Paddleboarding in South Carolina
Paddleboarding has been on my list of must do activities for a long time. I actually own an inflatable paddleboard, but I have never used it. I have been so worried about falling off and making a giant fool of myself that I just haven’t tried. Isn’t that ridiculous?
If you know anything about camper vans you know that storage is limited. My garage space is only 60 inches long and 32 inches wide which means that everything in the space must have a purpose or else it’s out. My inflatable paddle board was taking up a lot of valuable space in my garage, so it and it was time to decide if I actually wanted to keep it. The beautiful lakes in Upstate South Carolina were the perfect place to try out my skills and see if paddleboarding was for me.
Once I arrived at my lakeside campsite in High Falls County Park, I checked out Lake Keowee. The small cove at the based of my campsite seemed to be the perfect spot to put in my board. So, I inflated my board and got my paddle and water tight bag ready to go. Thankfully in my career as a Pediatric Physical Therapist I’ve had a lot of practice picking up heavy things like people and carrying them, so getting the board down the hill to the water was relatively easy for me. Once in the water, I carefully sat on the board and got comfortable balancing and paddling near the shore. Once I was comfortable paddling around in sitting, I decided to move onto my knees. In physical therapy lingo we call that tall kneeling. In tall kneeling I wasn’t super stable. I was able to paddle around, but I had to really concentrate on my balance. I knew that I was not going to be able to stand up without falling off.
Sometimes I have this idea in my head that if I can’t do things “correctly” then I can’t enjoy doing them. In theory I know that this is absolutely ridiculous. I have spent my entire career helping children and teens participate in activities they love in a way that works for them. So, the fact that I feel like this sometimes is infuriating, but there are times when our thoughts just go places we don’t want them to. This was one of those times for me.
I told myself that I was not going to listen to my thoughts, and I was going to keep enjoying the lake paddling around in sitting. And, I would work a little bit each day to be more confident and stable in tall kneeling. So, that is exactly what I did, and IT WAS WONDERFUL! I went out 5 times enjoying the lake early in the morning, near sunset, and in the middle of the day. I saw turtles in the water and deer on the banks. It was magical.
Needless to say I am hooked on paddleboarding and can’t wait for my next adventure. The board definitely gets to keep its valuable space in my garage. I ordered myself a backrest to attach to the board so I can comfortably sit and paddle to my heart’s content. I never did fall off the board, but I did have a few close calls and guess what? I survived. Doing things uncomfortable is just like doing things scared.
Heather
