The Stellar SR surfski – a mighty vehicle even for a fat man

With next year’s challenge looming in the background, it’s been time to switch my paddling from playing in the rocks to surfski training. This flavour of paddling is almost completely different from the yakking I’m used to, and time in a ski is critical. Fortunately the good folks at Slipstream Surf and Stellar Kayaks came to the party and lent me a Stellar SR surfski to train on, so over the past few days I’ve put in around 20km on the gentle inland waters of Berowra and Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park.

Of course it’s been a little shakey, as my body tries to adapt to the stability needs of a ski. I also don’t have the paddle of choice for skis (wing paddle) and have been using a traditional Aleut paddle instead. But over time I’ve already started to feel my stability increasing and as I do so, the true joy of paddling a ski has already become apparent. Despite the fact I’ve not taken the surfski out in anything lumpy yet, I can see why my pal Nat from SydneySurfSki.com loves skis so much.

With that, here’s a little video of my first sessions on the Stellar SR. Nothing spectacular, just a gentle orientation on the ski through some of the spectacular waterways of Sydney’s Hawkesbury River river district. With some kicking Aussie beats of course! Cheers, FP