How’s this for single blading - Tville – November 30, 2024

Chris running Initiation on the West

Back in September I ran the class III section of the West River. The first rapid just below the dam is called Initiation. It’s one of those rapids that is relatively easy if you take the right line, but usually ends in disaster if you don’t – at least for me. I was standing off to the side taking pictures and watching folks go though when I see this guy coming down on a paddle board. I think he’s going to swim for sure, but he picked the perfect line and made it through fine. That’s the line I took. I figured if he can do it on a paddle board then I should be able to do it in a canoe.  

Well, it’s a tradition around here to get out on Black Friday to paddle off some of that Thanksgiving turkey. With the rain on Thanksgiving Tville was up, but I didn’t see any trips on Friday. Instead, I got together with Paul D. for a low level (1.5 feet, 500 cfs) run on Saturday. We were joined by Chris - the guy on the paddle board from the West. He was amazing to watch – ran every drop, surfed every hole and made it look easy. When he did fall off he just jumped back on - easy recovery. Almost makes me want to try a SUP - almost.   

Chris running the top of Double Drop

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RICKA SUP Night - July 10, 2018

We had a good time trying out paddleboards last night with EMS at Lake Pearl. This is the third year that the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club has sponsored a SUP Night with EMS. We had lots of boards to try, great staff to get us started, and a perfect night. We used every board that they had!

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RICKA SUP Night at Lincoln Woods - August 17, 2017

We had a good time trying out SUP boards last night with EMS at Lincoln Woods. We had lots of boards to try, great staff to get us started, and a perfect night. I spent most of my time falling of the board trying to do pivot turns, but I was starting to get the back of it. Thanks to Joe, Benn, Cat and the rest of the EMS staff.

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Lincoln Woods from Rhode Island Blueways

SUPing in Wickford – July 19, 2017

Justin and Michelle had come to the RICKA Paddle Board demo at Lincoln Woods last summer and liked it, so we decided to try it again.  We rented paddle boards at the Kayak Centre in Wickford, and explored the Wickford Cove. The wind was to our back on the way out, but made it a little more challenging on the way back in.

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Trip Description from Rhode Island Blueways

SUPing at Lincoln Woods - August 11, 2016

Joe explains SUPing

I got to do some SUPing at Lincoln Woods with RICKA and EMS.

I bumped into Joe Sherlock last month at Lincoln Woods while he was teaching a SUP class. One thing led to another, and Joe offered to run a SUP session for RICKA.  We ended up coming to an arrangement that the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club would rent the boards, EMS would provide instructors, and any RICKA member could attend.

It worked out great.  We had 18 paddlers who got some basic instruction and could try lots of different boards. I got to try a touring board, a surf board (fell off that a few times) and a general-purpose board – lots of fun.

With Michelle and Justin

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EMS Schools