I have been SUPing (“Stand Up Paddling”) for about 5 months and have a Elua Makani board (11’x32”x41/2’).  The learning process was a bit of a spectacle as I continually fell off the board, even in flat water no wave conditions.  I am sure I have provided hours and days of endless entertainment to the tourists and locals in Maui around Launiupoko, Puamana and break wall beaches.  Gradually I found my footing, gained my balance, learned to paddle and even caught some ankle high waves.   I was determined to learn how to catch waves for my own enjoyment and frankly the safety of other surfers around me.  I began watching SUP instructional videos produced by C4 Waterman and a number of YouTube videos, probably all of them.  As my skills developed it was only a matter of time before I began riding “down the line” instead of just straight towards the shore. 

The SUP experience is a recreational pursuit, an athletic sport and an expression of individual form.  One thing that bothered me about my lack of progress in the sport was my inability to reproduce some of the moves that I saw people making in the videos and my own difficulty in learning them.  These included bottom turns, turns off the lip, basic wave carving and also a decided bias towards waves that broke right, I surf normal with my left foot forward.  It occurred to me that perhaps the length and size of my board could be the inhibitor of my ability to pull off some of the more advanced moves.

It was during some wave talk with a local friend and fellow SUP enthusiast that I was encouraged to contact Ed Angulo about a new board.  He knew Ed and his family and told me Ed had a solid reputation in the community shaping and making excellent boards.  I looked up Ed’s website and found his phone number.  Ed answered the phone on my first attempt to call him and listened as I explained my circumstances.  He immediately suggested that I try his 9’8×32’’x41/4’’(?) SUP board.  We arranged to meet the next day and he generously allowed me to try the board all day.  I took the board to Puamana and spent about two and half hours with it.  The first two hours were very challenging for me as I started to relive my original experiences, falling frequently and trying to learn the board.  The sweet spot was further forward for me and the paddling techniques changed as a shorter board is much more responsive to turning on single strokes.  The next half hour revealed that there was potential for me on this board as I caught a few waves and began to maneuver comfortably as though I were on my own board.  Time ran out for me and I had to bring the board in for the day.

I called Ed and we talked about my trials and the frustration of “just starting to get it” when the day came to end.  He graciously offered to extend my use of the board for another day.  I thanked him and returned to Puamana the following day, March 16, 2011, and entered the water just after noon.  The conditions were very difficult as the wind was blowing hard and the waves were choppy.  For the next three hours I paddled and surfed and began to learn what I could do on the Angulo 9’8”” and it was a blast.  The board was so responsive and the moves I saw people doing in the videos were rapidly becoming part of my own techniques.  I could easily go down the left side, turn quickly in time to catch waves that I could never have caught before, carved several times on the same wave to make the ride more fun and last longer and paddled out over breaking white water that previously would have knocked me off my board.  It was much easier to stretch my right leg back and reach the rear fin, as the distance on the board is shorter, and place my foot on the left or right rail depending on the direction I wanted to take down the wave or to cut back.  Some of the other surfers were actually commenting on my ability to get out over the breaking waves and stay out in such rigorous conditions for three hours without coming in once.  I weigh about 220 pounds and at 50 it is not like I am an athlete. 

I literally began to feel the board almost become a part of me like an extension of my legs and the balance I could achieve was uncanny.  I came down a few really harsh waves that broke all around me which normally would have sent me into the water for a nasal enema but on this board I was able to ride it out.  One time the nose of the board literally dived into the water and submerged fully for two or three seconds and I was able to pull it out and remain padding.  As my body and mind adjusted to the board I got the feeling you get when you have owned and ridden a board for several months; I couldn’t believe some of the things I was able to pull off and survive without getting wet.  This board is incredible, light weight, highly maneuverable and very forgiving.  In my case, having no surfing back ground and less than six months of experience with an 11’ board, it was challenging to get started.  I doubt that anyone who has spent more time SUPing or surfing would have to go through this same acclimation period, about four hours to really get comfortable on it. 

           There is a lot of information to take under consideration when choosing a SUP board, especially your second one, but ultimately it comes down to the feel and experience you have on the waves.  I leave the technical aspects of rocker, dimensions, volume, materials and manufacturing process up to the pros that have been doing this for generations, more than twenty years.  What I know is this board has added a whole new dimension to my SUP experience and I am looking forward to exploring the further capabilities it has to offer me, currently only limited by my developing skills.  This is a board that enhances my time in the waves now and will grow with me for the foreseeable future.

David