Jail Broke SUP
8/21
Words: Ethan Jackson
The summer doldrums have been mighty this year, although we are about to get our first batch of waves in what seems like an eternity. The Who said that there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues and I believe them.
Well, it may not be a cure, but I have at least found something to ease the pain this year. As we all have been made acutely aware, SUPs have rapidly gained popularity over the past several years. They are becoming the tool of choice with the South Carolina masses and are also pretty expensive if you want a decent one.
Then there’s the paddle. Carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum, it’s like the mountain biking tech fest all over again.
I first heard the term “jail broke” a few months ago from a young skater who was describing how he had tricked out his iPhone by hacking code and getting free games up on it. Basically, it is another term for handcrafted engineering that beats the system.
On our local river there is a small standing wave that only a few have managed to actually stand up and ride for a short time. One of the few is Ryan Cockrell and we all hate him for being able to do it. He is also a good friend who is more resourceful than MacGyver and has the balance of a trained cat. Ryan makes jail broke SUPs. They are old windsurfer boards like Hi Fly and Bic with the rudders taken out with an oar that floats. It might not be pretty but it works well (better than, say, this).
On July 4th, a small group decided to show our friend from Mexico how we float on tubes down the river here in Columbia. It seemed that every river rat had climbed out of their meth lab and was there, too. I had one of Ryan’s SUPs and it was a great workout. I think Laird would have been proud. Then again, he probably doesn’t care what I’m doing. There were also a lot of stares, questions and comments, like, “You cain’t drink a beer doin’ that, can ya!” These guys don’t like to see anyone out-doing their party barges.
One day I aspire to own a really nice SUP but I’ll wait it out right now until the trend passes and folks look to unload their used goods.
