also didn’t stop 5 dozen people from coming to the last SUP demo on July 12th…even with the World Cup finals going on…
The reps for Coreban and NSP will have a sample of boards to try…
