for the landlocked

I don't have as much experience on a surfski as most on this forum and I don't have ready access to runners I can catch. But this morning I went out to paddle and forgot my hrm and just paddled. No concern for speed/distance/heart rate just me, alone, on the river. It was transcendent. I love going fast, I really do. But this morning that wasn't the goal at all, a guy alone on a river in the early morning on a Sunday was.

I have SAS ( surfski acquisition syndrome) pretty bad. I'm always looking for something to make me faster, more efficient. As I just sat there alone this morning, I realized that although there is nothing wrong with those goals, if you can't stop and SEE what these boats allow you see, you are missing out. Missing out bigtime.

Tomorrow I will likely worry about speed and my heart rate, but today, no. Not interested.

Awesome! As a lurking newb as we speak (got my eye on a used S18S as we speak as a possibility) I can get behind both aspects of paddling. I've been doing traditional poly sea kayaks so far (2.5 years or so) and it's a mix - coming from terrible rec boats which I rapidly abandoned - I LOVeD the speed - the glide - whoooosh! But just kicking back between my love of speed is awesome

Pity I also am lanocked - those downwind videos that have sucked me in in part - at times people are just cruising along at 7-15mph with little or no effort - enjoying the scenery AND the speed!

Take care!

Nice pic Sandy.

If your lake has boats you can ride their wake for practice. Lots of fun and it makes people wonder what you're doing.

The S18S might not be the ski you would want for flatwater. Stellar makes great skis so you may want to consider one of the sleeker ones.

This is a river, between two dams so no through traffic, only a small number of motorboats.

As for boats, what you see is the front of a NELO ocean ski. 21 feet long less than 18 inches wide of pure carbon goodness weighing less than a case of beer. I am, for now, good for boats.

I wasn't commenting on your Nelo. It sounds great.

It is great, really really great.

Did I say it was really great? No offense to Stellar or Epic, they make fine boats, some that I might even buy in the future. But I'm comfortable with ICF boats.

I'm with you. I live in central PA and the closest thing we get to runners is if the wind is just right on the river near the damn. On the rare occasion we get some rolling 2ft but often they are so close together you bridge them with a 21ft ski.

The rest of the time, its flat water and wanting to go fast.

It's kind of eerie how similar our photos look! Yours is amazing!

As for a previous suggestion of surfing motorboat wakes, I'd really like to try this but I don't know anyone with a motorboat. And if you randomly sprint to catch the wake of some rare boat they get a little squirrely, they either stop ( to figure out what the hell you are doing) or gun it to get away from the crazy guy in the long kayak.

I think it would be great to have someone with a motorboat to film me from the side ( the go pros only show so much) or to intentionally make surfable wakes who would slow down if you fell off of it, but alas I don't know of anyone who has a boat or who would be willing to do it. I'm assuming the big pontoon boats would be ideal, but most of the boats I see on the river are of the flat and light fishing variety. I'd be willing to pay someone but I have no idea where one might find someone willing to do it.

Find or hire someone with a drone. Your video will be much better then anything you'd be able to get from a boat.

My list of people with a drone with a good enough camera who are willing to fly it 5 feet over water is exactly as extensive as my list of people with motorboats.

I suspect that hiring a drone pilot would be easier, but almost certainly costlier as well as I suspect the pilot would want to be in a boat as well.

If there were low traffic roads ontop of the riverbanks where I paddle I could get my son to film me on his bike. I think this is doable for a short stretch, so I will look into that.

I know someone with a wakeboard boat! This is gonna happen

Wait - I need a ski first lol

I went to a watersports festival where they had a wakeboard trials. I brought my boat to see if we could come to some agreement. I left in on the racks ( they were very good wakeboarders and the line to try it was pretty long). I've seen people surf off the bow wake of barges but I would imagine they would not be super receptive of it.

At the watersports festival I did, however, get to make a fool of myself on a flyboard. Worth trying if you get the chance.

sandysan wrote: It's kind of eerie how similar our photos look! Yours is amazing!

I paddle in the morning a lot before work. It's a little dinky lake with only a .5 mile stretch before to many weeds but its good for working on technique and sprints. The best part is that I get to see that sunrise every other .5 mile run!

I have three larger lakes and a river I go to on the weekends. Only two of them allow bigger boats (the river is only deep enough for small fishing boats). These bigger boats are usually pulling skiers and going way to fast. Would be nice to get some slower moving people just cruising to try and draft. Oh well, guess I'll just keep grinding out the miles.

Hey gotta love your guys enthusiasm. If your out in so cal (Ventura) look me up. I can take you out in the harbor. No need for boat wakes here, (They'er still fun though).

Oh cool! i've got a sunset/ sunrise picture too!
This is my serenity.

Oh just rub it in!!!

Yeah thanks for being sooooo nice to share your horrible views!

This was me last year on the same lake in the morning. I posted this one before but its a cool pic. This guy was taking pics of the mist off the lake and asked me if I wanted one.

We have a few lakes, actually reservoirs, around here which are actually a real treat to paddle on. Unfortunately they have a lot of restrictions. One has a 30 day boat quarantine due to Quagga mussels. The other has a 48" min width and your restricted to the swim beach. Fortunately it is a no alcohol recreation area, hence, nobody there. They haven't payed much attention to the kayak rules when I've been there. Their lax attitude also means the lake is infested with Quagga muscles now.
Nice pictures by the way.