Slater Trout – Official Website

Besides getting ready for race season and the end of my freshman year at school I recently had the opportunity to visit Texas.  What is a stand up paddler doing in Texas you might ask???  Well, lots actually.  I got invited to take part in the Austin Paddle Jam.  My race board sponsor, Surftech and Bark, sent me to do a paddle clinic at the REI store in Austin on Friday night then do an on the water clinic on Saturday before the two races being held as part of the Paddle Jam.  It was a really great event and Austin is a cool city, I want to go back when I have more time to spend exploring.  Thanks to REi, Surftech and Jeff Van Sandt for a really fun experience and congratulations to everyone who took part in the Jam.  It is always fun traveling with Ben, my manager, too.  Thanks for goin with me.  Then it was back to Maui and school, finals are coming up.  But I have a few things going on before that…tomorrow is the Olu Kai downwind race put on by Olu Kai sandals.  It is from Maliko Gulch to Kanaha on Maui’s north shore.  Hopefully the trades will be pumpin… there should be some excellent downwind paddlers there so the competition will be tough.  It’s always a fun run to do when the conditions are good.  Then next Wednesday Dad and I head to Tampa, Florida for the Gulf Coast Championships, a 9 mile flat water race starting in the Gulf and ending in the intercoastal waterway.  Should be interesting with tides and winds playing a big part.  Speaking of the Gulf I sure hope they get this whole oil disaster figured out.  I was born in Pensacola on the northwest panhandle and lived a block from the Gulf until I was 10 and they are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.   The water is the color of a swimming pool and the sand is pure white, like sugar, no kidding.  The wild life is unreal, turtles, rays, sharks, birds…there is so much that is going to be damaged.  I saw a video on U-Tube about a special kind of hay that floats and soaks up oil, then it can be scooped up an taken away to burn for fuel.  Maybe something like that will save the day.  Anyway, I am looking forward to Tampa, it sounds like another fun event.  Then back home for finals and then Battle of the Paddle Hawaii!  More on that later.  Check out my video from Austin on my Facebook fan page.  Aloha, ST