When the wind and waves dry up, as they inevitably do during the UK’s summer, what do wave starved stand up paddlers (or surfers for that matter) get up to? Easing the boredom levels and getting water time is key to keeping busy whilst everyone waits for the next bout of swell to swing in.
One of the ways to keep your stoke levels going is grab a stand up paddle board and do something a bit different with it. Now don’t get us wrong, we appreciate there are lots of surfers who won’t go anywhere near a SUP (or has that changed recently – wink?) so maybe heading off on a flat water jaunt is a goer? Or perhaps you’re open to ripple riding on a SUP. If not what about bungee SUPing?
What’s bungee SUPing we hear you ask? Simply put you grab a length on around 8mm thick bungee – something like 20m+ in length. Then attach the bungee to a fixed object either in water (like a marker post) or or attach it to something that allows the rider to travel across the water such as pontoon to pontoon in a mariner (as long as the powers that be allow it). Pull it taught – probably by hauling it back. Then use the bungee recoil to propel you forwards.
The longer the bungee the longer the ride, but the further (and longer) it takes to pull the tension back on. Still, it’s a fun way to pass the time, gives an impression of gliding and riding on swell (you can even carve) and in most cases, you can get a passenger on board as you can see from the attached pics.
If you want ultimate comfort then attaching a waterski/wake handle will help but you can just use a loop tied onto the end of the bungee. Super fun is what we think!. You could try it with a skimboard, or even your trusty surfboard if you’re happy wake style starting. But bungee SUP is probably the easiest to access.
For more articles like this check out NCW’s blog –