Standing Up for America (on the Fourth)

If you tweet long enough you find it hard to string three sentences together. But we're going to try to get back into blog form because July Fourth weekend 2011 was both a celebration of America’s B-day and a celebration of all the great ways to Stand Up Paddle in Vermont — it’s a story that deserves to be told in long form.

Saturday (July 2) was glorious in the Lake Champlain valley, and there was so much pent up longing for summer after our soaked spring that the water was full of SUP boards, boats and smallcrafts of all kinds.

We did have some weather delay Sunday and it allowed us and our mascot Manny some down time while the showers passed. We used the time to continue setting up our humble shack/Vermont surf shop for the season.

The unsettled weather made for an unreal fireworks display over the Burlington skyline as a dry, cloud-to-cloud lightning storm became the backdrop for the annual Burlington fireworks show. It was tremendous and something no one watching had ever seen before.

The holiday itself had us taking a maiden Stand Up voyage down the lazy Mad River out of Waitsfield. We were too busy having fun to take pics. Trust us, it was a blast and we finally found the best and highest use for our green kayak-style plastic board. The thing is bullet proof and handled the Mad’s shallow sections without a second thought.

Here's a thought for the road ...

... Aloha.

103 Feet High and Rising (a 2011 preseason paddle)

Welcome back to the third season of the Stand Up Paddle Vermont blog! All eyes in April and May have been on Lake Champlain as it has risen beyond 103 feet above sea level.

This is a record height for the lake and homeowners along the shore are dealing with immense flooding and wave damage. A disaster area for northwest Vermont has been declared and FEMA agents are on their way to survey the damage.

This is a serious situation for sure, but our curiosity took us out on the water to play around nonetheless in what was a very unique spring Stand Up Paddle in and around the Burlington waterfront.

High water means lots of debris as the Champlain basin rivers empty out ...

A different kind of playground at Perkins Pier.

Soft light as the sun went down ... Looking west (above) and looking east (below) with downtown B-Town as a backdrop.

One of the best Lake front eateries, Breakwaters, was completely swamped. It's a sad sight and will take a big effort to recover from. Wishing the best for a full recovery this spring.

Autmun on the coast

After a wonderful summer in Burlington Bay and on Lake Champlain, the transition to fall has us keeping an eye on the Atlantic Ocean for spikes in the surf report. We've seen several Vermonters making the trip to NH already, and comfortably suited up in the thick neoprene, we look forward to a full autumn of surfing and skiing :) With a summer of training on Champlain under our belts, it's time to step up the game.

SUPcross

The second annual Stand Up for the Lake fundraiser event at the Burlington Sailing Center was a free-form race/relay with a good mix of seasoned Stand Up Paddlers and folks newer to the sport. With a strong wind from the south, five wide, and tight buoy turns, the races took a little bit of a boatercross feel — just a friendly amount of angling and banging.

Thanks to the Sailing Center for putting on a fun event. Great to see Vermont's stand up community coming together!

Wind-whipped

September and the weather's changed a bit, at least temporarily. The north wind came through at about 30 mph Saturday and cleared the heat and humidity right out. This was the same day Hurricane Earl was sideswiping the East Coast and throwing out some sizable swell for the Atlantic surfers.

The wind was doing the same for us on Lake Champlain, and all the north-facing beaches were, as they say, firing. I've never seen 5-footers on the lake before, but there they were, racing toward shore. I was stunned by how fast they move pushed by a 30 mph wind.

It was a challenge getting out on the SUP boards, fighting the wind and the breaking waves with no more than a few seconds between them. But a good handful of us worked it, and were rewarded with fast, long rides and nice turnable faces. It's a treat, this inland surfing ... saves the 3-hour-each-way trip to the coast.

Hoping for more ... And hoping to get pics and vids of it next time.

In the meantime, we've been gathering the Champlain summer sunset suite of 2010, and here's the latest and one of the best.

Lesson Progression

Had a special lesson last week with a mom and daughter who had won the lesson in a silent auction fundraiser for a Colchester resident fighting cancer. The duo decided it was time to redeem the lesson voucher on an awesome, calm midweek evening.

They submitted these photos, which show their progression as we set out on our knees, getting a feel for the stability of the boards ... and return standing up tall enjoying another lovely sunset over Lake Champlain.

Demo night at the Rez

Just as SUP has spread from West to East across the USA, it is spreading in Vermont too, but in the general North to South direction. This summer it has reached the Stowe and Mad River valleys with a series of Stand Up demo events.

We checked out the Wednesday night thing at the Waterbury Reservoir this week. Great turnout on a hot, humid evening. And glassy waters compared to our Lake Champlain stomping grounds.