Long SUP Session

I was  the lone SUP ranger on the Hudson. I paddled my wife's Amundsen 11'3" SUP board. It has lousy graphics but it's a sweet board to paddle. I think it has about 180 liters of flotation and is 75 cm wide. It's wider and thinner than the Kona board, which makes it a better board to paddle.

I decided to head to the Bear Mountain Bridge. There was no wind out in the bay but one I got into the neck below Bear Mountain there was a fair amount of wind, pushing against me, of course. I had my new waterproof camera with me and took a bunch of shots from the water. It's got a nifty, bright-orange, floating strap, so if I drop it the whole thing will float. The water was choppy at times and, wouldn't you know it, the waves were almost always flowing the wrong direction to surf.

The scenery is absolutely fabulous. I love the exposed rock faces reaching down to the water. They look raw and barren, but also beautiful.

I made it to the span in about 1 1/2 hours, then headed back. Returning was much easier. Surprisingly I saw very few kayaks for such a gorgeous day. One I met was a double in the middle of Peekskill Bay. We greeted, then one of the guys in the kayak said, "We thought you were Jesus walking on water!" Funny, but I understand why he said so. From a distance a person on an SUP board can look like someone standing on the surface of the water.

I was on the water for almost three hours and I paddled about 7 miles. (How did I know it was 7 miles? Google Earth told me so.) Not a bad session. Of course, after I pulled up on shore, the wind picked up.

I turned my pictures into a video slideshow. Enjoy!