Every Breath...

Seattle is such an eclectic city that I often forget hidden gems. Ballard is one such jewel. Last Thursday Sam, Kris and I headed down to the Shilshole Marina for a stand up paddle board lesson from the guys at Ballard Surf. The lesson lasted all of thirty five seconds: stand here, hold your paddle like this, if you fall get back on the board and try again.

Getting on the board was easier than I had imagined, I was a little nervous about Sam as he was on a more tippy standard surf board, as opposed to a wider stand up paddle board (SUP). The head instructor had told me that Sam really should have a life jacket, but that he’d leave that decision to me. Sam has been in competitive swimming for three years, and because the board his was tied to was in essence a floatation device I opted for no jacket. It was one of those decisions that you kind of begin to regret as you get further and further from shore. But in the end Sam stayed atop his board the entire time and was even jumping up and down by the end so all’s well that ends well.

The assistant instructor was a cool fellow; he had the only tattoos I’d ever actually liked. On his right forearm were the words Every Breath, and on the Left was Is A Gift. I told him that he should have had it written upside down so he could be reminded, but he said that he needed to remind others more than he needed to remind himself. On his right shoulder was an image taken from a famous photo of the late great skier Doug Coombs. I would seriously consider a similar inking for myself but I would have to be a shot of Bill, Brian or Scott.

We paddled around for two and a half hours and then hit a little Caribbean sandwich shop called Paseo. Little did I know that this was some “must go to before you die” place. The Cuban Pulled Pork was definitely worth a second visit.

I’m now in the market for a SUP. Dang they are expensive. Julie and I are going to do the race around Mercer Island come September so I’m going to have to get a little practice. I like the simplicity of the sport. I live fifty feet from the water and could zip through my neighbor’s yard and be paddling inside of two minutes. It’s always something isn’t it.