After wrapping up the July 4th fireworks tour at 11:00 PM last night. This morning I was on our dock by 5:45 AM sorting all of our La Jolla gear from our Mission Bay gear. By 6:30 I was on my way to La Jolla to unload two dozen paddles, 30 PFD's, 20 seat backs, and 8 kayaks that we had borrowed for the big fireworks tours on the 3rd and 4th. At 7:20 AM I had the truck and trailer unloaded and decided that I better try to scrub the bird poo off the truck before driving clients a ride this morning, so I stopped at a car wash to give the truck a quick scrub. By 7:45 AM I dropped off the kayak trailer and loaded five standup boards, paddles, and leashes in the truck so I could take them to the SUP lesson scheduled this morning. At 8:00 I helped Mike and Paul roll out the store and greet my 4 standup lesson students and 9 people scheduled for the SK-1 kayaking lesson. By 9:45 AM (already half way into what I expected to be an 8 hour work day) I was already on the far side of Santa Barbara cove doing a SUP lesson with an energetic group of students.
The lesson went well but the strong wind that was already blowing made things a lot more work for everyone than I would have preferred. We paddled upwind to the leeward side of the bay and worked on basic turning strokes. I was wowed by a 12 year old girl in the lesson that picked things up surprisingly easy and made some of the adults in the group look clumsy. Once again my belief held true that for many kids they don't need instruction so much as good gear. I kept to the Laird 11 which is the least stable of our SUP boards leaving the more stable boards for the students. Everyone did well despite the wind and we finished the lesson with a down wind run back to the truck. There was no time to waste as I had to get back to work the store till what turned out to be about 7:00 PM. Nearly a 13 hour work day to follow the 12, 15, and 14 hour work days I had the three days prior. No worries though I have a short day tomorrow... only a 9 hour day.
The Laird 11 is about as small a board as I'd care to use. It would perform better for someone in the 130-145 lb range. Just like the '11-6' and '12', this 11 foot board has the same flat shape that is great for flat water cruising but not so good if you're going to be trying to roll over rough water. The '11' is a lot less board to move around which should make it more surfable than its larger counterparts.
Laird 11 Review
Manufacturer= Surftech
Brand (shaper) = Laird
Model = Laird 11
Type = SUP
Material = Softop
Length = 11'-0"
Width = 27"
Thickness = 4 1/4"
Location = Mission Bay - Santa Barbara Cove SUP lesson.
Time = 9:15 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 2:00
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Partly cloudy and windy
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