We purchased Naish inflatables, a Mana Air 11'6" for Mark and Naish One 12'6" for me. Inflatable, so we can take both boards and kayaks on the same trips. Naish for quality. Mana for Mark because there aren't a lot of boards for bigger guys, the One for me because it was so much fun to paddle.
We found these boards at Kittery Trading Post, attending their demo day to try these and lots of other boards and kayaks.
These are very light boards, about 25 pounds each. It took me twelve minutes to hand pump my board up to pressure. These boards are comfortable; because they're inflatables they seem gentler both to stand and kneel on than a hard board. They move well into the wind, fly downwind, and turn in a reasonable distance.
Mark's board has two small fins and a large slide in fin, mine has just the one slide in fin. Both fins are 10 inch fins, so using a board is like always having the skeg down. It's taken some adjustment to avoid snarling the fin on branches or muddy shallows.
We plan to use these to enliven trips to familiar paddling locales, and to bring to family gatherings. I think we'll get a lot of people willing to try these boards!
We purchased a paddle as well, but Mark won't give up wooden paddles easily. He just took a 2x4 and carved a paddleboard paddle.
The paddle is the length recommended for him, as high as he can reach. The blades are each about 24 inches long to get enough area to propel the board. The paddle has a hard shouldered loom, making it comfortable to grip.
The chief advantage: when he needs to go up wind or up quicker current.
I wouldn't try that standing up - at least not yet, but I would with Mark's paddle.
It is heavier than a fiberglass paddle, but it's not bad.. We're just out having fun, it's not like we need the lightest equipment. And my primary draw back for Greenland style paddles when kayaking, having water dumped on my lap with each stroke, isn't really a concern with a paddleboard .
