RickM

About

I did my BCU stars at Raven's Ait back in the day - and also my RYA windsurfing certificate at Thorpe Park - and have always enjoyed water-sports but never managed to get my own kit - so it's only been a holiday thing that i've dabbled with since being a kid. Then i tried paddle boarding on holiday and was hooked straight away. The fact that everything packed down into a bag that could be stored easily and thrown into the car and carried down to a river, lake or beach also made it attractive - so i bought the cheapest board that i could find that seemed like reasonable quality - and after half a dozen outings on the Thames around Richmond and Kingston on my own i stumbled across AquaPaddle - and that was that! I started off with a Wave 'Woody' 11' All-Round SUP - which seemed pretty good for a basic board - and at £300 for the complete package with board, fin, leash, paddle, pump and bag - was a bit of a bargain. The board had a 'wood grain' look - which i liked - plus a cargo net and go-pro mount and 'D' rings for attaching a kayak seat if i wanted to do that - so seemed like it had a lot going for it. They even threw in a waterproof phone case when i gave them a nice review! The 3 piece aluminium paddle that came with it was fine - but a bit too heavy and too flexible for regular longer paddles - so i upgraded that for doing the 5K AquaPaddles to a 1 piece carbon paddle from Andrew Ainsworth in Twickenham. That's been a real game-changer - and got me thinking about upgrading my board to something stiffer, longer, thinner and faster! However, struggling against the wind a couple of times at Island Barn Reservoir over the winter months also got me thinking about windsurfing again - so in upgrading my board i decided to go for a Fanatic Fly Air 10'8" WindSUP that can be used as a paddle-board when there's no wind - and a windsurfer when there's too much for paddling! I also ordered a Neris Smart Pro S - hybrid folding kayak - so i can use that on the Thames if it's too windy for paddle-boarding to be much fun - and it can be set up as a single or a double-seater kayak - so i can also do the AquaPaddles with my wife or one of my daughters in the warmer months! The furthest i've paddle-boarded so far is 10K - which took me just under 2hrs - but I quite fancy the idea of paddling somewhere for a whole day and then packing everything up and coming back home on the train! ; ) RickM