Sea Gods Guest post: By Derek of Inflatable SUP Authority

The Team at Sea Gods Stand Up Paddle Boards gave me the opportunity to take an Advanced Flat Water Paddling Course in White Rock British Columbia. All the while giving me a chance to test some of their boards. So, Of course, I jumped on it. 

I tried out 3 Sea Gods Paddle Boards. The Skylla, Diatom Ten6, and the Carta Marina ULF boards. These boards were tried in both calm conditions as well as manageable wavey conditions.

There was one common theme among the 3 boards I tested. And that was uncompromised stability. Which is very impressive, especially with the touring and touring hybrid of the Carta Marina and Skylla boards. 

Oftentimes, when I am paddling in waves from the side I’m hesitant to stand on some of the other boards I’ve received in the past. Especially some of the Lighter ones as the waves often bully them causing erratic movements which end up with me in the water! 

This was not so testing out the Sea Gods Carta Marina and Skylla paddle boards. I decided to get up, stand, and paddle all the way to the sheltered waters of the White Rock pier. The boards handled the waves beautifully. A lot of this has to do with the shape and dimensions of these boards. 

The Carta Marina is 12’ long and 32” wide while the Skylla is 11’ long and 33” wide which will make these boards feel very stable while tackling less-than-ideal conditions that the ocean can throw at you from time to time. 

Having paddled to the sheltered waters of the White Rock pier. We started doing drills like sweep strokes, cross draws (I think thats what it's called) and finally, the pivot turns as well as a few rescue demonstrations.

Of course, my favorite board to try these demonstrations on was the super stable Diatom Ten6. The Diatom has a shorter length of 10’6” by 34” width making it a very stable board all the while being quite maneuverable. Making it the perfect candidate to practice the above techniques. 

The Diatom Ten6 was very stable throughout my completing the forward sweep stroke which allowed me to squat quite low to get maximum power out of each stroke. In turn, this allowed me to turn the board fully around in about 4-5 strokes. 

One area where the Diatom Ten6 really impressed me was practicing “step-back” or “pivot turns”. I’ve tried pivot turns with other boards that don’t even offer deck padding near the tail. The end result is often me going plop into the water! Or having to struggle to get my footing with my foot slipping on the PVC and deck cords. 

The rounded shape, wide frame, and the diamond grooved deck padding that goes all the way to the back of the board allowed me to step back onto the tail of the Diatom. Thus allowing the nose to raise slightly to make the board more maneuverable as you follow through with your sweep strokes. 

Overall it was a great day out meeting some fantastic people trying out some fantastic boards and learning a few more things to add to my paddle board artillery! 

It is so great to see my hometown company make such a much-needed impact on the inflatable paddle-boarding industry in such a short period of time. 

Inflatable SUP Authority and Sea Gods also a giant shoutout to David Dreves from Westbeach Paddle who hosted these seminars. Everyone learned a lot from his years of paddling expertise!