A Full Body Workout
My feet are in the wrong spot, my body position sucks, and my balance gets even iffier every time I take a stroke with this too-short paddle. My time on this wave is limited—in a few moments I’ll be off the board, floating in the runout downstream. But for now I’m having a blast. It’s fun to be a noob again.
I can count the number of times I’ve supped on two hands. The most “notable” paddling I’ve done is across Hingham Harbor to the Island, and that was to climb. So needless to say, standing on a paddleboard on a wave in the middle of a fast flowing river, as Luke and Mickey shout encouragement from the banks, is a new sensation.
On second thought, maybe “new” isn’t quite the right description. This feeling on the wave—where time seemingly slows down as I surf back and forth across this rookie-level bump—is similar to something I experienced whitewater kayaking, a sport I dabbled in several years ago. What’s different is that now I’m standing, my long legs no longer cramped inside a plastic boat. The wife, I think, would enjoy this too.
Sweating profusely on this winter afternoon, I’m almost looking forward to the wave dumping me into the river, briefly enveloping me in a cold embrace until I can scamper back on the board in the calmer runout below. But for now, I’m hanging tough, chuckling at how I doubted Luke’s prediction that this would be a “full body workout.”
Then, just as quickly it began, I’m off. For the rest of the session, we take turns on the wave. It’s a great time filled with good laughs, especially when Mickey, having swapped into a kayak, gets caught on an eddy line and needs to wet exit. I’m looking forward to going back. I just hope Luke remembers to bring me a longer paddle.
