Stand-up paddlers in Redondo harbor get boaters, harbor patrol support
Redondo Beach city councilman and stand-up paddler Bill Brand expresses his support for the paddleboarding community. Representatives from the Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol, King Harbor Yacht Club, and local stand-up paddleboard shops met Sunday to discuss the growing popularity of stand-up paddling in King Harbor. The meeting at the yacht club drew nearly 100 boaters and paddlers. It was convened by King Harbor Yacht Club member Mark Hansen, a former commodore of the club and a member of the city’s boater advisory committee. Hansen expressed the club’s support for stand-up paddlers, but stressed the need for paddlers to avoid conflicts with boaters. Gene Smith, owner of Tarsan Stand-up Paddleboards in Hermosa Beach, said the local stand-up shops all make sure paddlers they send to the harbor understand navigation rules and wear personal floatation devices (PDFs). “Stand-up paddling is not a fad,” he said. He compared the sport’s growth to that experienced by snowboarding. “When people tell me they think it’s a fad, I ask them ‘Do you ski, or snowboard?’” Jeremy Godokiss, owner of Olympus Board Shop in Torrance, noted that like snowboarding, stand-up paddling was initially viewed as…
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