DIY $29 SUP paddle

I wanted a back-up "thrasher paddle" that I could abuse on river rocks etc. I went online on e-bay and found a two piece kayak oar on sale for $29 plus $7 shipping. The shaft is aluminum and the paddle is made out of plastic. When I received the paddle I removed the paddle blade from one of the shafts and replaced with a pvc pipe t-connection to create a "T" handle grip. Here are pics of my modified paddle. Note: I'm real short (5'3") so the total shaft length was right size for me. For ave height/taller people you want to make sure that total shaft length will be appropriate for you.

SUPing on the 10' Uli from Uli Boards.

Kristina and I drove to the Taos Junction bridge to test out our new 10' Uli. The weather was nice and sunny and the Rio Grande was actually flowing pretty good. The water level was higher than the last time I was here. The Uli floated really well and was really fast paddling upstream. I was tempted to make a run down the river, but since we weren't expecting the water level to be high enough, we were not properly equipped to go downstream. So we both took turns paddling upstream for awhile and then returning to our launch spot downstream.

Our little puppy Dobby kept a watchful eye on us when we were in the water.

Tech notes on ULI:
Pumping it up was a breeze. I am currently disabled and lost a lot of weight due to chemo-therapy and removal of parts of my pancreas. So now I don't have proper enzymes to break down protein that I consume. (I have colon cancer that metastized to my liver). I am only 87 pounds. My normal weight is 125. Well even with my low energy level, I was able to pump it up really quickly. I'd say less than 10 minutes. Even though the Uli is an inflatable it is not light. Its around 40lbs. I won't complain because its weight is due to its use of very durable materials and rugged construction. Because of my loss of musculature I did have to have help carrying to the launch site (Thanks Kristina). The Uli felt really good in the water it was buoyant and paddled really fast. Manoeuvrability was great, easy to turn around on a dime. The grip deck felt great and was nicely grooved. Of course the pictures show me standing up, but when I get fatigued I paddle sitting down.

Note: One of the main reason why I got interested in doing SUP is because I have had massive surgeries which makes it painful to lie prone on a surfboard. I've already had 4 surgeries. My latest surgery was in March and I was in the hospital for 6 weeks because they removed part of my colon, lower stomach and also cut out parts of my kidney, pancreas and liver. After surgery the doctors claimed that I was 100% cancer free but two months later a CT-scan revealed that the cancer spread to my liver. My last CT-showed a little shrinkage but as for now I have 3 golfball sized tumors in my liver. So after the surgery I've been back on chemo for the past 4 months. Hopefully my next CT-scan will reveal more shrinkage of the tumors.

Checking out our test site.

Today we will check out the river at Orilla Verde.  River report - So I checked out the river and the water level is really low.  Lots of exposed rock and floor at various sections of river.  I'm not sure if a river run will be possible.   Maybe we'll still try it out anyway.

Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that I took out my 9'6" Pope Bisect for a spin in the river.   I launched downstream of the Taos Junction bridge.  I didn't have a shuttle set up so I paddled up stream and cruised back to launch site.  My Pope Bisect was equipped with pontoons attached to the rails to increase buoyancy.  Its an invention I've been working on for the past couple months and I have already submitted a patent so right now its in  "patent pending" status.   The purpose of invention is to allow users of a standard longboard to add buoyancy to allow stand up paddling.   Although this invention is not performance oriented, it will allow surfers to stand up paddle on their longboards without having to rent, borrow, or buy an SUP board.  Right now I'm not revealing photos since its in the  prototyping stage and may include changes for which I may have to make ammendments to patent.

My 10ft Uli SUP board shipped out today!

               

The first picture is the ULI fully inflated and held up by Chris.  In the second picture the ULI is deflated and rolled up to get ready for packing and shipping.  I can't wait to try it out.  Big Mahalos to Jim and Chris at Uliboards for making this happen!