The Danube , Vienna
Final thoughts on SUP ?
In the UK , the popularity of SUP has exploded in the last two or three years . It ’ s terrific to see so many new people coming into our sport and enjoying the physical and mental health benefits . But I believe that SUP needs to do as much as we can to educate people to enjoy the activity in safety .
Thanks and praise ?
So many people have helped me out over the years – it ’ s not practical to name them all – you know who you are – online and the real world . Those who paddled with me on some of my trips and showed me their country :
I ’ m thinking of the crazy gang at Surf Agency in Aarhus , Denmark . Martin and Marina took me around the Malmo canal system , and Chris Jones of SUP My Race fame also paddled with me in Sweden . Andris Green gave me a bed for the night in Latvia and a guided tour of Riga . Sergiu Iliescu of SUP Moldova paddled with me in Chisinau and gave me a massive bag of shiny red apples from his garden . Alain from SUP Rosport in Luxembourg allowed me to launch from his pontoon and had a beer with me after my paddle along the River Sauer . Roberto Discesa and everyone else who made me so welcome in Rome . And many others .
Also , I seem to bump into Allison and Alistair from Northwest Paddleboards in random parts of the world .
Lago di Garda , Italy
I can ’ t forget the kindness of strangers :
• The German couple hiking in Austria who allowed me to use their mobile after dropping my phone into the Danube .
• The Indonesian guy in Vienna who helped carry my gear up a steep hill .
• The driver who stopped to help me when my car broke down on a remote and freezing mountainside in Albania .
• The early morning jogger who volunteered to pump up my board on the beach in Larnaca .
• A fisherman at the harbour ’ s side in Beirut who helped translate a conversation from Arabic to English .
• The French man who picked me up hitchhiking at the side of the road in New Caledonia
• A young man in Austria who helped carry my fully laden board over a tricky portage .
• Lawrie , a taxi driver from Mallaig in Scotland who rearranged his schedule to save me from a long walk .
And I mustn ’ t forget Radwan and Wassim who looked after me so well during my 2019 visit to Syria .
But really , I must thank Lucy Pearce for that first sup lesson back in 2014 and all the support I have had from Lucy and Alan at SUP North since that rainy beginning .
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