editor’s note
Tick tock, the
ticking clock
Time. A simple enough concept to grasp but an
important one nonetheless. In fact, for myself,
time isn’t just important; it’s precious. With the
increasing stresses and strains of life, I feel like
I’m constantly losing time. Suddenly that
deadline, which was once months away, has
reared up and is right there in my face. With still
so much to do, time slips by – and before long
there won’t be enough time to complete all the
jobs in hand.
Juggling multiple writing projects, equipment testing, a
family and other activities outside of SUP (they do exist!)
means that my time gets stretched and having to be
efficient with time management is key to success. And
yet there’s always a way to make time for personal SUP.
Of course, spending time with loved ones is important
but with a little prior planning and preparation it’s
possible to make time for your watery fix too.
A few tips include: checking forecasts and tide times (if
applicable) well in advance. Having a plan in place for
your SUP sessions – but equally be ready to revert to
plan B, should things go awry. Getting those dull jobs
out of the way when you’re off the brine – ‘tis the way
you accrue brownie points and don’t have work/chores
hanging over you like a dark cloud. Encouraging your
family to take up the sport – there’s nothing like having
quality SUP time with your spouse and offspring. Being
opportunistic. If you suddenly find yourself with time,
kit ready to go and you’re close to the water then don’t
delay, get involved!
There are plenty of other ways to make paddling a
bigger part of your life, even with the little amounts of
time we all have. All the riches in the world
unfortunately won’t buy us any more time, so we
have to be clever about how we manage our lifestyle –
especially if you deem stand up paddling to be high
on your list of priorities.
The first of many…
You’ll probably have noticed the theme of this issue’s
Gear Shed reviews section – flat water (for want of a
better term). Over the last few mags we’ve published a
whole raft of kit reviews but have always wanted to
categorise what we feature, based on the time of year.
Streamlining our testing process is key and happily
we seem to be getting there. As such, this is the first
of many more category reviews that will follow. The
last SUPM of the year will feature surf SUPs.
Hopefully with our in depth write ups you’ll discover
your true SUP companion. And if the ones included in
this issue aren’t enough, then don’t forget to check
our website for even more.
Tez Plavenieks, July 2015
[email protected]
@tezwoz
3
s
t
a
n d
u
p
p
a d
d
l
e
m
a
g
u
k