No Way Can I Move Now

A comment from one of my writer friends inspired me to write this morning. It has been a while! Doesn’t everyone who blogs say that, all of the time? But really, I think it has been a year.

Recap:

1) I stood up last September after only 14 months and 27 days of learning. As one of my surfing friends said to me yesterday “You have to commit.” Well, I did.

2) I learned to standup paddleboard in September, thanks to my good friend John Beausang.

3) In November, I did standup paddleboard water support for the Beach to Battleship Ironman triathlon here in Wilmington, NC. I pulled a hypothermic swimmer out of the water. That was stressful! Glad I was there at the right place/right time.

4) In December I bought a new surfboard at the Hope from Helen charity surf auction. It is a 9″ longboard with the East Coast Surf label. Made locally. I finally took it out this week and it is a DREAM to surf.

5) In December, I also bought a “whopper” Starboard from John B., with a nice paddle and PFD, so I’ve been having fun paddling around the calmer waters and doing the “rec races” in the local paddleboard races.

6) In January, we bought my husband a kayak so that he could, in theory, kayak with me while I SUP. That hasn’t really happened. Anyone want to buy a kayak?

I’m not really made of money

So, where did this insane spending spree of water equipment come from? I have no idea, but I can’t move away from the ocean now.

But, that’s ok with me.

SUP, Family!

My parents visited over Labor Day weekend.  That was awesome!  They like to go to the beach, which is good, since that’s how we roll here in ILM.

I had just started taking Standup Paddleboarding lessons (SUP) from John Beausang over at www.distressedmullet.com, and as I frequently do with new hobbies, became immediately obsessed and wanted to take the fam.  My Mom does, like, two Pilates classes EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I work out with a trainer, but I’m still kind of a fatty.  My husband doesn’t work out at all, and my Dad fell and hit his knee the day before we were supposed to go.

OH! And our “meet up” time was 6:30 am.  The morning after I invited 25 of my closest friends in Wilmington to a rockin’ party at San Juan Cafe, all booze courtesy of my fantastic father.  (We ate ALL of their food, used ALL of their glasses, drank ALL of their liquor, and pretty much ran through ALL of their sanity.)

So, here we are, bright and early on the Sunday of Labor Day:

Note to others: it is a LOT EASIER to convince people to do something they’re not real sure about when they aren’t FULLY AWAKE.

We embarked.  John brought his waterproof camera apparatus.  We didn’t make it very far, but we sure had fun!

I’m not sure if I’ll ever get my husband on a paddleboard again.

And, yes, I’m wearing a “fanny pack.”  It is actually a “water bottle holder,” and when it is 95 degrees out, you need a “water holder,” preferably one that gets the water closeish to your mouth, so you don’t have to bend over and potentially fall off to get it.

My Mom took to the SUP like a duck to water:

All in all, it was fun, even though my poor, dear husband couldn’t really walk the rest of the day.  (That’s what tequila at Tower 7 is for.)

*All pictures were taken by John Beausang.  The awesome fanny-pack water holder is also his.