I have been watching the SUP thing with interest for a while and planning to give it a try. Then my mate turned up with a brand new Oxbow 11' on a perfect glassy 3-4ft morning.
I helped him set it up and wax it and found he had 2 paddles! Then I thought of my 12 foot Tandem surfboard that I made to take my kids out on. I wonder if that will work?
I already had the boat loaded for a trip to a secluded sand bar so we threw in Dave's new board, paddles and my Tandem and a young mate with his 6' shortboard.
It was picture perfect peeling 200m+ left and rights with deep channels. The tide had started to rise so it was pretty nice, not hollow spitting tubes like it can be in low tide and a solid swell.

Boards in the water. Clear, glassy, sunny.... could be some exotic tropical paradise.....



Here is a smaller 3 footer as we got ready to leave the boat:



Dave paddles off into the line up. He was not a complete novice like me:



And goes for a small one to warm up:



Thats it. I gotta get out there.
It took me a while to feel comfortable on the 12' x 25.5" Tandem. It floats me very well but felt a bit unsteady to start with, especially when standing still or trying to swing around for a wave. It glides beautifully and surfs a wave surprisingly well from the tail.

After an 1 - 1/2 hours or so Dave said he was stuffed and gave me his Oxbow to try while he went back to the boat and took a few snaps. At 30" wide it is a lot easier to stand still on and surfs very well. Here is one of the medium waves. Lochie was the only other surfer within miles :







Paddling back out. This is the best part of SUP 'cause this is a long ride and normally it is a long hard slog back to the lineup.



I think I may be hooked on this SUP thing. I can see it opening up a lot of fun on less than ideal surf days. And the body workout factor is definitely up there. I can see myself cruising on the inlet on onshore days for a workout for sure.