It paddled good on my local Deschutes river. Since I've been a surfer since elementary school, I found standing equal footed on it stange. I just want to turn goofy and go for a ride. As for a PFD, I'd wear one if I was crossing a large lake, but having surfed for the past 30 years and being a short swim from the rivers edge I don't use it. I do however use a leash as I can't remember to grab the sunglasses, hat and paddle while falling off, let alone the board. The only surfers I've ever seen with a PFD on are at the tow in surf spots. A 70 foot wave will hold you down for a long, long time. Falling off a SUP on a river/lake, not so much.

: Greg,
: It looks great. How does it paddle? I have been designing one with
: kayakfoundry. My daughter recently got one so I am considering
: building one to go out with her. I live in flat water country so
: I am focused on displacement hull designs. It is kind of
: interesting that something so slow, unstable, and impractical
: for most things other than surfing has become so popular. There
: is a fun factor involved I must admit. I also hear the workout
: argument but you could say the same thing about peddling a bike
: with flat tires. I must admit the lack of PFD's and most often
: lack tethers scares me with this crowd. I have met some
: impressive paddlers on SUP's (and I have seen some impressive
: athletics and very nice boards) but the masses on the boards
: seem to be in a race to win the Darwin award. It was interesting
: out the outdoor retailer show. All of the kayak suppliers had
: and rightfully insisted on paddlers wearing PFD's, I did not see
: one SUP vendor that even had them available. No brochures showed
: PFD's and few had tethers in the pictures. That says a lot about
: the industry.
: Scott