Sunday, March 18, 2012

Marathon SUP

Marathon SUP from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.



St Patricks Day seemed fitting for a marathon paddle. Matt Cesmat, Rob Cornwell, and I launched at the northern end of Lake Norman at 7am and paddled 27.2 miles south to the other end.





We never left the water or our boards, although we stopped several times to eat & rest. Total time was just over 7 hours. As far as we know, we were the first to stand up paddle across Lake Norman's entire length north/south. It turned out to be a beautiful day with almost no wind. When some light puffs came up, they were in our face out of the south instead of the forecasted northerly light wind we thought we would have at our backs. Saw some interesting sights - ospreys and their nests, island with houses, and a real helicopter dock (in the video).

Big thanks to Matt for scouting out the course and launching spot...and to his son Nick for dropping us off at the launch. I'm very grateful to have shared the experience and accomplishment with Matt and Rob. It was a long and tough paddle, but fun and a great way to see parts of the lake I've never seen before.














The day after was another beautiful day with no rest. Spent the afternoon with the family on bikes and SUP boards. We went out to dinner on the water by boat. My beautiful bride drove the boat while I SUP surfed its wake 2.5 miles all the way to the restaurant nonstop! Talk about some serious leg burn.




Wrapped up the weekend barefoot on the boat at sunset.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sure Beats SeaWorld

Love this video. Title of this post taken from the end of the video. Watch how the dolphin's head moves along with the paddle stroke. Great use of the GoPro camera....

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Lake Is My Gym

Yeah, I know...a cheap copy of "The Gorge is My Gym". It's more of a testimony to just getting outdoors as well as a shout out to that great web site.

In the last 10 days, as if I was in the Gorge, I've:
- Had a windsurfing dawn patrol session in warm & strong SW wind while watching the sunrise and still got to work on time that morning.
- Flat water SUP workout
- Downwind SUP workout (paddled a good distance upwind, then back downwind...but the drop off downwinder is certainly possible)
- Single track mountain biking on 14 miles on some of Charlotte's finest trails at the US National Whitewater Center (& located just off the Catawba River which Lake Norman is part of)
- Wrapped it up today with a fun 5.5 windsurf session in strong NW wind.

And...
- If there was more snow this season, we'd be skiing 2.5 hr drive away.
- Waves are 4 hrs+ away. SUP surfed a few weeks ago and might go next weekend.
- Going hiking & camping in the mountains in a few weeks.

If you're really into Hood River, Maui, and the Bay area, then you'll be disappointed in Lake Norman. Otherwise, we've got it pretty good here. It's not epic (although we do get a couple of really epic windsurf days per year here), but it will satisfy most outdoor adventure enthusiasts and multi-sport athletes. I haven't been in a gym in close to 15 years.

Skip the gym, use the lake.
(With apologies to Temira!)

P.S. I've still never been to Hood River. That might have to change in 2012.


A fun windsurf day on the lake last year...




A pic from a laid back summer day on the lake...



A couple of pics apres trail riding at the US National Whitewater Center - River's Edge Bar & Grill patio and one of the tallest climbing walls on the east coast...