Stand up Paddle Boarding in Fort Lauderdale November 5, 2010

Paddles and Boards Inc. has started its operation by founding the first Paddleboarding Club in Florida. Our members have enjoyed the professional and courteous service during our outings, demos, private lessons and eco tours.
Our Commitment is to continue to operate with the same level of personal care and safety by introducing the fastest growing new water sport in the world to the city of Fort Lauderdale. Our goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle and build an active community. By making this sport available to the masses, we will allow our participants to enjoy a magical experience referred to as “Walking on Water”.
The benefits, which are available to a much larger demographic of people in comparison to other water sports, are cardiovascular health, a strong core workout, relaxation and a total balance of mind and body.
LESSONS
Paddles and Boards has been providing paddle boarding lessons and free demos and tours in South Florida since 2008. We are also the organizers and creators of the only Florida Paddle Boarding Club with approx. one hundred members and growing. P&B Inc. offers lessons which will give our clients an excellent foundation into the sport and teach them the skills needed to get started. Our introductory classes will provide our clients with a basic understanding of:
Safety Get familiar with equipment
Paddle length Pick up and carry paddleboard
Basic Paddle stroke Basic Paddle turn
Paddle on knees How to stand up
Where to stand up Parallel stance
Paddle standing up Proper stroke
Control board direction Using paddle to keep stable
Using paddle to keep from falling Step back on tail lift nose
Sweeping strokes on one side Front side turn
Back side turn
Instructors
The company is fully insured, and maintains the highest reputation in facilitating healthy, positive and safe paddle boarding experiences for the customers. All instructors have been well trained and have the experience to responsibly care for adult s and children.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stand up paddle surfing (SUP), or in the Hawaiian language Hoe he'e nalu, is an emerging global sport with a Hawaiian heritage. The sport is an ancient form of surfing, and reemerged as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of students, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint, increasing visibility of what was going on around them - such as incoming swell. To begin with, this started with using a one-bladed paddle, whilst standing on a normal length surfboard. The popularity of the modern sport of SUP has its origination in the Hawaiian Islands. In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards, and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. This is where the term "Beach Boy Surfing", another name for Stand Up Paddle Surfing, originates. [1]
The sport benefits athletes with a strong 'core' workout. SUP'ing is popular at warm coastal climates and resorts, and is gaining in popularity as celebrities are sampling the sport, and cross-over athletes are training with SUP. SUPs have been spotted around the globe, anywhere where there is easy access to safe waters, as well as in the surfing lineups of the world.
The first "modern" surfer to bring Stand Up Paddle Surfing out of Hawaii and onto mainland USA was Vietnam veteran, Rick Thomas. In 2000, Rick - on a 11ft Muñoz board, and with a Leleo Kinimaka paddle - introduced California to the new sport. [2].
Surfers have converted because of the versatility of the new sport. Stand up paddle boarding offers surfers the ability to catch more waves in a set, as well as offering a better view of incoming sets.
New custom SUP board prices range from US$600 to US$1500, and most use glass-reinforced plastic construction using epoxy resin that is compatible with the expanded polystyrene foam used in the core. The boards are generally longer than 9 feet (3 m), and up to 12 feet (4 m) or more in length, with features such as padded decks and concave hulls; they generally have one or three surfboard-style fins in the stern for tracking.
As of October 3, 2008, the US Coast Guard now classifies SUPs as vessels and as a result SUP riders are obliged to wear a personal flotation device when paddling in certain areas.[3] Whether this will affect the continued take up of stand up paddling in the USA remains to be seen. The Canadian Coast Guard has implemented similar rules, however SUPer's are only required to have a PFD with them, they don't have to wear them.

Official Website: http://www.PaddlesandBoards.com