Adventure SUP – McConks style

Adventure paddling can be anything you want. It doesn’t have to mean going all Bear Grylls, eating worms and living feral for days on end. It doesn’t even need to be a long duration. A few hours will often suffice in the right area.

Most new stand up paddle board owners will be content during those first few outings simply paddling along not straying that far from their original launch spot. Foundational skills will be developed at this point with progressing building blocks placed on top during the coming days. Once this is complete, and competence reached, however, what next?

This is where adventure SUP comes in. At first, it might be about investigating what’s round that next bend you’ve been eyeing up. Or perhaps circumnavigating that rock formation will be the choice. It mightn’t be covering any distance at all, instead choosing to paddle across to the opposite bank and set up camp there – content to just take it all in with a brew in hand.

For those able elongated journeys covering serious mileage is certainly doable aboard a SUP – this call to arms has been heard plenty of times. Search online and you’ll come across plenty of stories of stand up paddle boarders challenging themselves with distance and endurance paddles. The iconic Yukon 1000 is a case in point.

Stand up paddle board versatility is what makes these epic and mellower adventure paddles easy to accomplish. That upfront bungee cord, which mightn’t have seemed that important at the start of your SUP journey, suddenly reveals its usage for transporting paraphernalia like cooking utensils or sleeping gear for overnighters. As a board you’ve learned on you find the potential for SUP adventures with the same piece of equipment. There aren’t many other activities which can say the same.

As 2020’s summer of SUP surges forward there’ll no doubt be plenty of opportunity for paddling adventures aplenty. All you’ve got to do is decide what type of adventure floats your boat – or should that be board?