The wind hits your face cooling you off on a hot 90-degree day in July. White capped waves hit your paddleboard unexpectedly from the wind. All of the sudden you and your paddle are in the water. Once you pop back up your board is now ten feet from you and drifting away fast. You weren’t wearing a leash and now you’re without your paddleboard off the coast of Lake Champlain.
A leash is essential when paddle boarding. If you fall off your board and the board go with the wind, it will keep moving away from you and in some cases, you will not catch it. This could put you in a precarious position especially if you are not wearing a PFD. PFD is essential just like with any other paddle sport you need to wear a PFD on the water.
“As you stand on a paddleboard your body is kind of like a sail,” said Jason Smith of ADK Lake and Trails.
Wind is a big concern on a paddleboard. Smith recommends paddling into the wind so when you turn back you have a bit of assistance. Instead of going with the wind for a couple of miles, getting tired, turning back and having to paddle against that wind. This mistake can often be an eye opener for people.
— Sierra McGivney
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