I am so excited to learn as much as I can about paddling! I absolutely love it, and am working hard to make myself better. I hope all of the great info on this site will help me!

I am a lone female OC-1 paddler in FL, my only competition in the state (she was still 5 hours away to start) moved out of the State. I compete against guys, which only makes me stronger, and has made me capable of holding my own. I live on the west coast of Florida, on the Lake of Mexico - so we don't get rough water often. BUT when we do get it, it's narly,big, steep wind chop. I've gotten good at working those waves, and to most people those conditions would be intimidating. If a hurricane comes into the gulf or a cold front comes down in the winter, we'll get swell, but those are easy compared to the other chop. No matter what the conditions, it's me and the guys - I'm still the only girl out there. I am the captain of the Kai Aniani Canoe Club's Wahine team, so I have a bunch of girls just getting into paddling, I hope they will be able to challenge me eventually...

I have goals of doing REAL races in the future. It would be nice to get a gauge of how I am doing amongst other paddlers. It would be awesome to also get to paddle a 6-man in a REAL race too. Hopefully soon!