20km hiking with Jobe Yarra

My cycling buddy cancelled a bike ride on a beautiful Sunday in June and I didn't feel like going alone, but I was in the mood for a longer aerobic sport. The temperature was in the low teens and there was little wind, so my eyes turned to the lake, where just ten kilometres away would be a good lunch spot Heimari...a quick look at the equipment at the summer spot and there happened to be a 10.6 in the car Joben Yarra soup, left over from a demonstration. The Yarra is definitely not the most optimal long distance board due to its shortness, rounded stern and wide bow, I would have preferred a faster and more directionally stable one Dunan or Neva, because it would be about 20km. However, I decided to leave the optimization and the rush aside and thought that what's the rush in the ready world and let's go with Yarra, just reserve more time and food, and not to pull with such a total sporttaus.

I threw a frisbee golf course (Heimar has a nice 18-lane course), chips, water, juice, zero coke and a beer, so everything a true athlete needs! I folded the backpack under the cover straps so that the small pocket of the backpack is easily accessible. Bring your vest, your cell phone in a waterproof case, sports tracker on and off you go.

I set off at a pretty fast pace, with the idea of "no breaks to get there" with such a modern man's rush mentality - luckily the serenity of the lake and the perfect peace of the surroundings made me rethink and I started to fantasize sometimes along the shores, where you can observe nice underwater life in calm weather and sometimes I sat on the board and opened the canteen from my backpack or threw the potslojo on its back on the board. I took off my vest, put on a cushion, grabbed a drink and let the wind take me quietly - even if in the wrong direction - whatever, it's summer - and gave myself full marks for abandoning the "no breaks to get there" mentality!

In the end, the 9.5km (counting reckless sailing with the wind) journey to Heimar's lunch table was completed in 2h 33min, with an average speed of 3.7km/h. A good lunch in the mask, after which I bumped into my middle school age friend and his better half. Frisbee golfing turned into storytelling and I had so much to talk about that I decided to stop at my friend's cottage half way back to continue the storytelling.

The weather was still great, the half clouds were just a plus this time, so it didn't get too hot as the journey was quite a way.

On the way back I decided to ride without any float breaks, as I had one longer break at my friend's place. The weather stayed the same with 0-2m/s wind and I put the sports tracker on pause after a 5km paddle at my friend's cottage. On the way back to the home beach the tracker showed 1h 49min and the distance without wind drifts was 8,4km, of which the average speed for Yarra was a pretty brash 4,6km/h - the mild breeze was blowing so much that it was sometimes hard to tell which way the wind was blowing, but I think it was more to the clockwise side, that 4,6km/h is a bit too flattering for Yarra.

On the Yarra you have to change the paddling side a bit too often, so directional stability is clearly the biggest shortcoming for trip paddling. The bending of the fibreglass paddle also takes a bit of speed away. Of course, the Yarra is not made for touring, but as an easy all-purpose board for all uses. In the corresponding 10.6. Saimaa SUP Sun this lack of directional stability has been remedied by a larger and deeper fin and an unyielding carbon fibre paddlewhich makes the board more suitable for touring.

For speed comparison, the hard-bodied Joben Angara the raft travelled in rough weather in variable conditions (around the island) at an average speed of 6.6km/h, read more here in my other post, where I compare the speed of the boat with Joben's Parana and Angara trucks.