communityspotlight
Gliding on Water
Carlsbad Stand-Up Paddleboard Club Teaches All Ages
by Linda Sechrist
dleboarding, in which participants stand and balance on a board while propelling themselves with a paddle over the water’s surface. Whether in the gentle waters of the area’s lakes, harbors and lagoons or the wide ex- and her husband Jason, owners of the Carlsbad Stand-Up Paddleboard Club, are helping people discover this exhilarating way to glide upon water that originated in Hawaii during the early 20th century. The idea for the business, which formally opened in May
M
2009, was born four years earlier when a family friend asked Jason to make a paddleboard for his son. “Jason rose to the challenge,” Amy recalls, and because he made surfboards to support his passion for - ing the expanded polystyrene (EPS) cloth and coated with epoxy resin. This environmentally friendly ver- sion contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produces less waste, and the foam can be recycled to make other surfboard blanks. Today, Jason make EPS and epoxy
Amy Hendricks
paddleboards and surfboards in any shape, size or color, doing everything but the freehand artwork, which he out- sources to a local artist. He also creates an epoxy version that is stronger and lighter. Amy says that customers enjoy having a board designed just for them. “The most unusual board was painted to look like a postcard that a customer got from her boyfriend,” she relates. “It The paddleboards are light enough
16
San Diego Edition
en, women and children the resurgent sport of pad-
for this mother of two boys to tote out of a little white shack, the club’s home, and line up along the sandy beach that lends shape to a lagoon dotted with condominiums and homes. “We got really lucky when a girlfriend’s parents offered to let us run our business out of the shack, which had been there 45 years,” enthuses Amy.
Prior to opening the business, Amy spent time showing her friends how
to paddleboard. From this labor of love, she formulated the lessons she now offers, along with a paddleboard bootcamp. “The sport is super-easy to learn and a great exercise for the entire body,” says Amy, who began teaching her sons when nine, paddle regularly and hang out at the business on week- ends and when school isn’t in session. According to Amy, anyone who paddleboards regularly is assured of weight loss and a well-toned body. “Three years ago, I wanted to lose the last pounds I’d gained while I was pregnant with Chance,” she explains. “Although I exercised, did jazzercise and used the treadmill, I couldn’t take off the baby weight until I began paddling.” When done correctly, paddling particularly exercises and tones the core muscles, because the body is continuously working to keep itself bal- anced on the board. Demonstrating her technique four times a day during
hour-long lessons with her customers keeps Amy in great shape and gives her plenty of opportunities to connect with everyone who hops on a board. “Pad- dleboarding is not only a great busi- ness for my husband and me, but also a wonderful way to stay healthy, have fun with my children and make new friends,” muses Amy. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Carlsbad Stand-Up Paddle Board Club is located at 4509 Adams Street, in Carlsbad, 92010. Call 760-458-0207 or visit CarlsbadStandUpPaddleBoard-
Club.com. See ad on page 5.
www.na-sd.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47