Stand and Deliver

I am not trying to pull a fast one. This is not the white lie surfers use to go skive off work. This was a real board meeting.

Chatting as we paddled the canals of the V&A Waterfront towards the One&Only hotel, it was a unique and enjoyable way to explore an urban waterway.

I confess. I was riding a Standup Paddleboard (SUP). And guess what? I enjoyed it. Cue One: Groan of dismay from the purist gallery. Cue Two: Hand slaps forehead in exasperation. Cue Three: Therapist frowns and scribbles in notebook.

Don't get me wrong, I am not about to trade in my quiver of surfboards for a behemoth as long as a minibus.

Don't get me wrong, I am not about to trade in my quiver of surfboards for a behemoth as long as a minibus. But what a cool way of seeing the Waterfront, from the water, while getting some exercise.

The cool thing about the SUP is its flexibility. I may not invest in the time to ride waves with one, but flat water riding has its merits. It was the third time I have ridden a SUP, and it couldn't have been more different from my first two experiences.

In my first tryout, I swopped my longboard for a SUP in the backline at Muizenberg Corner on a 2-3 foot day. I fell off every time I stood up. I wiped out every time I tried to catch a wave. It was a disaster.

I fared marginally better on my second SUP excursion. A  friend took me on an exhilarating but exhausting 10km downwind dash down Verolenvlei in a howling northwester. Starting near the bridge on the outskirts of Elands Bay, we paddled into the middle and ripped along with the wind, riding one foot wavelets along the way. By the time we got to our destination, every muscle I have never used – let along heard of – screamed in pain.

And here was the third: a sedate meander past chic apartments and the grand frontage of the One&Only. Tourists gawped and labourers chuckled as we glided through the smooth, oily waters. Beyond the buildings of the city, Table Mountain loomed. Passing a lock, we realised that the canal is actually above sea level.  

Greg Bertish, member of the national SUP team that competed in the inaugural world championships in February this year, had suggested the meeting, and lent me a 10 foot yellow board and graphite paddle.

He explained how huge the sport is in Australia and the US, and how talented youngsters were being attracted to the SUP in droves. According to the stats in SA, and the evidence in the water, it’s growing fast in South Africa too.

Like it or hate it, the SUP is here to stay.

Rock On

Turns out the City of Cape Town is “between a rock and a hard place” on the issue of opening roads and urban areas for skating. According to Paul Hoffman of The Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa, the National Stake Collective – a NPO set up last year to mediate with government – has been meeting the City to try and get “permission to use certain roads at selected times and under optimal safety conditions for bombing – warning signs, spotters, back-up and safety checks on equipment-apparel of longboarders”. The problem for the city was that when they entered the Design Capital of the World competition, they made an undertaking to be “cool and hip and skateboard friendly”. The city has won for the year 2014. However, Hoffman points out that bike lanes on flat parts of the road in the suburbs were useless to serious skaters. Perhaps positive news is imminent.

Province Walks It

Well done to the WP longboarders who scooped six out of 10 titles at the SA Longboarding Championships at Vic Bay last weekend. The last day was held in thumping 10 foot surf that accounted for nine broken boards.

Random Tweeple

@BTrovato
Ben Trovato, author, columnist and Whipping Boy, also surfs. He lives with angry wife Brenda, incorrigible loinfruit Clive and epileptic hound Julius Seizure.