Hi I am very new to sup and have been reading the forums with great interest (my wife says its all I do!!!) and would value your opinion to this newbie.

I am not the smallest guy at 5'10 and 125 kgs (its not all muscle yet) and have bought a Naish Nalu 11'6 cause it floats me well. The comments on here helped that decision .

Mostly when I SUP is on the Wonny (Woronora River) in southern Sydney which is North/south facing and gets some wind. Naturally I need to go up and come back and the other day I got caught with a wind shift from south east to north east at 30 k/hr. The question is in this circumstance is their a wind speed that I would be mad to go out in as at some stage I will need most likely to be SUPing into the wind?

Any advice appreciated.

doggie said...

Its windy

doggie you rude pri-k how about a welcome first up

If your paddling on a river and there's no white caps go for it.
It will be a workout into the wind but if you want to look like
Lacey go for it



Hang on come to think of it you don't want to look like Lacey

PS,Lacey you can bash me next time I see ya

ShireSUP said...

Hi I am very new to sup and have been reading the forums with great interest (my wife says its all I do!!!) and would value your opinion to this newbie.

I am not the smallest guy at 5'10 and 125 kgs (its not all muscle yet) and have bought a Naish Nalu 11'6 cause it floats me well. The comments on here helped that decision .

Mostly when I SUP is on the Wonny (Woronora River) in southern Sydney which is North/south facing and gets some wind. Naturally I need to go up and come back and the other day I got caught with a wind shift from south east to north east at 30 k/hr. The question is in this circumstance is their a wind speed that I would be mad to go out in as at some stage I will need most likely to be SUPing into the wind?

Any advice appreciated.

Welcome to Seebreeze. Your hooked now.
Joining Seebreeze is like starting at a new school. Some people will be helpful and accommodating and some will feel you gotta earn ya stripes. I am from the former camp.

My advice:
1. Check wind/weather forecasts. I use weather channel app on my iPad and Seebreeze is good for winds.
2. Find out as many entry points to the river as possible e.g. Boat ramps,etc which would offer protection from varied wind direction.
3. Check out google maps.

I'm 125kg & 6'2 so I hear ya.

For me, if it's blowing a howling southerly I jump in at Rose Bay.
If its blowing a NEaster I paddle at Frenchmans,Yarra & Congi (wave to the nude sunbathers) at La Perouse.
Off shore I jump in at Brighton.

Welcome to the Breeze.. .. SUP'ing and wind don't go that well together unless you're going down wind.. Find spots that are protected fom it.

You should check out the post on the gear review section of the forum about different ways to paddle..

DJ

Thank you for the kind welcome and advice - even Doggie! At the said 5'10 and 125 kgs and my other passion is boxing 4 days a week I think I can take a few hits

I am not sure what Lacey looks like but i might need to work up to something just short of white caps

Scotty being a big local, does that mean when you jump in a say Frenchmans you paddle back or have a back up crew?

Cheers

Ok, actually its me whom should have looked at my google maps first, when you say you jump in at Frenchmans or rose Bay for that matter, i take it you do some sort of circular course and return to the same spot, rather than a downwinder if thats the correct terminology?

Thanks Scotty will do

Hi ShireSUP and welcome

I live very close to the Wonny as well. I have had it breeze there but have not been caught out by wind as yet. Another good protected location is Swallow Rock at Grays Point. Paddle from there to Royal National Park (Audley) or the other way towards Bundeena. Paddling agianst the wind is hard yakka. Select a location determined by the wind direction by checking maps. I was trying to paddle across Port Hacking in about a 20 - 25 knot southerly. Was going nowhere so just laid down and prone paddled about 1.5kms. So if you do get caught out lay down and you at least get back to your car. Stronger the 20 - 25 knots I don't know what you would do. Some of the other guys would have tips. See you on the local waterways I expect. cheers

Haha Scotty I am not that challenged!!! I figured you weren't suping from the bay to the Harbour.

Thanks bigmc, you won't miss me I will be the big bloke on the naish nalu.c

G'day Shiresup
Paddling into the wind is like riding a bike uphill
Paddling with the wind is like riding a bike downhill.
Like cycling when you first start out you will aviod
uphill routes but as you gain experience you will seek out
challenging routes and conditions.
Before you know it you will be looking at the mountains and thinking
"Yeah, I can do that."