Paddle boarding

Today I managed to get out on the water- it's been so windy all week that theres no way we'd have even got the boards to the side of the lake.
It was still really windy today and the wind picked up between us parking and getting our wetsuits on- it must have taken us almost 10 minutes to walk from the storage container to the edge of the water.

There was a lesson out when we arrived- I thought they were mental having their first ever paddle boarding experience on a day like today.
Sam was coming in off the lake as we went out and he said the second he'd stood up the wind had caught him and blown him in- and he's a pro!

I was soaked from head to toe just from getting onto the board- I got caught by a wave a tipped in immediately. Thankfully I was only kneeling and the water was only knee deep.

We paddled out against the wind towards the middle of the lake and as the wind picked up some of the waves were over half a meter tall- thats quite impressive for a body of water not connected to the sea. When it's really windy and wavy it's always a bit of an adrenalin rush. I know I know what I'd doing, I can move my weight to keep my balance and if I mess that up I'm a very strong swimmer. Even knowing that with the waves swelling all around you and breaking on the front of the board is a bit scary.
My top tip is to always hit waves head on- they'll tip you off more easily if they catch you sideways.

Tina and I got to the middle and looked back for Karl and he was miles away! We turned the boards around and "surfed" back towards him just as it started to piss down.
It rained for maybe 5 minutes then cleared and the wind died down- so we were all drenched but we did managed to do some stand up paddling and a bit of yoga. I live paddling when it's windy. it's a really good workout and it makes me feel really alive.

Paddle boarding is really calming. you can't think of anything except what you're doing. especially in bad weather. being in the middle of a lake on a floating board makes you feel very small. It helps put life into perspective.