Never Have I Ever Series

Soaking in nature from a board

Herald intern Ryan Pane tries a new water sport

Posted

Part four in a series

Editor’s note: The Herald continues its summer intern series “Never Have I Ever” this week, with Ryan Pane taking a paddle boarding lesson. Pane, 20, is a rising senior at Marist College.

It was 5:50 a.m. on a recent Friday when my alarm rang. Typically I dread waking before 9, but on this day I was to engage in an activity that I never tried before — paddle boarding at Jones Beach.

Key word: try.

Personally, I have enough trouble standing on dry land, so balancing on a board in the water would be … challenging, to say the least. I also had to overcome my anxiety. I kept hearing the “Jaws” theme in my head. And I worried about falling face-first into the water and getting soaked. Still, I was determined to give it my best shot.

I arrived at the beach at 6:50 a.m. on a perfect day. The sun was rising, the sky was a beautiful pale blue, with few clouds, and the best part of all, the water was flat and warm. I was overjoyed and thankful that I didn’t feel cold when I put my feet in the bay.

Eyes on the horizon

My Instructor for this private session was Eric Leggio, of Epic Paddle Boarding. He said the lesson would be easy and fun. I felt slightly skeptical about how easy it would be, but I figured he was the professional. Why not give it a shot? I tried to remain cool and collected as I entered the water, although on the inside I was anticipating face-planting into the bay.

Leggio demonstrated the basics of how to hold and stroke the paddle, move forward and turn left or right. Then he showed me how to stand on the board, which he did with ease. You start in a sitting position on your knees, then while watching the horizon, stand up with your feet apart.

Then it was my turn to give it a try. I got on the board, slightly rocking back and forth as I tried to get into the knee-sitting position. Paddle boarding, I found, was similar to kayaking.

Then It was time to stand. I stared at the horizon, thinking I would be soaked after this. After a few seconds I started to move slowly, rocking slightly. To my surprise, I was able to get into the correct position. I stood on the board –– and I didn’t fall in the water!

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