Fall Winds

Yes, The Waterturtle is still windsurfing. And yes, The Waterturtle still loves to windsurf. I wish we had wind every day so I could windsurf all the time. But we don't have wind every day...and that's why I SUP...to still be able to get on the water when the wind isn't blowing and to stay in shape.

Now the fall winds are starting to kick in and I've had a couple of good post-work sunset sessions the last two weeks. And the water is still warm. I wore my 1 mil shorty but could have easily gotten away with just boardshorts...in late October no less. The big question - is this a preview of a mild and windy late fall and winter to come? Crossing my fingers.


Thanks to my friend Ron for taking these pics from his dock as I came in from the open channel...





My last session was late this past Tuesday. Incidentally, that night a tornado touched down about 1 mile from our house as the crow flies. Laying in bed, I could hear it through the open bedroom window...a very distant roar. Several homes were damaged and many trees were down...and we lost power. Mother nature brings us her best and her worst in just a matter of hours.

Women Will Drive SUP Growth

See what I mean here...fun SUP social...and more women doing it means more men doing it. We also had 2 kids out there with us.

Low Country SUP

We just spent our 18th wedding anniversary this past weekend in Beaufort, SC. Not to be confused with Beaufort, NC near Morehead City/Atlantic Beach/Emerald Isle....the SC version is pronounced "Beau-fort"...as in "beautiful". The NC version is pronounced "Bo-fort".

It was an awesome weekend highlighted by:
- several very close dolphin encounters while paddling the Beaufort River (see pics and video below).
- stayed at the beautiful Cuthbert House Inn Bed & Breakfast. Owners Jeff and MaryAnne were great hosts and we would definitely stay there again.
- SUP surfed at Hunting Island State Park beach - caught the morning high tide, glassy waist high peaks where I could go left or right. No pics or video but I surfed for 2 hours straight....4-5 surfers were out but there was enough room for everyone to spread out and I pretty much stayed out of their way and still had a great time. I went out again at low tide later in the day and it was flat as a pancake...went for a flat ocean paddle exploration.

Other noteworthy items...
- Hunting Island is unique in that it is covered with a sub-tropical forest that bumps right up against the ocean. There were many trees right on the beach coming out of the sand with their base getting covered at high tide. Very rare on the east coast and it looked more like Costa Rica than South Carolina.
- Beaufort, SC is where many scenes from "Forrest Gump", "The Big Chill", "The Prince of Tides", and "The Great Santini" were filmed

Kris now has her new Tahoe SUP Bliss board, made especially for women. The board is very lightweight and narrower for womens' less than broad shoulders (yet still stable). Her new Kialoa Pipes paddle, also made for women, has a smaller blade and has made a huge difference for her compared to the older, heavier and taller paddle she was using. She no longer has any pain in her wrist and hand like she did using the older paddle.

The dolphin encounters...

Me in front of "The Big Chill" house

The view from the front porch of our bed & breakfast - Cuthbert House Inn

morning coffee on the Cuthbert House Inn porch

Hunting Island lighthouse

Hunting Island lighthouse from the ocean - paddling at low tide

Hunting Island beach with sub-tropical forest right up against the ocean - looks like Costa Rica.

Enjoy the video....tons of dolphin encounter footage...

Low Country SUP from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

The Family That Paddles Together...

Got the entire clan out paddling together as a family now....I wouldn't have predicted that just 2 months ago. My beautiful bride is now hooked and she's paddling with a girlfriend regularly each week (pics to come of her new board/paddle). And our 8 yr old son is now asking to paddle the board by himself. We've been spending more quality time as a family as a result of SUP. Even the family dog is in on the act.