Althouse: "I am out on the lake, I'll have you know..."

July 4, 2013

"I am out on the lake, I'll have you know..."

Today, on Lake Wingra.

45 comments:

MadisonMan said...: I've never taken a camera out with me on a paddleboard. But I've never fallen in this year either, so maybe I should. The sunrises are pretty awesome.; 7/4/13, 10:24 PM
Craig said...: My eyesights not so good. Is that Lake Viagra?; 7/4/13, 10:27 PM
Ann Althouse said...: We used this waterproof Panasonic Lumix which had this floating strap.; 7/4/13, 10:31 PM
Anonymous said...: My eyesight's not so good. Is that Lake Viagra?

Yes. It has very hard water.

Peter; 7/4/13, 10:38 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I've gone out on a paddle board 3 times, and I've never fallen in.

One thinks about falling in, but it doesn't happen.

It's just a matter of standing up! How often, standing up, do you just fall over?; 7/4/13, 10:38 PM
Known Unknown said...: NICE SHORTS.; 7/4/13, 10:40 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Althouse,

You have a pleasant voice.; 7/4/13, 10:55 PM
Irene said...: Watching this video made me so happy. Thank you for sharing it.; 7/4/13, 11:16 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Zeus is a very lucky dog.

I hope everyone had a happy 4th.; 7/4/13, 11:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: I suspect Chroma key. She's actually lying on the floor with a paddle.

"How often, standing up, do you just fall over?"

Mind your own damned business. Don't judge me! You don't know me. My doctor says my brain is too big, that's all. I'm just a little top heavy.; 7/4/13, 11:41 PM
Anonymous said...: My family, friends, neighbors and I had a great time today on our beautiful lake. One son in law brought enough fire works to get an audience of boaters on the lake. One drawback, damn mosquitoes.

Happy 4th!; 7/4/13, 11:42 PM
Almost Ali said...: Great video! Always enjoy a good dog story.; 7/5/13, 1:13 AM
rcommal said...: LMAO. Normally, I get to make no sense all on my lonesome. This time, I got help. I suppose that this is a teaching moment, for-to me. Hail, deletions, I guess, goldamnit.

/:>(;...; 7/5/13, 1:26 AM
Paddy O said...: I don't get paddleboarding.

What's the appeal over say kayaking (which I love to do) or canoeing?; 7/5/13, 3:05 AM
Sharc said...: Umm. Little help here?; 7/5/13, 6:00 AM
edutcher said...: The reason Zeus had a little trouble getting the paddle is that he's used to retrieving Labradors.

PS Nice legs, Madame (if I may say). Hope you put some sunscreen on them, given your complexion.

PPS I thought Meade didn't like being called, "Laurence", or is that just spouse-only permission?; 7/5/13, 6:25 AM
Rusty said...: It's just a matter of standing up! How often, standing up, do you just fall over?

We haven't met.

You look quite fetching in your PFD.; 7/5/13, 7:15 AM
Rusty said...: Anns Grand Day Out.; 7/5/13, 7:16 AM
Tank said...: Ann Althouse said...
I've gone out on a paddle board 3 times, and I've never fallen in.

One thinks about falling in, but it doesn't happen.

It's just a matter of standing up! How often, standing up, do you just fall over?

In Hawaii we watched a couple doing this for the first time. The woman got right up. The guy fell in repeatedly until he gave up. I wanted to try, but my ankle was too iffy at the time.; 7/5/13, 7:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "What's the appeal over say kayaking (which I love to do) or canoeing?"

Since we rent and have a choice I can't give what's probably the #1 reason: One already has a surfboard. That's how it got started. A paddleboard today is somewhat different from a surfboard, but it is still something that's lighter and easier to carry around.

Other than that, it's basically that you find it fun or more pleasurable to be standing up and to be using the paddle from an upright position. The leveraging might be more powerful, but I think I can go faster in a kayak, perhaps because in a kayak, you're not at all concerned about falling in.

A paddleboard is better if you want to get in the water, for example, on Lake Wingra, the water is clearer and nicer out in the middle and it's fun to swim from something other than the shore.

A kayak is securely stable, you can go faster, you can carry things with you much more easily, and I would prefer it for exploring up the various inlets, I think.

A paddleboard might be better for exploring in some ways though because you have a higher sightline.

A paddleboarder looks more interesting in a photograph, but it's harder to take pictures while paddleboarding. Not that much harder though.

Paddleboarding is nice for just floating about and enjoying the water. There's less of a need for constant motion. For me, at least, with kayaking, I'd naturally always keep going. With paddleboarding, I'm sometimes just lolling about, going nowhere.

We go out late in the day, because the harsh sunlight on water seems beyond what I can take (skinwise). Wingra Boats is open until 8, which made for some pretty sightseeing with the 4th-of-July picnickers on the shoreline. We'd walked to the Square that afternoon and B-cycled home, so I wasn't in the mood to do anything too athletic, not that I ever am. And Meade wanted to bring Zeus, so the paddleboard is what works with the dog.

Or actually, what Meade was on wasn't a paddleboard. It was a standup kayak or ocean kayak or something, which they wanted him to use with the dog.; 7/5/13, 7:38 AM
Astro said...: When I watch home movies, I expect a serving of Aunt Bessie's tuna noodle casserole.
Just saying'...; 7/5/13, 7:40 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Meade was on something like this. I was on something like this.; 7/5/13, 7:44 AM
Anonymous said...: BREAKING LOCAL MAN SAVED BY DOG; 7/5/13, 7:49 AM
Anonymous said...: cats just refuse to do stuff like this.; 7/5/13, 7:51 AM
AllenS said...: Ann Althouse said...
It's just a matter of standing up! How often, standing up, do you just fall over?

Depends on how much beer I've had to drink.; 7/5/13, 7:53 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: Well, that was a very nice thoughtful and comprehensive response to the question, why paddleboard over kayak, but then you left off one of the most important things I would think, the royalty you run into whilst out there. It is a longstanding thing indeed (no pun) to hop on your little reed boat and hit the Nile for nome or two to drop in unexpectedly on a land owners for a surprise visit, you know, to check up and see for oneself how the wheat crops are doing that year and compare with estimates developed by measuring the depth of the river up there at the cataracts.; 7/5/13, 7:58 AM
MadisonMan said...: What's the appeal over say kayaking (which I love to do) or canoeing?

The best thing about paddleboarding over canoeing/kayaking is that you can really see down into the water. So if you like to espy fishes, it's much easier to do when you are standing.

I also like the standing part of it, vs. sitting in a canoe/kayak.; 7/5/13, 8:06 AM
Titus said...: You look great and very happy!

That dog rocks.; 7/5/13, 8:31 AM
Michael said...: Well done, Professor! Excellent for what we used to call the stomach muscles, now curated as "the core."

If you go on a day when the lake is choppy you will have a very good chance of falling in.; 7/5/13, 8:38 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "If you go on a day when the lake is choppy you will have a very good chance of falling in."

We'd gone a few days before and it was windy and choppy, which made me wary, because I'd only done it once before, a couple years ago, but I was never close to falling it. Just a bit tense.

I got caught in what felt like a current and I was dragged into the weedy shoreline, which I found frustrating. It worked out fine though.; 7/5/13, 8:41 AM
Michael said...: Professor. Your balance is as good, then, in your sport as in your commentary.; 7/5/13, 8:47 AM
edutcher said...: Paddy O said...

I don't get paddleboarding.

What's the appeal over say kayaking (which I love to do) or canoeing?

For some, knees.; 7/5/13, 8:47 AM
Nichevo said...: I'm not going to mock you, Ann, because why should you appreciate, but before this was a recreational activity, boating had real world utility. Among other things, you has rough weather, you has cargo, you had long distances where you couldn't just fall off and wade to shore. In conditions such as you enjoy, paddleboarding is viable, but u wouldn't try it going from Palin's house to Putin's house.; 7/5/13, 8:53 AM
MadisonMan said...: The trick in wind is to go upwind first. Then when you're tired, it's an easy paddle home. Same is true with canoeing. Always go upwind/upriver first, if you have the choice.

The nice thing about dawn paddleboarding is it's more likely to be calm then. Of course, you have to be a morning person.; 7/5/13, 8:57 AM
Titus said...: We haven't seen that much of your leg before.

You have lost weight too.; 7/5/13, 9:21 AM
Craig said...: When I was eight years old I lived in a house on a Puget Sound beach. On the other side of the bay there was a logging operation so the beach was always getting fresh supplies of driftwood. When the tide was in you could float a good sized log out into the bay and ride it like a paddle board. Some of the logs were big enough to ride standing up.; 7/5/13, 9:22 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "The trick in wind is to go upwind first. Then when you're tired, it's an easy paddle home."

I learned that the hard way on that previous time. I had the false impression that I was doing really well, and then I realized I was getting driven into the weeds and needed to fight my way back.

"The nice thing about dawn paddleboarding is it's more likely to be calm then. Of course, you have to be a morning person."

I am a morning person, but I do this blog thing...; 7/5/13, 9:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "When I was eight years old I lived in a house on a Puget Sound beach. On the other side of the bay there was a logging operation so the beach was always getting fresh supplies of driftwood. When the tide was in you could float a good sized log out into the bay and ride it like a paddle board. Some of the logs were big enough to ride standing up."

That reminds me to put up another video I made the other day. You'll see.; 7/5/13, 9:33 AM
garage mahal said...: Wingra is a surprisingly good musky lake. It's fun to watch them gather and spawn in the spring by the dam. I think its more of a mock spawning run, they're stocked by the DNR and can't reproduce.; 7/5/13, 9:35 AM
edutcher said...: Titus said...

We haven't seen that much of your leg before.

You have lost weight too.

Funny, I noticed her cheeks weren't as sunken (relatively speaking) as in the Bloggingheads with Bob Wright a few months ago.

Looked like she put a little back on.

Which is no crime.; 7/5/13, 9:36 AM
SteveBrooklineMA said...: I'm in your movie!... sort of. One of the people having a picnic under the trees at 0:09. Barely visible.

What a beautiful day!; 7/5/13, 9:51 AM
LarryK said...: Zeus is a "ladies dog" - hilarious! Nice to see him swim back to safety. Also reminded me that I gotta get on a paddleboat in Lake Wingra before the summer is over.; 7/5/13, 10:34 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Zeus was never unsafe. Note his eagerness to jump back in every time. Meade was always aware of where he was and how he was doing, which in the end was hanging out with two females who were very interested in him. By proceeding to the dock, Meade made it clear to him where he needed to go, and he was easily able to understand and do that.; 7/5/13, 2:10 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "I'm in your movie!... sort of. One of the people having a picnic under the trees at 0:09. Barely visible."

That's so cool.

I loved seeing the big picnic groups in the parks.; 7/5/13, 2:11 PM
DEEBEE said...: Ann what do you need that platform thingy and the unnecessary accessory. You should be able to walk on water, like your co-super evolved Tony Kennedy.; 7/6/13, 8:25 AM