Sunday, September 21, 2008

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.

No comments: