Nice winter swell at Shoreham SUP

Early morning winter SUP at Shoreham was good.  The waves were small the Pines but there was a nice swell at Zappas with some good waves rolling in.

Egg and bacon sandwich and coffee at the Merricks Store on the way home was really good.

Zappa's SUP session - nice waves and no wind & Aspendale Fliteboard #FB18

I finally got back on my standup paddleboard after a long period of resting both sore elbows - and it was a good one.

Surfers at The Pines, Shoreham, 7:30am

I paddled across to Zappas slowly testing out my arms.  There was a little discomfort but I felt OK. 

The waves at Zappas were small to medium size and surprisingly easy to catch.  There was no wind so the takeoffs were smooth.

I logged 10 waves with a total of 1,461 wave ride distance.  The longest ride was 60 seconds and 273m, almost to the beach.

It was so good to be surfing again!

Aspendale Fliteboard (#FB18)

I had my Fliteboard with me but decided to dodge the reefs at low tide and instead stopped at Aspendale on the way home for a 30 minute session on the Flow 1300 wing.  I did a tour up to Parkdale Sailing Club then back to the Gnotuk Ave beach houses. 

I covered 12.73km in 35 minutes and only used 50% of the battery. The Flow wing is more efficient that the Cruiser 1100.

Standup Paddle Boarding at Thirteenth beach - cool and punchy waves

Headed for the 13th Beach on the West Coast for a change of location with Mike. The waves were much bigger and punchy than the breaks around Shoreham and I found the SUP to be more tippy in the open ocean. 

There was a good rip so getting out the back was not too difficult. There were some surfers - they were quite spread out.

I caught some really nice waves that were fast and powerful.

I had some big wipeouts too, losing my paddle one.  I was looking around for it in the whitewash for a while before I spotted it washed up on the beach.

Stopped for a nice beer at the Bells Beach Brewery in Torquay on the way home.

Coles Bay SUP and kayak tour

Tasmania kitesurfing trip Day 1.

There wasn't any wind for kitesurfing on Friday afternoon so we headed to Coles Bay and hired SUPs and a double kayak from Freycinet Adventures to do a short tour around Honeymoon Bay in Freycinet National Park.  

The water is clear and the granite peaks on the Freycinet Peninsula provide a dramatic back drop.  There was some wind as we paddled across, some on a SUP for the first time. 

The wind dropped for our return journey and a thunderstorm brewed up to the South.

More photos

Kai Lenny visits The Zu Boardsports

I met Kai Lenny when he visited Melbourne and stopped by at The Zu Boardsports in St Kilda.  Kai is the 2012 SUP racing world champion at the age of 20, which is a remarkable achievement.

It was great to hear him talk about his water sports, including Stand Up Paddleboard surfing (SUP), windsurfing, kitesurfing and big wave surfing.  Kai said the doesn't really have a favourite, he just loves to be on the water.

He is also involved is SUP board development with his relationship with Naish, who also sponsor him.

Kai talking at The Zu Boardsports

Kai was certainly popular with the many local Melbourne SUPers, kitesurfers and windsurfers who came to meet him, including some youngsters getting into windsurfing.

Kai is based in Maui, but travels with world to compete and do the watersports he loves.

Here are some inspiring video of Kai in action.

Kitesurfing Off of Icebergs and SUPing Tidal Waves in Alaska

Kai Lenny's 4 in 1: surf, stand up, windsurf, kitesurf in one day !

See also

• Kai Lenny - Kitesurfing Handbook