Larry Froley senior paddle boarding 

SUP may be the perfect exercise for the mature adult because it combines nearly whole body strength work, with virtually no impact; incorporates a cardio component, scalable depending on speed/effort; and finally, it incorporates a superb level of balance training, and balance is one of the first things to go with age!  Overall, it is a virtually perfect exercise, and great fun to boot!!”

– Larry’s words of wisdom for SUP senior enthusiasts.

Larry Froley, BS, CPT, CISSN

Read the following, fascinating profiles of Senior paddle boarding enthusiasts:

Nancy-Breakstone-senior-paddle-boarding 
Larry-Froley-senior-paddle-boarding
Bill-Whiddon-senior-paddle-boarding
Bob-Purdy-senior-paddle-boarding
Judy-Shasek-senior-paddle-boarding.html

Above: Larry Froley at 63 years young, at a favorite local SUP location, Lake Natoma, Sacramento during a photo shoot for “Kaholo Stand-Up Paddle.” 

Owner - Gray Whale Paddle and Froley Fitness Works - 2014

• Certified Personal Trainer – American Council on Exercise
• Certified Sports Nutritionist, International Society of Sports Nutrition
• Certified Kettlebell Instructor – NCKBA
• Certified Functional Movement Specialist I
• Certified Paddleboard Instructor – WSUPA-ASI (Master), Certification

Kathy – How did you discover stand up paddle boarding and what made you come back for more?

Larry
SUP for me started one day in Dana Point Harbor (SoCal) when Ron House of San Clemente (one of the first SUP shapers) was admiring my wood prone paddleboard and offered to let me try one of his SUPs; at that time it was of course a surfboard style board as actual paddle boards hadn’t evolved yet.  I found it an interesting experience, but wasn’t entirely enamored with it yet as the boards didn’t really paddle like a paddleboard.  As time went on and I could see the industry start to evolve, I talked with Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) owner John Harris about designing a wood kit stand up board.  I had already had a partnership with CLC for several years at that point in refining and getting a wood kit prone paddle board to the market.  And so the evolution of the first wood kit SUP began, first with a little experimentation, then ending with one of the early 14’ class racing/cruising style SUPs.  Though there was no official 14’ class at that time, I had a close ear to the industry as a result of my prone paddle board involvement and speculated as to where design and racing classes were headed; we followed a few years later with our 12’6” model.

Kathy – Your extensive background in nutrition, wellness, and fitness is impressive. Share with us your top tips for “modern aging”.

Larry
This topic of course could be a book.  For the sake of your question however, I’ll just list a few key points:

• Move more, eat less. Most people are not active enough on a day to day basis, and eat more than they need.
• Eat less processed and more natural foods, especially green veggies and wild game or grass fed organic meats.
• Eat less carbs.  Most people eat very carb heavy, which upsets metabolism causing insulin resistance, Type II Diabetes and excess cholesterol synthesis.  For most people, carbs will raise cholesterol to unhealthy levels much faster than fat.  Excess sugar and insulin in the blood creates a highly inflammatory condition.
• Lift weights or other heavy things.  Muscle is king for retaining your mental capacity and your ability to conduct the tasks of daily living.
• Consider some supplementation.  Many people are low in Omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium and Vitamin D; this will predispose you to metabolic problems and unhealthy aging!

Kathy – Explain why you transitioned from surf to sup.

Larry
Having moved inland some years ago while a CA State Park Ranger, I ended up with more flatwater around than surf.  Additionally I had been finding a lot of bad attitudes in most surf areas.  I’d enjoyed paddle craft since I was a kid, including canoes and kayaks.  So, I naturally evolved to more flatwater type paddling, including a lot of ocean kayak racing, then on to prone paddleboarding (originally with the idea of staying in shape for surfing, but then learning to enjoy the physical effort and relative solitude), and then on to SUP and prone both, still with occasional kayak and canoe paddling.  I just finished building a wood sea kayak and will be building a cedar strip canoe soon.  I recently finished a couple of prone paddleboards as well.

 Kathy – When preparing for a paddle session, what are the 3 most important safety items you take on-board with you?

Larry
Inflatable waist-pack PFD, whistle and hydration.

Kathy – Of all 50+ participants you have instructed, what percentage of male and females were able to stand up and paddle during a first time experience? Rumor has it that females in general find it easier to learn—is this true based on your personal experience?

Larry
Most all were able to stand up early in a session, but it is true that females often do a little better initially; center of gravity and flexibility play a role here.

Kathy – What advice/encouragement do you express to those who have considered stand up paddling boarding but still hesitate?

Larry
Just gotta try it!  I’ve taught MANY beginners and quite a few instructors, and virtually everyone is successful quickly, and I’ve NEVER had a person who wasn’t completely enthused.

Kathy – Stand up paddle boarding still shows exponential growth from all aspects. Can you share some insight on where you believe it is headed?

Larry
First and foremost, I have been predicting for awhile that prone paddleboards will be the big new thing; interesting of course because they’re not new at all.  However they were always a niche offshoot of surfing, and they’re just now being discovered by the masses as a result of the SUP popularity. Second, I think the SUP unlimited (UL) class will get a lot bigger. Paddlers who come from a prone background (where UL is most popular, especially for distance racing) and crossover surfski and outrigger paddlers used to longer/faster hulls will migrate toward the UL class for speed and covering distance with less effort.

NOTE: As well, Larry is working toward a Masters Degree in Human Nutrition at the time of this post.

Kathy – You are co-creator of “Kaholo Stand-Up Paddleboard” with significant influence on design features for the Kaholo boards series. What do you consider the strong points of the business?

Larry
The Kaholo series wood SUP kits are a joint effort between Gray Whale Paddle and Chesapeake Light Craft.  My paddeboard (and paddlecraft in general) knowledge and experience, combined with John Harris’ kit/boat design and manufacture experience, created a perfect team for easy to build and excellent performing boards. There is nothing like paddling a board you made yourself!!  The SUP market in general is huge of course, and certainly owner-built kits are a niche within that market, but have proven to be very popular.  We currently have 4 prone kits, two at 14’ (high and low volume) and two at 16’ (prone race classes are 12’ stock, 14’ and unlimited, while SUP are 12’6”, 14’ and unlimited), as well as the Kaholo 14 and the Kaholo 12-6.  Although I’ve been in the paddleboard business for many years, and been a retailer, having paddled and tested many boards, the Kaholo 14 is still my overall personal favorite!!

 Kathy – Tell us a little about Kaholo boards and board kits.

Larry
In addition to the wood kit boards I co-design, I also have a partnership with Martie Wells paddleboards to promote/sell his products, and am working with Sea Eagle to promote their excellent Needle Nose SUP series; these are the best inflatables I’ve ever paddled!!

 Kathy – Share your SUP design philosophy.

Larry
Because I personally do much more open water paddling than surfing, my design interests rest with touring and racing style boards, with “touring” to include a wide range of user needs.  Most people refer to these type boards as “displacement” hulls (as opposed to “planing” hulls for surfing), they are in fact “combination” hulls in reality, with a displacement nose and the remainder of the board to the tail is essentially a planing hull.  We design into our kit SUPs some features that create a very fast hull, but with great secondary stability in rough conditions.  Nobody else has done this in this way, but it makes for a board that can be handled by a beginner, but still raced by an expert!

Above: Larry Froley and friends at a favorite local SUP location, Lake Natoma, Sacramento during a photo shoot for “Kaholo Stand-Up Paddle.”
– photo by Peter Spain

Kathy –  What sets Gray Whale Paddle apart from it’s competitors?

Larry
Gray Whale Paddle (GWP) doesn’t really have any competitors in the typical sense.  I’m not a traditional retailer, although I do some limited retail sales of certain accessories, such as paddles, inflatable PFDs, straps, rack pads and a handful of other things.  My partnership with Chesapeake Light Craft includes initiating new designs for wood kit boards, promoting the wood kit boards by exhibiting and racing them, providing tech support for builders, selling unique accessories for modifying and/or rigging the boards, etc. GWP is a “home based” business to allow for significant travel to promote the wood board, as well as other products such as Martie Wells and Sea Eagle (inflatable) paddleboards. That being said, I have substantial storage, display and shop facilities on my property.  Of the accessories I sell, I don’t sell competing brands; instead I settle on one brand that I feel is of the best design and quality, and that is needed by virtually all paddlers.  Most of my paddle sales are my own brand of wood/carbon/composite; these are my design and are made to my specifications in the US by a major paddle company. 

By the way, I don’t sell anything that I haven’t tried, most likely use regularly, and stand behind 100%!! I don’t do rentals at all, but do a fair amount of instruction, particularly the certification of instructors.  Although I’m qualified by WPA and WSUPA to certify instructors, I pretty much limit my instructor certification to PSUPA because of a combination of their mission, pure education orientation, business ethics and progressive thinking.  I serve on the PSUPA Advisory Board as well.  Most unique about GWP is that I was one of the earliest paddleboard specialty dealers anywhere; others in the market at that time were either direct sales shapers, or surf shops that occasionally carried a paddleboard.  Of course the SUP explosion changed all that, although I was also involved in that market well before the explosion!

Kathy –  How long has Gray Whale Paddle been around?

Larry
GWP has been in business since 1992.  I started it as a sea kayak business, originally specializing in sit-on-top designs.  I was an early dealer for Ocean Kayak, and then a long time dealer for Nimbus Kayaks. By around Y2K, I was spending as much or more paddleboarding (prone/traditional of course at that time), and began selling traditional paddleboards from Ward Coffey in Santa Cruz, then Surftech and Mike Eaton paddleboards.  Within a year or so after starting to paddle and sell prone boards I contacted Chesapeake Light Craft about my idea of a wood kit paddleboard for the “stitch and glue” kit market.  In my 22 years in business, the name has evolved from Gray Whale Touring Kayaks to Gray Whale Kayak Company to Gray Whale Trading Company to the current name of Gray Whale Paddle.  GWP is most reflective of what I do, and is consistent with my longstanding web address name GrayWhalePaddle.com. I have no paid employees, but several part time, non paid helpers who have been indispensable in running the business.

Read the following, fascinating profiles of Senior paddle boarding enthusiasts:

Nancy-Breakstone-senior-paddle-boarding 
Larry-Froley-senior-paddle-boarding
Bill-Whiddon-senior-paddle-boarding
Bob-Purdy-senior-paddle-boarding
Judy-Shasek-senior-paddle-boarding.html

This page: Larry-Froley-senior-paddle-boarding