That's not street slang, but the acronymn for Stand-Up Paddleboarding, which is what Justin and I tried for the first time this past Saturday. It was a bit of a muddled affair but we thoroughly enjoyed the water-based activity. Here's how it played out:
We headed out bright and early Saturday morning to Hammerman Beach over at the
Gunpowder Falls State Park, about 20 minutes north of Baltimore. The park itself seemed pretty nice but we found the beach area (it's situated right on the Bay) to be lacking compared with
Betterton Beach. Yeah, we're biased.
The company we did the SUP lesson and rental was
Ultimate Watersports. They offered a good price for an hour-long lesson and hour rental ($40). But we had Mother Nature to contend with, who decided after weeks of dry, hot weather she would rain down hard with impressive thunderstorms. Luckily, there was a a two-hour lull that allowed us to venture forth on the water!
I know, I know, these are low-quality photos! Major fail on my part for not checking that my camera had batteries in it! But as you can see, this marvelous sport involves one paddleboard (like a sufboard but longer and wider) and a long paddle (see
how to get started here). You start out kneeling on the board and then push yourself up to a standing position. Yes, it takes balance and we both wiped out (curses that I couldn't get footage of that!). But once you get your "paddle legs," you can enjoy the board moving over the water. I think of it as kayaking on steroids!
