When away last weekend, we saw a lot of people using stand-up paddle boards on the sea. Many were quite expert at using them, but a sizeable proportion were complete novices and said so. SUPs have become the latest waterborne fad.
When riding a SUP your body acts like a sail and, having only one paddle that you have to lift continuously from side to side, it's not the fastest of waterborne craft. It's also relatively easy to get toppled off as your centre of gravity is very high and the whole system is inherently unstable. The SUP itself is like a cork and very susceptible to wind.
If there's an onshore wind then, if you get into trouble, you're merely blown back toward the beach. If there's an offshore wind you can easily get blown miles.
My advice is to use SUPs only on lakes or rivers until such time as you're proficient and know how to stay away from trouble and, if you do get into trouble, how to rescue yourself from it - which is invariably to get off it and swim while pushing it. However, even that won't be enough if you get carried away by a strong riptide or wind.
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