Learning to Paddle with the CANRVRSUP TEAM- “Hear me out”

​A paddle girls' journey from flat to flow! 

“Hear me out” … a newbie’s blog.

That is how most of my conversations with anything to do with SUP start out…

I wanted to learn a watersport. Stand Up Paddleboarding seemed very intriguing back in 2015. There was something serene about paddling while standing on a board, gently gliding over a beautiful blue crystal-like lake, in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, which captured my attention and my interest.

I had to add SUP to my outdoor pursuits as it looked so cool (I was learning to hike at the time). I took a couple of minor intro lessons (trials if you will) in the city to see if I actually liked SUP and I did. But then one day, I saw someone on a SUP, in a river! The Bow River in fact. Immediately, my blood began to race, and I thought, I have to do that! 
Fast forward to 2021. I now have my own board and a bit of SUP gear (I was going to “teach” myself on flatwater before going into a river). I realized I didn’t know how to use half my gear properly, how to get back on the board swiftly if I happen to fall in the middle of a deep, cold lake! Also, I was unsure if the board or my gear could be used on a river, was it safe enough? What were the things I needed to look out for and pay attention to? Clearly, I had no idea what to do. I needed to speak to someone who knew this sport intimately, who could provide me lessons, and not just a salesperson in the sporting store selling me the equipment. 

So, like any modern person, I googled “stand up paddleboarding on river, lessons, Calgary” and the Universe provided! I was led to Reta Boychuk, the highly trained, passionate instructor and owner of CANRVRSUP with the best instructors and SUP company close to home, offering lessons.  

Reta took my call and took the time to walk me through River SUP, the steps and the things that would be taught in her courses with an emphasis on safety. While she mentioned words like “rad” and “stoked”, she had me at “safety first” and the fact that she had all the classes in a progression format: from flatwater to Class One and Class Two River. If all I wanted was flatwater learning, then great, but if I wanted to go all the way, and I did, then she had that all lined up for summer lessons. 

All courses include a Badfish SUP demo!

I immediately booked me and my friend for flatwater to river lessons with Reta’s help. This is where my “hear me out” comes in, as that is how I started the conversation with my friend who thought why would we require lessons? Especially for flatwater, after all, it is just “get on your board and paddle”, no biggy…. Tell that to someone not in a life jacket, no leash, or wetsuit/dry suit in a bloody cold lake! (Yes, sadly it still happens). “Hear me out” I said, “we are going to eventually learn River SUP, but I need to start at the beginning. I want to know everything from square one, learn good habits now, know what to do if I fall, how to get back on the board. Learn about all the gear and the safety measures required if I am paddling alone, or with kids, or pets. Eventually I want to learn to travel on water with my board, sleep under the stars, this will be good for you too! You with me or without me???”

​Suffice to say, she was stoked and totally in…Since we have taken the lessons, our excitement has grown even more as you never know where these lessons will take you. 

It was an absolute pleasure to take our first lessons with Rebecca and Amanda for Flatwater, who described the equipment, gear and safety requirements, as well the proper technique of entering and existing the water. We were shown the proper way to use our paddle (yes, there is a proper way to paddle when SUP’ing). By the end of the first lesson, we were comfortable in falling in deep waters, and getting back on our board. They had our backs the whole time! We were completely safe. Any errors were corrected in a very encouraging way. Our confidence grew to be on flatwater (so did our ego 😊).  

By the end of our second lessons of River Skills on Flatwater with Rebecca, Amanda, our ego got a reality check. My confidence was shaken, truthfully. It was not as easy as it looks. Skills are required and we definitely learned some new strokes and techniques to get ready to maneuver on the river! Quite different than canoeing and kayaking. The instructors were warm, patient but direct, explaining the basics in gear to the more advanced in surf strokes necessary to enter the river.  We were like “this is why we need lessons” …. It was so helpful to have these multiple instructors guiding us, as a few of us took a few extra, unintended dips in the deep. Again, all necessary to be fully prepared for our pending river engagement.

Learn to paddle on a stable board like the Badfish Badfisher!

Photo: Ashley Voykin

Enter Reta for the River skills. Badass instructor is an understatement! She brought us onto a class one River. The lessons learned in River Skills on Flatwater were incredibly helpful for this lesson. If you are not familiar with SUP and want to progress to a Class One River, I highly recommend you take the preceding lessons…

Reta put our newly learned skills to the test and we did well, thanks to Amanda and Rebecca! However, in this lesson, we also learned water movement, the look of the water and what to watch for, entering and exiting “eddies”, how best to board in different weather conditions with high winds for example, she encouraged us to master our various strokes through repetitiveness. 

Yes, she made us fall into the water so we could learn how to get back on and how to assist someone who has fallen in by learning to throw rescue bags. Again, this is running water, you need to know how to be safe and get back on your board in swiftly moving currents! We were made to get to know the water like you get to know your True Love – all this to maneuver the river with more ease and control and have a wicked time doing it with your buddies!
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This experience was such a blast! And I would be remiss if I did not mention that Reta had our safety in mind the whole time. There is no one more concerned about our safety on the waters than Reta, who is also a Swift Water Instructor for Raven Rescue! You will not be in better hands when learning to SUP River and you will not be encouraged more by anyone to go and crush that wave. Extreme stokes to you my paddleboard friends!

Aspiring River Dirtbag / Newbie Blog Writter
-Marie DeLauretis

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