A Family Outing On Our New Rides

Never in my life did I think I would ever own a surfboard. But I do now and I have been trying to learn how to use it for a couple months now. I am essentially a beginner, as is my wife, so we were in the market for beginner friendly SUP boards before we left Utah so we could bring them down with us. We purchased two SUP boards and paddles from oZoboard and have been practicing here in Sayulita but what happened on this particular Saturday certainly made the purchase of our new boards even sweeter.

It was Saturday and what else are we going to do on a hot afternoon but go to the beach. We met our friends, the Cawrses, in the early afternoon with boogie boards, towels and Ashley's 34" oZoboard. (My board was out for repairs but that's another post.) John had brought down their family's 32" and 34" oZoboard SUP boards as well. The moms, Amy and Ashley, headed out for a paddle around the point and quickly disappeared while John took the girls, Alex and Ava, out to play on the 34". Supervised kid play on a surfboard is usual stuff for John but this time he let the girls practice standing and paddling. Playing, paddling and splashing was what I expected and after a while the girls took a rest. After a quick sit, Ava wasn't quite ready to go back in the water but my daughter, Alex, was eager to go again so John took her out with paddle in hand. They got out in the water and Alex was actually paddling, trying so hard to get a board around that is sized for an adult surfer. After a little coaching on how to paddle and get the board to turn around etc she was actually manuvering and damn determined to do it well. John and I let her get some mileage in while we played on the little waves on the other two boards. Before we knew it, Alex was standing up, paddling and going just about wherever she wanted to completely on her own. Not long after that she was lining herself up to ride waves into shore. Crazy!

Alex's skills progressed so quickly that Ashley, aka "Mom", got back on her board and started to ride some small waves as well so she wouldn't be outdone by her 6 year old daughter. Don't get me wrong, Alex wrecked herself a number of times but she shook off the tears and paddled that board right back out with increased determination. oZoboards have a soft outer skin so when she did fall onto or get hit by the board, the skin saved her any real damage. A fantastic feature from a parent's or new surfer's point of view. The question now is what oZoboard will be Alex' first board of her own.

Eventually, both families were out in the water sitting on or riding the oZoboards in the waves. Such a great thing to be able to get off the beach with your friends and family chasing each other around paddling or cheering each other on as the next person paddles into a wave. Very cool and it has given our families a totally new dynamic to coming to the beach. Get off the beach! Get out and paddle! To learn more about oZoboards click on my affiliate link at oZoboard.