So, there was a bit of a swell here in Santa Barbara today, but we headed out to try a new board.  It's made by GLS in Oceanside.  We're considering it for our rental fleet.  I took out an 11 footer, which normally comes as a 30" wide board, but this was a custom one and it was 32" wide. 

Wow, the board was so stable even in the swells, I had no problem getting up and feeling good and not like I was going to fall at any moment.  They make the board for Jr. Lifeguards, rental fleets, beginners and camps.  I can see why.  I'd guess there is a high success rate in a very short amount of time.

I wish I could have gotten my sister out there, since she's really new at SUP'ing, but it was just too early in the morning. :)  Anyway, these boards are considered the safest stand-up-paddle boards available AND they say they have the endurance and performance of the more expensive SUP's!  I can't really speak to that at the moment, since I've only just tried one, but I was impressed.

So, we went tree climbing last week in Oregon.  It was a blast and we'll post pictures soon.  That was our last semi-major trip before our departure on November 16th.  From now until then, we have so much to do. 

We found what we think might be a great board for our new adventures in Palau.  We are looking for a really durable board, one that is easy to be successful on - where anyone can do it, and one that doesn't mind getting banged around some.

So, the boards we own are from Jimmy Lewis and we love them.  But a bit too expensive to throw a bunch out there.  So, we've stumbled across these GLS Soft Paddleboards.  We've emailed the folks in Bend and we may head to Oceanside this weekend to try them out.

Today was another day of preparing for our move to Palau.  Most of the preparations today were in getting this website up.  We have so much information to add and really, so little time.  See, once we get to Palau, the internet connection is quite spotty, so we want to get a bunch of content and images uploaded before it takes 3 days to get one image posted!

Today is September 3rd, 2008.  Rachel and I have purchased our tickets - one-way tickets, that is - to Palau.  Yep, we're diving in, taking the plunge and just going for it.  See, we recently picked up the sport of Standup Paddling and we recently returned from a month-long adventure in Palau.  So, we've decided to try both at once.  We're heading to Palau to start a business, rather an adventure, called Standup Paddle Palau.