PPP Episode 36: Downwinding the Carolina Coast with Rod and Barry
Release Date: 06/11/2021
PPP Episode 46: Unstoppable with Oscar Chalupsky
tcsurfski's podcast
It's been way too long since we had a chance to catch up with Oscar Chalupsky on the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast. Although battling an incurable cancer, Oscar hasn't slowed down a single bit. He remains a man in perpetual motion. Despite being read his last rights twice in the last two years, Oscar has launched a , appeared on several podcasts and attended endless media events to spread his message of . There is no doubt he is walking the walk and inspiring thousands as he does. In this podcast we cover a range of topics including but not limited to: Current health status ...
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PPP Episode 45: Surfski Development through Competition with Matt Drayer
tcsurfski's podcast
In this podcast I sit down with Matt Drayer who is part of a small team including Greg Barton, Jesse Lishchuk, and Geoff Pearson who are dedicated to promoting surfski development in the US via the Ocean Racing Committee (ORC) which is part of the competition arm of the . Matt and the team have been hard at work over the past year building out a National points based ranking system that allows competitors around the country to submit race results from any surfski race and earn points. They are also launching a pilot program to establish an athlete classification system, that will allow...
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PPP Episode 44: Coaching Session #2 with Dr Brendan O'Neill
tcsurfski's podcast
In this podcast I check in with Brendan to review how the past 10 weeks of training have gone and what I need to focus on in the final four weeks leading up to the Gorge Downwind Champs. If you missed , I would recommend checking it out, and don’t forget you can download the training plan there. But if you’re limited on time, you’ll still learn a lot from this discussion where we cover: What a good threshold interval session looks like Trying to maximize speed/distance per stroke at a given cadence Experimenting with paddle length and stroke length Cadence ladders and simulating...
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PPP Episode 43: Coaching Session #1 with Dr Brendan O'Neill
tcsurfski's podcast
In this episode of the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast, I reconnect with Dr Brendan O'Neill creator of the Vaaka Cadence Sensor. In 2019 Brendan graciously put together a 14 week cadence based training plan to prepare an intermediate level paddler for racing the 14 mile Gorge Downwind Champs. COVID disrupted everything, and I never got around to publishing the plan as I originally intended. In 2021 I was planning to be back at the Gorge and so dusted off the plan, and loosely followed it. I had great results, so in 2022 I used it again, at around a...
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PPP Episode 42: Leveling Up with Giant Fish founder Scott Darling
tcsurfski's podcast
In this podcast I interview Giant Fish founder Scott Darling. Scott launched the initial Giant Fish collection of paddling shorts, pants, and tops in the summer of 2020. Right at the height of the Covid pandemic. Of course it wasn't planned that way, but despite all the obstacles, the product spoke for itself, and quickly became a go to piece of kit for paddlers in the Pacific Northwest. It has been growing steadily from there. As a long time dealer and huge fan of both Vaikobi and Mocke, I wasn't thrilled to have a new competitor enter the space. But after meeting Scott for the first time in...
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PPP Episode 40: Breaking the Mould with Oscar Chalupsky
tcsurfski's podcast
We're back with our most frequent and popular podcast guest, the infamous Oscar Chalupsky. It's always informative and exciting to catch up with Oscar and this podcast is not exception. If you haven't read Oscar's book, , it is an absolute must read. If you're like me, you won't put it down until it is finished. I've known Oscar for 10 years, but reading this book, I realized there is still a lot I don't know. Oscar has led an action packed life and this book is his best attempt to tell it all. In addition to discussing his book, we cover much more including: Paddling out through surf...
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PPP Episode 40: Tragedy on Lake Michigan
tcsurfski's podcast
On October 8th the Great Lakes paddling community suffered on incomprehensible loss when Nick Walton succumbed to hypothermia in a downwind race on Lake Michigan. Nick was a professional canoe racer and over the past couple of years had discovered a love for surfski racing. You can read his full obituary I was a participant in the race and have spoke with many of the racers since the incident occurred. This podcast is my best attempt to explain what I know from this very tragic day. There are lessons to be learned from what happened to Nick, and my sincere hope is that these lessons will...
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PPP Episode 39: Downwind Jam Session
tcsurfski's podcast
This podcast was an experimental downwind jam session. The idea was to setup a Zoom call open to any and all paddlers to join and share their stories and experiences around downwind paddling. I was hopeful that we could share video over the Zoom call and narrate the paddling. That sort of worked, but I missed some key optimization settings in Zoom which mean that the video recording was very choppy, so I haven't yet posted the video recording to YouTube. We had a great group of participants from the US and Canada and covered a lot of great info that I feel will...
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PPP Episode 38: Doing the Work with Rob Hartman
tcsurfski's podcast
My guest on the podcast today is long time friend and paddler Rob Hartman. Rob is a husband and father of three girls. He works full time as a software developer, plays the Upright Bass as an accomplished jazz musician, and has long been one of the top masters paddlers in the US. In recent years Rob has competed primarily East of the Mississippi, where he is a top contender in any race he enters. His most recent racing efforts were focused on the Chattajack where he narrowly missed the overall Surfski win when Carter Johnson came off his draft to outsprint him at the finish....
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PPP 037: ACA Surfski Instruction with Matt Murphy
tcsurfski's podcast
My guest on this podcast is Matt Murphy. Matt is a Naval Architect and Ocean Engineer by trade, who grew up in and on the waters of Northeastern Canada. After school, Matt made his way to Houston, Texas where he currently lives with his wife and four kids. Matt has a very diverse paddling background spanning both racing and multi-week adventures. In this podcast we cover much of Matt's paddling background and the paddling scene in Houston and across Texas, but most importantly we talk about the work Matt has done helping to build the American Canoe Association (ACA) surfski education...
info_outlineIn this podcast episode I had a chance to connect with Rod and Barry of ThePaddleChannel. Rod and Barry have progressed from SUP to OC to SURFSKI and their YouTube channel documents, in full transparency, the trials and tribulations of their journey along the way. They are both super passionate about paddling and more so about downwind. Their videos bring a great perspective that should resonate with both new paddlers and those transitioning across paddling disciplines.
Many of you may have heard of the Carolina Cup, which is one of the biggest paddle events in the US (possibly just behind the Gorge and Chattajack). This race is put on by the Wrightsville Paddle Club which is about a 45 minute drive North of where Rod and Barry paddle at Carolina Beach.
Rod and Barry have an 8 mile downwind that they typically run starting at Fort Fisher and finishing at Carolina Beach or in the Carolina Beach Inlet. This run takes advantage of the the prevailing south/southwest winds that run throughout the summer. There aren't any points, bays, shoals, or other factors to greatly influence the wave conditions along the route, so conditions remain pretty consistent. The biggest challenges are in launching and landing. The launch is directly off the beach, so there is often a surf break to navigate. They have the option of either finishing on the beach or in the inlet, both have their pros and cons which we discuss in detail during the podcast.
Carolina Beach is a busy beach town in the summer, but in the spring and fall things quiet down, but the water is still warm and the wind still blows, making this an excellent time to take a paddling vacation. There aren't many other paddlers or paddle businesses in the area, so your best bet is to take your boat, but you can always get in touch with Barry or Rod and they will be more than happy to help you with finding a boat if possible.
The detailed Google Maps discussion starts at around minute 24:00 on the video and in the podcast.
I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed learning about the awesome downwind conditions along the Carolina Coast. It is now on my short list of downwind destinations!