While on holiday at Plet over the Christmas break we often watched a group of guys paddling just past backline. It looked like fun but unfortunately they were too far out to ask them about it. I hope that you don’t mind but how does one get started – Steve.

Hi Steve unfortunately you do not say where you are from but clearly Plet is not your home town. Your first port of call is to head down to your local club. If you just let us know where you live we would be happy to connect your with your closest club. If you are from up country then we would recommend that your join a club and try out river paddling as a sport that you can do all year round. If you live on the coast and would like to try surfsking in particular then your best bet is to join a surfski school and get a couple of lessons first (also see our article on safety in this edition). Once you are comfortable in your boat you can then join a social group and paddle off shore. Whether you take up river or surf paddling we recommend that you find a group of local paddlers to paddle with as they will understand the local conditions and be in the best position to advise you. Lastly paddling is a bit like learning to ride a bicycle the more you practice the better you will get so enjoy and let us know how it goes.