Hoe he'e nalu

1498 Sunday Report SUP

It´s been a while ago that some people started to shout to those who were just using there muscle power to get into the mountains of water and had to use all their energy to get on one of those nice waves for a long ride ( if the choice was ok) if they still don´t know that there was an easier way to get out to sea and through massive white water than swimming. First of all it were Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer who put a sail onto the massive Teak Surfboards to use the windcraft instead of muscle power, than it took almost another 30 years before Kites were used to get people into planing surfboards and later also into the Waves. Since few years now people remembered the old polynesians using paddles to move forward on their heavy heavy wooden Boards. With the technology of the 21st century, lighter Boards and modern shapes are possible and the Paddle now really means a big relief, after the first steps standing on a still narrow and sometimes not really big Board, where keeping the Balance seems to be a Challenge of his own already.

But as all polynesian (hawaiian) Boardsports became popular and easy to handle for almost anybody, as did Windsurfing and Kitesurfing before,  nowadays more and more different types of Stand Up Paddle Boards, short SUP´s found their way into the watersport Shops, Watersport Centers and into Windsurfers, Surfers and Kitesurfers Vans. Hoe he'e Nalu, how Paddle Surfing is called by the polynesians, now also found its way to the Island of Margarita. In the past year it has been mostly Diony Guadagnino who was seen with his SUP at the back of his Truck and searching for some decent waves at the Island, while most tourists still didn´t really know what to do exactly with those things. This has changed completely, already at the last small wave day in El Yaque many people were ripping and having lots of fun with their SUP´s and even on days with very low winds and flat water, Trips and Tours are made, standing and paddling on 10,6 to 11,5 feet long Boards. The variety one gets with a SUP is just amazing as they can be used on calm rivers and lakes just to cruise around, in small waves as long boards and with a great ease to find waves and get onto the waves and even in big waves it´s pure fun, mounting a Windsurf Sail it can be used in very light wind conditions and to just improve a little Old School Freestyle

For El Yaque the SUP´s mean another possibilty to explore the area, enjoy the beauty of the immense lagoon upwind of El Yaque, go on some fitness Trips with friends or partner or practise the first steps in El Yaque´s small waves, which with the Stand Up Paddle Board is just much easier than with the common Surfboards and Longboards, especially for a Spot like El Yaque with Small Waves which don´t have so much power surely it´s excellent to just grab Board and Paddle and go out. Most Centers already ordered more SUP´s for their clients, as lots of sports from Wind and Kitesurfing of Kayaks, Running, Biking and Yoga is already offered in El Yaque, SUP ing will be one more additional workout, as it is used by many Top Sportsmen and celebrities, which actually made the Sport that famous in the US already.   text / images  TB