Archives from 2002-2006

Aug

10

My long hot paddleboard summer

My paddleboard origin story starts with me reading a post from a women’s friend-making group I follow on Facebook. It was an event listing with info about kayak rentals at nearby Dexter Lake, and I decided to skip the event but go out and get myself a kayak and do some toodlin’. However, when I arrived it turns out all they had to rent was paddleboards, and I almost just got back in my car and left but then life-coached myself (“You drove all the way here! You have sunscreen on!”) into getting one and sort of tragiccomically hauled it to the water — hnnnnnngggggh — and plunked it in and looked around at all the other people sitting on their paddleboards and caaaarefully got on it and situated criss-cross-applesauce and then

I HAD THE BEST FOUR HOURS OF MY LIFE???

I have been on a paddleboard a few times before and had decided that while it looked very zen and cool, in reality the effort of keeping balance while standing was an all-consuming mid-to-extreme stressed-out vibe. However, if you just SIT on the dang thing, it is — as was sung in Aladdin during the magic carpet ride, on which, I will point out, they were sitting as opposed to trying to stand —a whole new world.

So I really enjoyed my time there that day and I rented one more time before deciding that I was going to take the plunge and buy my own. I bought one online based on a vague mix of vibes/price/reviews and then I scoured the comments for tips and also got an electric pump called a Hydro Hero.

(I did try inflating the board manually once just to see what that was like and I do not recommend it. By the time I was done I was EXHAUSTED, probably it’s a great workout but absolutely fuck that.)

This was about a month ago, and I have taken this board out on so many wonderful adventures! My friend Jodi introduced me to the Autzen canal, which is a local waterway that’s just a five-minute drive from my house. You park at the edge of a big mostly unused lot, get your gear set up next to the car, then hoof it through a little path to get on a narrow channel where you paddle upstream to a big opened-up pool next to Autzen stadium, and then you can go further to interesting neighborhoods with houses right next to the water. There’s all sorts of cool vegetation and extremely friendly ducks who come right up hoping for snacks, plus herons everywhere.

There’s Dexter lake where I got started, a very popular reservoir with lots of people and boats. About 30 minutes south is another reservoir called Dorena Lake that is less populated and more naturey-feeling, which I’ve been to twice now with the board. I also took myself to Clear Lake about 90 minutes up the McKenzie river, which was as advertised staggeringly clear and ice-cold and otherworldly shades of blue and teal.

I do practice standing now and then but for the most part I stay seated and it just feels very stable and comfortable. I can get deep pulls with the paddle that way and am able to maneuver pretty well, not as nimble as a kayak but enough to feel quite capable on the water.

And I think that’s the key word, capable. I feel like this paddleboard has unlocked a lot of deeply rewarding summer fun and also built myself up in some important ways. I mean, I know it is not in fact rocket science to be able to inflate and carry a thing but it feels like a Super Big Deal for me.

For most of my adult life I have relied on someone else to manage all the outdoorsy stuff I got to enjoy — the planning, the gear, the knowledge, nearly every aspect of the outing itself. I was literally a passenger, perched on the side of a raft or a ski lift. The cabin on the river with its little yellow kayaks and circling ospreys is no longer available to me. I had so many great times but not by my own accord and I was worried that I would lose so much of that.

And now I can go out on my own, my candy-apple-red Bronco easily carrying all the things I need. I deeply enjoy every bit of it — the satisfaction of my loud-ass pump transforming a pile of plastic into an actual magic carpet ride, the moment of pushing off into the water and being like goodbye land world, the fun and effort of the paddle, the peace of finding a spot to just lie flat on my back and feel the water and look up at the sky. The birds, the far-off boats, the bob and swell, the cold splashes and hot sunshine, it’s all so goddamned good.

I have all kinds of new muscles from this hobby. I can feel how it’s strengthened me from the inside out.