Stand Up Paddle Surfing Paddles, Boards and Accessories

Some photos from our Auckland C4 demo and DK (Daniel Kereopa) winning the NZ national SUP.  Over the course of the day we had at least 50 genuine people try out the boards.  This demo was run in conjunction with Fergs Kayaks who drummed up some interest in store.  

We took national SUP champ Daniel Kereopa up for the day and he was the most amazing ambassador for C4 – really taking the time to talk to guys in depth about C4 and SUP in general. - Ben Steward

Visit some shops in NZ with C4

C4 has teamed up with traditional Polynesian tattoo artist Keone Nunes to create two new long sleeve rashguards.

C4's Ted Rutherford writes about the circumnavigation of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands with Robert Zaleski the photographer and Mark Anders the writer for Canoe & Kayak Magazine.

3 January 2009

Hi folks,

Just a quick note about the trip and thanks to all that made it happen, especially to Tara whom navigated the byzantine protocol of shipping excise/customs to the USVI! It was last minute maneuvering that liberated the Holo(holo) from the clutches of the US Customs service in time for the departure.

Day 1: All night travel from LAX to MIA in the jumpseat of an AA 737, with the captain sneezing all over (every seat had someone in it), then a flight from MIA to St Thomas, followed by radical cab ride over the top of the island to the ferry landing. Short ferry ride and a hike up the road to Tamarind Hotel. Met up with Mark (the writer), following a couple of cold beers we sacked out. About midnight Robert Zaleski (photog) rolled in.

Day 2: While enjoying some coffee and a bit of breaky gunfire broke out just up the street; about 10-12 rounds of small caliber semi-automatic rounds killing an owner of one of the restaurants/bars in town (12 years earlier the previous owner of the establishment was dispatched in the same fashion). The rest of the day was spent trying to free the Holo(holo). That night the Bureau of Tourist Affairs took us to a nice dinner at a very nice restaurant.

Day 3: Mustered at the beach of Cruz Bay and got a final chart briefing from Arawak Kayak owner: Arthur. We shoved off, stopping for swim challenge by Mark at one of the nice beaches where he defeated your correspondent in a zig-zagging 300 meter swim around a triangle course by a couple of body lengths (a rematch was coming...) we stayed a tent-eco camp

Day 4: Dawn patrolled to avoid the long upwind leg, passed through Fungi Point, and it was no longer "Fungi" as we faced for the next 7-8 miles of straight in da face 20 knot headwinds with stronger gusts. That night we stayed on the beach where Robert got a cheering fire going on the beach,he kept it going through 3 rain squalls. After a cold, mosquito-full sleepless night we went to find breakfast over in Coral Bay.

Day 5: Gunkholed around looking for breakfast and finally ended up at Coral bay (adding a couple of extra up-wind miles) when we approached we noticed tarpon darting around, then we spotted why: a 9' Tiger shark had just been caught, and was almost dead. Kinda sad to see, as the fisherman were only after it's jaw as a trophy. We heard "hey C4 guy!", it was Gary Francis (one of the sole standup paddlers on the island). He had heard about the Holo being for sale and was interested. After eating a ton of eggs and sticky buns we lit out with new energy, passing some shipwrecked sloop on a reef. We rounded Ram's Head point with a nice tailwind and following sea! More exploring the shoreline then on to the Virgin Island Research Center.

Day 6: A great night's sleep and full bellies at VERS, we got a great tour of the solar powered "off the grid" research facility. Mike Fox (no relation to C4's) was one of the researchers whom gave us a great tour of the lab. We went out to the point where the Leapers used to live and checked out the ruins. We then found waves at Reef Bay, and surfed the Holo(holo) and Kayaks on the tiny clean lefts there. Next explored the sugar plantation ruins and petroglyphs. We had a bit of a hard time finding the bay with the Westin, but rolled in before dark.

Day 7: Nice paddle to our starting point of Cruz Bay, we handed over the kayaks, and gave the Holo(holo) to Gary, he gave us a lift to the posh Caneel Bay, riding in style in the back of his pickup. They almost would not let us into this Rockefeller designed resort. They had been waiting for us to arrive via sea... We were comped some nice rooms and we proceeded to dispatch the 3 bottles of Champagne... it was time for the swimming rematch which almost resulted in a "chumming" of Caneel Bay... Again a great dinner hosted by the board of tourism.

Day 8: Left at dark on the private ferry and cab to the airport and 3 legs home. In my opinion there was a lot of interest in the SUP touring. I could not have asked for two nicer travel companions than Mark and Robert (their photos are outstanding). They both took to standup and were naturals. This is a quick note, I will get the formal debrief done shortly.

Very Respectfully,
Ted Ted Rutherford Jr
Mainland Ops
C4 Waterman Inc