Carmel beach again this afternoon, but a completely different kind of day – it’s cloudy, and it was very windy there. It was fantastic! Dramatic, and turbulent, and beautiful – also, oddly enough, more conducive to lingering. On a sunny day it actually gets glarey after awhile. No glare today, so I was able to walk all the way north on the beach, where it’s directly below the Pebble Beach golf course. You have the beach, and then these bluffs rising sharply out of it, and on top of the bluffs is the course.
I can see a surfer from here. [looks through binoculars] Gosh, the surfer is using a paddle. I didn’t know they did that. It looks like lousy surf – practically flat.
I had heard about people using a paddle on a surfboard before. Wikipedia even has an article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_up_paddle_surfing Looks like fun.
Yes the surfer was standing the whole time. That’s why I got the binocs – it looked so odd. It all looks like fun though.
Stand-up paddling is the new big thing in Southern California. Part of the appeal is that you can do it even when there aren’t any waves. I’m not sure why it’s more popular than kayaking, but it might be that you have a better view standing up, so that you can see where the dolphins or sea lions are and move in for a closer look. Plus, you’re not in the water the whole time (once you get the hang of it, of course, it’s not as easy as it looks) and on the left coast, where the water temperature ranges from cold to very cold, that’s a definite advantage.
Without waves, SUP is about as thrilling as skateboarding in sand.
Kind of like snowboarding on a plain?