NYC Sea Paddle for Autism

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It’s been a whirlwind since the Utah event and trade show. Went from there back to California for a short time then my Dad and I got on another plane for NYC and the NYC Sea Paddle for Autism, an annual event to raise funds and bring awareness to autism. It is a paddle around Manhattan island and this year they included a race. 28 Miles, some say 32, but there is river current involved, tides and boat traffic etc. We got there a few days in advance to get used to the time change and check the start and finish locations and to make sure my board and paddles arrived okay. As always Bark Boards came through and my 14 foot race board arrived in perfect condition. My friend, Ryan Reede, from California arrived the next day to do some video work of the event. He makes really cool videos and as soon as it is finished I will have it on this website. Lots of great paddlers showed up to support the event from all over and as always its fun to catch up with everyone. The night before the event we had a great dinner at a really good italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. There was a whole group of us and we took up almost half the restaurant! The race itself was about as hard as they come. It was a grind the whole time. I finished in just under four hours three minutes behind winner, Thomas Shanihan from California. He had a great race and stayed the course. Congratulations to all the paddlers, it was a an accomplishment! I made a tactical error thinking I might get into some fast water and went off course a bit. You never know what is going to happen in these super long races. Congrats to Candice Appleby for her first place finish in the women’s division too. That night was the White Water Ball, everyone wore white, the food was unreal and everyone had an amazing time. The next day Dad and I headed to the Hamptons to visit some old friends and just sort of hang out and relax. We spent two days at the beach body surfing, eating and sleeping, it was perfect! Thanks to Karl and Louisa for a great time. Got back to LA today. Now it’s time to get serious about school, I am doing online school this year so I can free up some time for surfing and training. Next up the Battle of the Paddle here in Cal. in October. But before that there is an event in Tahoe that I really want to go to, not sure if I will race it or not but it will be a fun trip either way. Aloha, ST