There’s a ton of information and discussion online about safety equipment, but virtually none on what to do when things don’t go according to plan when you’re out there on your paddleboard. Which could manifest itself in a multitude of ways. Over our next few blogs we’re going to be running some excerpts from the series of SUP SAFETY books written by Bill Dawes,  national safety officer for stand up paddleboarding in New Zealand, who has been working in this area for nearly a decade. Over to Bill to set the scene…

Being safe on your paddleboard essentially comes down to two things:

1: Reducing the risks of something going wrong. In other words,  proper planning and preparation, and knowledge/understanding of your environment.

2: Coping better if something does happen. In other words, knowing what to do when things go wrong, and understanding your safety equipment. 

Over the next few regular blog articles we’re going to be focussing on the second of these; a topic which doesn’t get anywhere near enough coverage in safety discussion. However, to start the discussion off, we’re going to consider planning; one of the four cornerstones of paddleboarding safety [these four cornerstones are covered in much more detail in the SUP SAFETY books]. Because actually, proper planning is always the first link in the chain.  The reason why things go wrong when you’re out there on the water very often comes back to a failure at the planning stage. 

There should always be some element of planning in any paddleboard session, even if it’s just a quick splash on the local lake. It shouldn’t be seen as a chore, it’s part of the fun, the anticipation and as already mentioned, an absolutely vital part of the process, when it comes to staying safe.

However, when I start talking about planning in safety workshops and training sessions, it’s often met with resistance, even derision. “Dude we’re not climbing Everest, we’re just going for a paddle on the local canal! We don’t need ‘planning’…” 

So I throw a few questions back at them:

Me: “OK, so are you not going to check the weather forecast?”

Someone: “Well, yes, obviously.” 

Me: “I guess you’re not going to be paddling in that t-shirt and jeans, so are you going to change into something more appropriate?”

That person: “Well, yes, obviously.”

Me: “OK, so what are you going to wear?”

That person: “Um, depends on where we go – and whether we’re going for a drink afterwards. Are we going for a drink afterwards?”

Everyone else: “Well, yes, obviously.”

Me: “So where shall we go for that?”

Someone else: “Umm, maybe the River Bar?”

Someone else: “No, let’s go to the Angry Angler, because we could park in their car-park and paddle from there.”

Someone else: “It’s Saturday afternoon, so should we reserve a table?”

Someone: “How far are we paddling, anyway? I might need to go home and grab my touring board…” 

Me: “Sounds like a whole heap of planning going on here guys…”

Everyone else: “Go forth and multiply, Bill!” [or equivalent].

The reality is that, unless you’re lucky enough to live at a waterfront location with permanently warm shallow water and 100% predictable weather and your board is outside ready to go at a moment’s notice, any paddleboarding session needs to involve some planning – even if it’s only a quick interrogation of the weather app. The more adventurous your mission, particularly if it’s somewhere you haven’t paddled before, the more comprehensive your planning needs to be. 

Planning for every session

Let’s start with the planning that absolutely should take place before any and every paddleboarding session. Much of this can be done the day before, but you’ll still need to recheck before setting off to ensure nothing has changed. First up, look at the conditions: Wind strength and direction, rain / clouds, temperature, tides, surf or river flow, if applicable. (How to do all this is covered in great detail in Book Two of the series, including exercises and examples that you can work through for yourself.) With this information, you can decide:

• Are you even going to go? Are the conditions even suitable?

• Where are you going to go? Assuming you have more than one location to paddle from, which will be the most appropriate for the water and weather conditions?

• When are you going to go? What times will suit the conditions best? If tidal currents are an issue in your part of the world, just don’t mess with them. Particularly if you’re still relatively new to the sport.

• What gear are you going to take? Board choice, paddle choice, PFD choice, leash choice…

• Who else are you going to paddle with? It’s always safer to paddle with others, and more sociable too. Will your chosen venue and the likely conditions actually work for them? (And what about ride sharing, etc?)

• What else will you need? Clothing or wetsuit / drysuit, hat, glasses, sunscreen, appropriate footwear, launch permit, food, water, change of clothes, towel, money for parking, etc. (There is also the whole topic of the state of readiness of your gear, which is discussed in  the Preparation section of Book 3 in the series). 

On top of these essentials are the other more mundane things to think about. Phone charged? Car fuelled up and good to go? Any family commitments you need to work around? It’s always good to ensure that you’ve got sufficient time set aside so that you can enjoy your session to the max, without having to worry about being late for your next appointment, or that you’re going to have to take that work call halfway through the paddle or whatever.

And then, on the day of your paddle, you need to revisit those forecasts, ideally if possible get some ‘nowcast’ information too, if there are weather buoys, webcams or other current observations that you can check, to ensure that the what was forecast is looking right. 

Paddling somewhere new

If you’re heading for somewhere you’ve never paddled before, the planning phase gets a whole lot more fun and important. If it’s a well-known recreational activity spot then the chances are that it’ll all be fairly easy, but if you’re planning on traveling to new places and doing some pioneering paddleboarding into unknown territories – checking out that lake, river or estuary on the map that looks so interesting, perhaps – then there are plenty of pitfalls for the unwary. 

Firstly, you do your standard checks as before; weather, tides, river flow, surf, etc, as detailed in Book Two of the series, and who you’re going to be paddling with. 

If it’s a new stretch of river you’re planning to paddle, then it’s absolutely vital that you do your due diligence. What state is it in? Is there sufficient flow, or indeed too much flow? Any white water, if so, what class? Any locks that you’ll need to portage around? Where are your put-in and take-out points, and where else could you break out from the paddle? Is there any good information available from other people who have paddled it recently? Is it even legal to paddle? Do you need a permit? Any weirs, low head dams or rapids on the river? If the answer’s yes, then these need a whole lot more investigation. 

If it’s a coastal location and you don’t know how the tides are going to play out there, this will require detailed research too. Does it dry out at low water? Carrying your board through hundreds of yards of thick mud at low tide is no-one’s idea of fun. Are the tidal currents strong? The safest option is usually to paddle around high water as this is when there is the most water, and usually (but not always!) when the currents are at or around their lowest. However, the high water may well be concealing all sorts of hazards and traps just below the water surface – it’s always smart to see a location at a lower state of the tide so you know what you’re paddling over. It’s always wise to do some proper research or you could get caught out very badly. 

However, to do your tidal research, you need to know precisely when high tide is! As discussed in Book Two, this may be difficult. There may not be a primary tide or even secondary tide location nearby, so you may have no access to accurate tide times for your paddling spot. You can probably still ballpark it, but the way tides work in estuaries can vary wildly due to a whole bunch of factors, as is explained in SUP SAFETY Book Two. Always err on the side of caution; give yourself more time on the incoming tide than the outgoing. If you get to your starting location and there’s enough water to set off and the tide is still coming in, there’s not too much that can go wrong. Incoming tide is nowhere near as dangerous as outgoing tide. Even if you do encounter some shallows, it’s only going to get better, and the current will steadily be reducing. Whereas if you’ve ended up launching later in the tidal cycle than you expected, you may well find yourself rapidly running out of water, and/or in an ever-increasing current situation trying to sweep you out to sea – neither of which are healthy outcomes. 

Your planning for a new location doesn’t stop at weather and water conditions though, there are many other things to consider:

• Access to the water? Can you even get to it? Do you need permission or a permit? Is it safe access? How are you going to launch? What are the hazards?

• Parking? Is there somewhere to leave your vehicle? Is it safe? Are there any costs? 

• Weather implications: Local weather effects such as sea breezes or katabatic mountain winds (see Book Two) won’t make it onto the weather apps but can still be extremely severe. Try and find someone who has experience of the area who can advise. 

• Currents: If it’s tidal, this means currents. If it’s a river, there will definitely be flow issues to think about, particularly if there has been rain recently.  (see Book Two). If it’s a lake, are you intending to paddle near or across any inflows or outflows? Again, recent rain can be a major factor. 

• Water temperature: Major implications for what you’ll wear.

• Water quality: That beautiful lake you’re planning on checking out may be full of toxic algae, or a holding pond for the local nuclear power station…

• Exit strategies: Consider the topography along your planned route, where else could you exit the water if needed? If your route takes you along the bottom of a steep cliff, through mangrove swamps with absolutely no way to shore, or even just alongside an expanse of private land, then how would you deal with a problem if it occurred there? As always, if you’ve thought about this beforehand then it’s so much less of a problem if something does actually happen, because you’ve already got a plan. 

• Other hazards: Think about other water users (human and wildlife!), again as discussed in detail in Book Two.  Are there any boat ramps in the vicinity or waterski lanes? Or indeed shipping lanes, if you’re on the coast! What about possible underwater hazards, etc. 

In Book 3 of the SUP SAFETY series, we work through some examples to give an idea of how this planning process might look.  It’s absolutely an area where a little bit of knowledge can make all the difference.  We also look in more detail at how it works for SUP surfing or white water riding at a new location. 

In summary

Even if you’ve never consciously thought of it as a planning phase before, you almost certainly already do some planning before your paddleboard sessions, because you’ll be making essential decisions about when to go, what to take, what to wear, etc. There is no harm or shame in being just a bit more aware that taking this phase of the session seriously and doing it properly is worthwhile – indeed, actually of real importance. A checklist is a great idea, because it ensures you don’t get to the water’s edge and realize you’ve forgotten something vital. Nearly every paddleboarder knows that feeling of unpacking the car at the destination and finding you’re down a fin, a finbolt, a paddle, a PFD or whatever. It happens to the best of us! And of course, the first items on that checklist are always getting the full story regarding the weather and currents. Because if the conditions aren’t going to be right then there is absolutely no point going any further down the checklist! 

You’ve no doubt heard the old military adage of the seven ‘P’s: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. It’s true of most things, and certainly in terms of paddleboarding it can make all the difference, to both your enjoyment and your safety. 

This text is extracted from Book 3 of the SUP SAFETY - How to stay safe on your stand-up paddleboard series by Bill Dawes, available in Kindle or paperback form from Amazon. In our next few blogs posts we will be publishing further extracts from the books, looking at particular emergency situations and how to deal with them. However, if you really want to learn everything you can about being safe on your stand up paddleboard, we’d thoroughly recommend checking out the books for yourself.