It's give and take.
Jewellery and/or flowers = pick up after DW.

Yep this is perfect DJ great vid!! My only issue is I don't trust or know of a good spot to leave the board with out being locked. Knowing my luck someone would drive past with roof racks and snatch it up before I could blink..
Am thinking my lockable tie downs around the board and around a tree or fence by the beach would work. I guess I just run the risk of some grub damaging it while it's locked.

I've done a fair few solo downwinders, but am lucky enough to live about 400m up the hill from one of the local canals, so depending what the wind direction is, I'll drive to wherever I decide to start and downwind back to the creek mouth and then 3-3.5km paddle along the creek and canal to get home, before riding the pushie back to my car.

It's all good in a northerly, where the creek/canal is mostly downwind too, but it can be a killer in a southerly... the better the downwind run, the stronger the headwind in the canal to get home, and by then I really don't feel like jumping on the bike to ride back to my car. It's better than not paddling (when I don't have anyone else to go with), but also pretty limited where I can start to finish in the creek so I often can't make the most of the wind direction on offer.

Have the thought a lot about options for leaving a board somewhere and how to secure it and came to the same conclusion as Squeeky - either drop board off for start, drive to finish and ride back before paddling, or do the reverse & leave bike where I'll finish (makes most sense to leave the car at whichever end it furthest from home so you're not doubling up with the driving part). All my race boards have an external carry handle, so it's easy to thread a bike/cable lock through to secure it, but if you've only got a recessed handle, you can get a lock that clamps around the leggie attachment point (with legrope off) and can't be opened whilst the cable is threaded through and locked. Haven't yet figured out a good way to secure the paddle so someone can't just pick it up and walk away (haven't tried it on the bike - but my bike riding skill is pretty low - so the less to carry the better)... could maybe get a padlock slightly larger than the shaft to fit the cable lock through, but not big enough to slide the handle out???

I've also paddled with the guy Squeeky mentioned who just leaves his board at the busy beach, and have left mine with it a few times when it's easier than reloading for the car-shuffle. Never had any problems but still wouldn't really be comfortable leaving my board there by itself - it would be nice to be able to trust that people would just leave it there if it's not their own... but unfortunately, all too often these days, this isn't the case.

Let us know how you go - and if you come up with a better idea to secure the paddle, would love to hear it.

Great thread!
I to have been trying to work out a good option as shift worker and often free to paddle when no one else is. Ali I have the board straps so was thinking a good quality bike loop lock and tie it to something but have no idea what to do with the paddle. I'm in bris so my paddles are from sandgate - Redcliffe or in reverse so no life guard towers to keep an eye out for my gear. I think I'll be dropping board off at start then drop car at end then ride back to start as I know I am stuffed after a decent paddle and couldn't see myself then riding 10 or 20km back to car.

What type of locks are people using? Also little worried board could get thrown around a little In high winds tied to a fence or post

I live about 500m from the beach, so I drive my car and leave it at the exit point, ride the bike back home (before I'm too buggered), then carry the board to the beach and then downwind to my car. I sometimes do the car drop off earlier in the day when the wind isn't so bad for the ride home.
This works really well, as the paddling (and a swim after) comes after the hot bike ride and my gear is always secure.
So if you have a mate's house within walking distance of your launch point this would work well for you.

this seems clever...

Cheers for the info sounds like you got it worked out..
My place to the water is open and if the wind is howling for a good DW then I'm walking directly into it which isn't fun at all and the couple times I've done it I've either almost smacked the board into the ground a few times or been stuffed from carrying it and struggled to paddle well afterwards

supallday said..

this seems clever...

Yep, that's the lock I was talking about - picked one up in Cali to secure my board because none of the shops had lockable straps in stock. I use it a fair bit now if I'm leaving the board on the roof overnight at home for an early paddle (after a few boards were stolen off cars in my suburb last year) - just loop the cable around the roof racks and throughout the board lock.

I've found it much easier than the Kanu straps, which I found were more susceptible to corrosion in the salt air (even with a regular spray of WD40 in the lock) and as they got older, the cables and fabric stiffened and they gradually got harder and harder to lock closed. The lock would turn without the strap threaded through, but once the strap was through, it got near impossible to turn the key and I ended up bending a few of the keys and eventually snapping one.

The cable locking system is also great because it's got a combination lock so you don't need to worry about carrying (or losing) a key.

supallday said..

Yep this is perfect DJ great vid!! My only issue is I don't trust or know of a good spot to leave the board with out being locked. Knowing my luck someone would drive past with roof racks and snatch it up before I could blink..
Am thinking my lockable tie downs around the board and around a tree or fence by the beach would work. I guess I just run the risk of some grub damaging it while it's locked.

where is this