For the Love of the Paipo

First things first: how in the hell do you steer these things?

I did my first paipo session last Sunday with my boys Glenn and Marvin. They were on paipos made by Jon Wegener, paipos with a good amount of rocker, paipos that were somewhat user-friendly. (Can one really define something sans fins as being "user-friendly"?)

The photo below shows that I was beginning to get the hang of it by the time I got out of the water. The paipo stoke was in full effect. I was actually going down the line by the end of the session. I've got the photo to prove it!

Paipo session #2 was . . . uh . . . well . . . a full-on kook fest that saw me trying to remember that the paipo floats quite well WHEN I'M NOT ON IT. I was on my own paipo for this session, a paipo with no rocker, a paipo that was intent upon letting me spend the bulk of my water time being swallowed up by whitewater, unable to steer or find the gear that would launch me onto the shoulder. Most of the session saw me trying to figure out how to ride my plank. And it wasn't pretty. Of course, that's half the fun of riding things like mats and paipos. They make you work for it, really work for it. And that's why the payoff, when it comes, is so damn sweet

It's going to take me awhile to get the hang of riding a piece of plywood like I know what I'm doing.