Whether it's to help you get the most out of your rental, your new purchase, or just to have you read a little, this article could be relevant. As a shop, we see people walking past after buying or renting a board with additional questions about their equipment. Sometimes these questions are more technical, so about the ideal mechanics and technique to be most efficient and comfortable on the boat, as other times the questions are more about the details of how their equipment works.
The idea of writing on the topic isn't to decrease traffic, because don't worry, we love to chat with each of you, it's more to help those on the go and educate the curious.
TOP 1) Important point to know about the cap of your inflatable boat
When you complete the inflation of your SUP and remove the pump hose from the board, the board should be completely airtight. Indeed, you should not be in a hurry to put the cap on to avoid complete deflation. This mistake, we have to believe, it is made by everyone at least once, so what better than this article to explain how to avoid it? First of all, you should know that the screw inside the board valve has two positions. The first is where the screw is completely out of the board. This position is the correct one for inflating and using your SUP. When you finish your session and want to deflate the board, drive the screw in the second position and turn it from side to side to lock the screw in position 2. CAUTION, the error is made at this step ! It is essential to put the screw back in position 1 before re-inflating the board. To do this, you just need to turn the screw around and let it come up.
TOP 2) An adjustable paddle that tends not to hold its adjustment?
Sometimes when buying a 2 or 3 piece paddle it happens that it does not hold its fit. Some will think the product is faulty, but you have to be careful because the problem could only be with the manufacturer not tightening the adjustment clip properly. To fix the problem, all you have to do is use a screwdriver and tighten the screw. If ever your paddle does not have a screw, it is possible to tighten the system directly by the clip itself.
Regarding the fit still, we recommend that you separate the pieces of your paddle when you are not using it for a long time. Sometimes sand gets trapped between the middle room and the top room. When there is sufficient sand and water, the adjustment system may lock up completely. Another alternative to avoid this unfortunate situation would be to clean the piece where the olive is located a few times during the season.
TOP 3) Are you using an ill-fitting paddle?
When you are new to SUP, the fit of your paddle can be an aspect of the sport the details of which are completely unknown to you. Don't worry, we've got you covered! To adjust the height of your paddle, simply extend your arm upwards, break your wrist and lengthen the top piece of your paddle so that it comes to rest on the palm of your hand. It is difficult to write about this aspect so we invite you to look at the following illustration to better visualize the steps previously described:
TOP 4) Does your blade make sense when you paddle?
Now that you have the paddle at the right height, you need to use common sense. This may seem like a point that does not need to be covered in this article, but from experience, the mistake of maneuvering your SUP with the blade the wrong way round is very common. Let's settle this once and for all! The blade of your paddle should be tilted forward. By fixing this error, you will gain in efficiency, speed and comfort. Here is an image on which we can easily see the method to use to hold your paddle during your paddle board rides:
TOP 5) Your pressure indicator may not be defective
This point is intended specifically for boaters who probably have little or no experience with inflatable boards specifically. We wanted to talk about the pressure gauge in this article, as we get a few calls during the summer about problems with this part. An inflatable board must be at the highest pressure accepted by the company to be able to perform at its best. With that in mind, you should expect to pump at least a dozen minutes depending on the board to expect the pressure to build up. Not inflating your board to the recommended pressure can be detrimental to stability, speed and overall comfort on the water.
TOP 6) Reminder to avoid losing fins or a paddle part
We end this top 6 with a simple reminder of two key points when assembling your equipmentReminder number 1: If your fin system works this way, be sure to tie the clip attached with a string to the fin so that it is perpendicular to it. This system prevents the fin from falling during a session on the water.
Reminder number 2: When you put the pieces of your 2 or 3 piece paddle together, make sure you see the aluminum piece coming out that holds the two bottom segments together. If it doesn't come out of its little hole and take the place it should normally take, your paddle might come back from its ride on the water with parts missing.