By Em Shanblatt
This past week, I traveled far away from my luxurious mountain home in Asheville to a place quite foreign to me and my river comforts…the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
I began my adventures in Ocean City, Maryland, working with DelMarVa Board Sport Adventures. The day of my arrival was one of the windiest days yet this season. In a desperate love for stand up paddleboarding and a deep seeded desire to make the clinic work SOMEWHERE, myself and Janis from the shop drove around Fenwick Island searching for the ideal wind-blocked location.
We held the clinic the following evening and it was a HUGE success. Many women showed up to have their first shot on a stand up board, and several more intermediate paddlers came as well to delve into harder techniques. We had tons of fun, and certain hooked lots of women on SUP!
Check out pictures from this event HERE!
I spent the morning before the clinic hanging out on the beach, soaking up some rays, and getting trashed in the overhead shore break. Leaving with a decent sunburn, I felt like I had achieved a true beach trip!
The following day I headed to beautiful Hampton Virginia, just outside of Richmond to Appomattox River Company. These kind folks also welcomed me with open arms, and the killer combination of GAP/BIC was able to introduce another flock of people to SUP!
Again with mild wind creating some interesting situations, we pushed through and held the clinic at Huntington Beach on the James River. STUNNING.
One participant said “Emily totally rocked the paddle boarding session in Newport News! She is such an awesome instructor…now I need a paddle board to go with all the kayaks. Thanks for yet another addiction :-)”….YAY!!! MORE TOYS!!!
The sunset post clinic was un-real!
The Yakima Trailer (which you can read about here) made transporting the fleet of boards 1,200 miles a breeze!
For more information on Stand Up Paddleboarding and how to learn this awesome new sport, check out our SUP website!
