Paddleboarding on nearby rivers or lakes on a good weather day is a relaxing and pleasant experience. However, weather changes can often happen suddenly. It's important to be prepared and adjust your technique when facing challenging weather. Here are five tips to help you cope.
- Maintain a staggered stance: Instead of the parallel stance used in calm conditions, adopt a slight staggered stance on your paddleboard. This helps you maintain better balance and control as your board moves up and down through choppy waters.
- Adjust your posture: In windier conditions, consider standing in a lower stance to reduce wind resistance. Relax your knees and, if necessary, slide your top hand down the shaft of the paddle for a lower grip position.
- Feather your paddle blade: Feathering your paddle blade means turning it sideways to cut through the wind as you bring it forward. This reduces wind resistance and makes your strokes more efficient. Twist your top hand inward to feather the blade, and then level it out and bury it for the stroke.
- Vary your paddle stroke length: Unlike in calm conditions, where you can maintain a consistent long paddle stroke, adapt your stroke length in windy conditions. Take shorter or longer strokes to allow your board's nose to hit the right part of the waves, swells, or chop as you paddle upwind.
- Safety tip: If the wind becomes too strong and you're struggling to make progress, you can put your paddle down and lay on top of the paddleboard to reduce wind resistance. Use your hands to swim against the wind and make your way back to safety.
Remember these techniques and practice them on sunny days. Stay safe and enjoy your paddleboarding adventures!
