Guest Bio
Pamela Martin is the Owner and Lead Instructor of Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures, a premier paddleboarding company based in Sidney, British Columbia. With a passion for ocean education and a commitment to safety, Pamela offers a range of stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) experiences, including lessons, courses, events, and multi-day coastal group adventures. Her expertise and enthusiasm have cultivated a welcoming community for paddlers of all levels.
Show Summary
In this episode, Pamela Martin shares her journey in establishing Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures and her dedication to promoting paddleboarding in British Columbia. She discusses the growth of the SUP community, the importance of ocean conservation, and the unique experiences her company offers, from beginner lessons to multi-day expeditions. Pamela also reflects on the challenges and rewards of operating an adventure tourism business and her vision for fostering a deeper connection between individuals and the marine environment.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Entrepreneurship in Adventure Tourism – Building and leading a successful paddleboarding company.
- ✓ Community Engagement – Creating inclusive and educational experiences for paddlers.
- ✓ Ocean Conservation – Advocating for marine preservation through immersive activities.
- ✓ Skill Development – Offering comprehensive training programs for various skill levels.
- ✓ Adventure Planning – Organizing unique SUP tours and multi-day expeditions.
What You’ll Find on Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures’ Platform
- ✓ SUP Lessons and Courses – Structured programs to enhance paddleboarding skills.
- ✓ Guided Tours – Curated paddling experiences in picturesque locations.
- ✓ Multi-Day Trips – Expedition-style adventures for immersive exploration.
- ✓ Community Events – Social paddles and events fostering camaraderie among enthusiasts.
- ✓ Ocean Education – Resources and initiatives promoting marine awareness and conservation.
👉 Visit Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures’ Official Website to explore their offerings and learn more about Pamela Martin’s contributions to the paddleboarding community.
Learn more about Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures and connect with Pam at:
https://www.bluejellyfishsup.ca/
Send Pam a Message
Send a short message through this guest feature page. Your email address will be included so they can reply directly.
No need to mention this page. They’ll see your note came through their Big World Made Small guest feature.
Message Sent
Your message has been sent.
Big World Made Small guest features are invitation-only and selected based on story, experience, and fit with the show. Guest support helps make the episode possible, but it does not determine who is featured. This helps keep the show free of third-party ads and interruptions while keeping the focus on real, story-driven conversations.
Guest access: enter your password to unlock your resources.
Incorrect password.
Guest & Partner Resources (Private)
Thank you Pam, for being a Podcast Guest with us.
We’d love to have you join us at the next level and get even more out of your appearance on the Big World Made Small Podcast.
Below you will find access to tools to help you promote your episode and get the most from your partnership benefits. This section is only visible when you use the link we sent, or by entering the password BWMS8873. Do not share the email we sent, or the password, unless you want the person to access the following resources.
Follow, Rate, or Provide a Testimonial
Please use this tracking link to share with your audience:
https://bigworldmadesmall.com/guest/pamela-martin/?ref=guest8873
Cover Art
This is available to all podcast guests.
Download the file to use on your website or social media posts.
Buzzsprout Audio Player
This is available to all podcast guests.
This is the best option for website embeds, especially prior to the release date. Guests can listen to your episode on your website. This player keeps listeners on your site, which is why I use it.
Use this code to embed your Buzzsprout Player directly on your website:
<div id="buzzsprout-player-14921114"></div><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2216718/episodes/14921114-adventure-travel-with-pamela-martin-blue-jellyfish-sup-adventures.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14921114&player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>Full-Length YouTube Video Player
This is available to Base Camp, Expedition, and Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
45 Minute One-on-One Website Review
This is available to Base Camp, Expedition, and Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
Big World Made Small Podcast Pitch Portal©
This is available to Expedition & Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
All Video & Audio Files with Rights to Repurpose
This is available to Expedition and Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
45 Minute Content Strategy Session
This is available to Expedition and Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
Custom Branded Video Clips (12 clips)
This is available to Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
2 x 45 Minute Digital Marketing Strategy Sessions
This is available to Summit Partners.
Upgrade to unlock these benefits.
Review & Suggest Topic Tags
Review Episode Topics
These topic suggestions help keep this episode profile accurate and easier to find. Your suggestions will be reviewed before any changes are made.
Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (00:03.75)
Okay, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast, where we basically work to try and turn this big world into something that feels just a little bit smaller by connecting people around the world and sharing stories. And today we’re so fortunate to have Pam here, Pam Martin from Blue Jellyfish Stand Up Paddle Board Tours. You’re the first person I’ve really had a conversation with about stand up paddle board.
This is our second conversation, but I’m just super excited to have you on here. I learned a lot the last time you spoke and I think there’s people out there that little light bulbs might go off after your conversation and change some trajectories for some people. So as it did for you. So happy to have you here, Pam. Thanks, Jason. It’s great to be here and congratulations on your new endeavor, this awesome, exciting adventure of your own. So it’s great to be here.
Well, thank you so much. I really, really have enjoyed it. I can’t imagine another platform, another way that I could create as many conversations with interesting folks like yourself as I have. So you’re part of that. So thank you so much. And most people that are doing something in adventure tourism have some, a story. Everybody has a story. I guess I just think that adventure tour operator stories are more interesting.
than others, which is part of why I asked you to come on the show. So let’s start with that. How did you get from where you were to where you are now? And just tell us a little bit about your journey.
Uh, sure. Um, I have as many people who are in the water sports industry. Um, I’ve just always been drawn to the water. You know, I was a water baby and grew up, uh, building rafts and paddling across beaver dams with sticks and, um, any chance I could get. I wanted to be near the water. Um, I love the outdoors as well. And, um,
Jason Elkins (02:10.614)
when deciding what my career would to be in high school, I decided I needed something that was outdoors and water-based and I went into marine biology. So I really have just a love for all things, water, lakes, oceans, and movement and sports. So yeah, as I become an adult, actually, became an adult, I started paddling competitively
I did sprint canoe kayak here in Canada, which is gaining popularity and has become an Olympic sport now. And so took that on and then outrigger and sailing. And then one day down at the creek in Oakville, Ontario, someone brought a paddle board down. And this was back in about 2011, 2012, and it really was not something we’d seen much of.
anywhere in our town. And I got on this board on a crazy windy day in a harbor that was like a washing machine. And it was a very unstable board and I just could not stay on. And I’d climb, I’d fall off, I’d climb back on, I’d fall off and I could not stop laughing. And I thought to me, I was, you know, I can’t even do this sport.
and I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. So there’s gotta be something to it and I need to find out more. So then I started seeking out courses and lessons. There really wasn’t much offered in Ontario. So I started flying out to British Columbia to paddle with my mentor here, Norm Han. And then one day I just decided, hey, why do I keep going back to Ontario? I should move out to BC and I can paddle year round.
At that point, I had started a small adventure company with my best friend who was a chef. And we started to incorporate paddle boarding into our tours and adventures. And at one point she was forced to step away from the business due to illness. So I just expanded the paddle board portion of it and suddenly, felt like suddenly I had…
Jason Elkins (04:37.114)
paddleboarding business I was teaching running courses and that morphed into multi-day trips across Canada and now I’ve just recently opened up a shop so we have a paddle and ocean shop here in Sydney BC and yeah that’s where we’re at and we’re coming very involved with the local community we’re expanding our presence.
locally over the next year or so. That’s going to be our emphasis. And yeah, it continues to be an adventure every day. That’s very cool. I’ve got already I’ve got a few questions here. Thanks for sharing that. I guess the first question is, what’s your first memory of the water as a child? Yeah, my very first memory I
I think it’s a memory. Sometimes you don’t know if it’s a memory or you’ve been told the stories and seen the photographs for so many years. Sometimes it’s better for our mental health if we create new stories about our childhood. So that’s okay, whatever you want it to be. Yeah, I have a distinct memory though. I was about two years old, learning to swim or being introduced to the water, the cold water of Cultus Lake in British Columbia. My parents-
parents. I did live in British Columbia until I was five. So I was introduced to the ocean and the cold water at a really young age. And yeah, I just have these memories of being there with my family and loving the cold water and just all being outside and the smell of the trees and yeah, so pretty early on. That’s that’s very cool. I was I was
I guess the reason I asked you that question, because my own memory popped up as I was listening to you and my first memory of the water and maybe why I didn’t end up in the paddle boarding business. My first memory of water was my dad teaching me to how to swim, which for him meant, which for it, there was a canoe involved. Right, and you were not in it. And I was not in it, and it was not my idea.
Jason Elkins (06:48.662)
You know, some fathers are like that, you know, say you swim, they’ll figure it out. Yeah, so I, and, but interestingly, I was in a, in a lake in Northern Wyoming. I was a lake dismet, typical, it’s Northern Wyoming. So it was cold. And, but my memory of it that I’ve created was that when I went underwater, I didn’t climb in, I was thrown in. And when it went underwater, I saw like, think like,
Little mermaid cartoon type stuff. I saw like tropical fish. Yeah, I saw all kinds of magical things that were probably just the fight or flight part of my mind picked in. Besides this is a traumatic experience that you’re going through Jason. So we’re gonna make it as not traumatic as possible. And I had these memories and…
So to this day, I’m not sure. I did get into scuba diving. I actually was a river guide, fly fishing guide. So I did actually end up spending a lot of time around water, but just for some reason, what you were telling me prompted me to go there. So, and then the next question I had is like, so with your business, you had a partner, you were adventure business. You said she was a chef, correct? That’s right. I’m curious what kind of
adventures or experiences were you offering to clients before you saw that person on the pedalboard? Yeah, we always had three components to our events or trips. And there was always a culinary component. She was a Cordon Bleu trained chef and who has now actually comes back to my business now. And she was starting.
her stuff again. So I’m really excited for this coming year. So there was always a culinary component, an outdoor adventure activity component, and music. So yeah, so we started out our very first trips were in Cape, on Cape Breton Island, in Eastern Canada, during the Celtic Colours Music Festival. So…
Jason Elkins (09:03.638)
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the island, but the festivals in the fall and the fall colors are absolutely spectacular out there throughout the island. It’s a very unique location, the community of people. It’s very, it’s all Celtic. You know, there’s, there’s more Celtic accents and dancing and there’s a Celtic school there and this huge international festival where Celtic musicians from around the world come every fall.
And so that’s where we started and it has some of the best hiking in Canada. There’s national parks and the Cabot Trail, which is this beautiful, almost 300 kilometer trail, road trail that you can go around and there’s national park hiking trails off of it. And there the Margarit Valley has spectacular paddling through a salmon fishing river. One of the best salmon fishing rivers in North America. So.
So that’s what we included with our trips. And then even at home, we were doing paddle boarding trips on the river. First it was hiking and winter trips to cross-country skiing up into Northern Ontario. Those sorts of things. We always brought in local musicians to play and then have this fabulous food and just created a connection for everyone involved. Yeah, so.
It was all sorts of things. And then the paddle boarding became one of those components as well. I love that you said connection, right? That’s the recurring theme. It’s actually like my business, you know, Big World Mates Mall. Right. It’s about connection. It’s not about mountains, rivers. I mean, I was going to say food, but the food is the connection, food connects in so many ways, but really it’s about the connection. And I think that any tour operator, that’s like, if you don’t get that.
then you’re probably in the wrong line of work. You probably wouldn’t even want to be a tour operator if you didn’t value connection because I can’t really think of too many other reasons that I’m into tourism other than it all comes, it always comes back to connection. It totally does. Really that’s all there is. You know, it’s what as humans we are all about. And it’s the only way. Whether we want to admit it or not. That’s right. There’s a few people out there that I don’t need anybody. I don’t need people.
Jason Elkins (11:25.762)
That’s maybe they think that, I don’t know, that’s a whole different conversation for a different type of podcast, I guess. But anyway, I’m happy you brought that up. As the paddle boarding became more and more, I guess, integral to the business, did some of those other things like…
Did they go away? I mean, the connection is still there, but it sounds like what I heard was you became really a hundred percent focused on the paddle boarding, the connection, but the paddle boarding as a tool or as a mechanism to create the connection. So are you still doing other types of activities? Where are you at now with your business? Yeah, so when my partner, Yvonne stepped away,
I just, it just wasn’t the same without her. And I didn’t want to run the business the same way. And I just wasn’t, I just didn’t feel the same, running the same kind of programming. So I really morphed into a lot of lessons and courses and multi-day courses as opposed to the travel trip or the events, which were maybe a day event, which was more of a paddle and
meal on the side of the river, those sorts of things. I moved away from that, and just got more into the technical and skills aspect of it. And then over the past few years, I’m starting to add in more of sort of my day tours will have a picnic component or those sorts of things. So starting to add the food and also
Yeah, starting to add the, oops, oh geez. Sorry about that. No, no, that’s fine. For those of you listening, she didn’t get the message about turn off your phone before the interview. But no, that’s great. It’ll probably happen to me here in a couple of minutes. So no problem. But I do want to ask, I don’t know if you want to discuss this, but I’m going to ask you, your partner Yvonne, right?
Jason Elkins (13:40.874)
So what I heard you say was when she had to step away, some of those things maybe just weren’t that as, maybe you enjoy doing those things because you’re doing them with her as having a partner, because having a partner in a business like this can be very powerful as well. But I’m curious, was there anything, why do you think you, other than that, why did you drift away from that stuff? And now I hear you saying you’re kind of adding it back in. I’m just curious what was going on in your world that you didn’t wanna continue that part.
Yeah, she stepped away due to an illness and we had such a, we, she and I had a really wonderful connection that really together, the two of us that, and such, we were single-minded in our view of how we wanted people to come together and what these events would look like. And it was really hard to replicate that with anyone else. And so, and I also didn’t know if she would ever
be able to come back to the business. So for me, it was just sort of a tribute to her not to do things the same way as we used to because it, you know, it was this very special thing that we had. And so, yeah. And so I felt I needed to get away in the back of my mind. I always felt that there would be space for her again and that we could see it again. And this
Jason Elkins (15:08.21)
You didn’t want to get distracted by trying to replicate it with somebody else. It wasn’t going to be the same feel, the same fit, the same passion and joy. So you held space for her, right? So now, and now she’s involved again. And I think that’s so cool. Sometimes we don’t, sometimes we don’t know why we’re doing things when they’re happening, but then we can look back at them and say, Oh, because if you’d continue to do that, found another partner to do that with, then you might’ve got burned out. It might, that might not have felt the same. You might’ve went and did something completely different.
and now you’re in a spot where you guys can come back together and do that. That’s pretty cool. I like that. That’s right. Yeah. And yeah, she already this past year, past season, she’s back traveling with us and cooking on some of our special trips. And yeah, we’re gearing up for next year as well. She’ll be joining us. And clients love her and her food so much, they sometimes sign up for that. So it’s great. We just want the food.
I’ll tell you, I trust that Yvonne will see the video version of this interview as well. And I’m going to tell you right now that she’s going to feel very, those warm and fuzzy feelings about what you just said, because I was watching you as you said it, and I can see the strong connection there. And you can, you’re clearly very excited about the future and what you, the two of you will do. So I’m pointing that out for anybody that’s listening to this, that’s maybe not able to see your face right now.
That’s really special. And that’s one of the great things I love about this type of work. People don’t always create connections like that in other industries. I mean, if they’re really excited about it, sure. But that’s one of the cool things about tourism. And I’ve had a couple other conversations with folks that the bond you develop with your colleagues, partners, employees, many different ways to say that, the people you work with.
is quite different than the bond you would create in a more traditional role. And I’m not thinking of any great examples other than, but if you’re working that kind of Monday through Friday job, you might feel strong connection with your colleagues, but you’re not having the same type of experiences. You’re not together presenting an experience to people, putting together something that they can come enjoy. And the two of you can look at each other and say,
Jason Elkins (17:32.31)
and look at the connection that we created. You can’t create a connection like that for other people without also feeling a tremendous connection with the other people that are involved in creating it. So it’s beautiful, I love it. That’s exactly right. And from the beginning, one of our main mandates when we first started the original business, which was called the Periwinkle Dragonfly Company. I love the name. I love it. I don’t think I would have come up with that name.
Yeah, it was women’s only was this women only adventures. It wasn’t no it wasn’t I know it does have a feel about it though. But no judgment just curious. Okay. The man one of the main mandates with from the beginning which has followed into my business is I was determined that anything we ran or anything we created
the connection was not just going to be between Yvonne and I or Yvonne and us and the clients. For me, it was really important that everyone involved from the person supplying the napkins to the person, to the musicians that we hired to join us at our gathering tables, to the people cooking for us, everyone had to get something positive from this. And
there had to be a spark for everyone. And I, you know, that was my, I was, I’m driven to create that I’m driven to have, it’s not just a client, supplier or client, you know, their relationship, the entire thing is, is created for everyone involved to have a very special moment. And I find when we create that.
It creates just this really special arm and really enriches the experience for everyone. So it’s a lot of sparks going on. Yeah. I get it. And that’s one of the differences I think between maybe if I were to try and define the differences between adventure, travel, adventure tourism and just general travel and tourism, that’s a big part of it. Because with most,
Jason Elkins (19:57.118)
I believe, well, really I would say with all really good adventure tour operators, there’s that throughout the organization, like you said, whether it’s the person setting the napkins on the table or the person cleaning the boats afterwards or whatever, if they’re all excited and happy about what they’re doing on average, I mean, tourism can be difficult as well at times. Yes, oh, absolutely. But if you’re like, if you, at the end of the day, that was always my favorite part of, you know, I’d lead a group trip or something.
At the end of the group trip, and I’d go to the airport and I’d maybe say goodbye to my clients. They’re going their way, I’m going home, whatever. And I just, and I sit there waiting for the airplane and I’m just like, wow, that just like, that felt amazing. Like maybe during the week, I felt like I was working my butt off and I, and it was hard to be, it was hard to always be present cause I’m always thinking about, what’s the next thing I need to do to make sure that, you know, so and so gets what they need, da da. But then at the end of it,
and you sit back and you’re like, wow, that was pretty amazing. And if everybody on your team is doing that, it’s almost like, it’s gonna be good. Like you can’t, if everybody on your team feels that way about their job, I don’t know how you could screw it up. It should be nice with you. Yeah, all right, interesting. So plans for the future, you’re adding more of that stuff back in, bringing back a lot of those elements.
Do you have plans to take this further than Canada? Are you, it’s a weird question to ask because I think you could do a ton of things without ever leaving BC or Canada. But I’m also just curious because I like connecting with people that are doing things all over the world. Are there other areas of the world that you wanna take this or share with clients? Yeah, for sure. There’s real interest from…
a lot of my clients who would like to go somewhere warm. They would like to paddle somewhere warm. No way. Are you serious? I know. Canadians that want to go somewhere warm? Yeah. And before the pandemic, actually, we had some trips planned, which were put on the back burner, of course, and we’re starting to revisit those for next year. And Costa Rica is big on our radar.
Jason Elkins (22:21.57)
So we have an itinerary plan there and also Ireland and Northern Ireland. Very special place, like, you know, interesting culture, music, and the food is getting better there. And yeah, so those are the two international destinations that we will have probably on the books next year. And other than that, we’ve really decided to focus on British Columbia itself a lot more.
It’s just so many wonderful experiences here. And we’re finding more and more people are trying to come here and want these experiences. So yeah, so right now, and we will expand more. I love to, you know, I’m always looking for locations that have that combination of great culture. And of course, we’re always looking for paddling experiences that have, they’re interesting, but they also can accommodate a variety of
levels of skill. So there’s a lot of factors that go into what will make a good trip for us, but definitely interesting culture, interesting outdoor experiences, and yeah, safe paddling for sure. I heard you say we’re really, you know, also primarily focused on your business there in BC and there’s a lot of really, that’s a smart choice because I think it’s a lot of great stuff happening there.
And I do want to ask you about Ireland. Yes. Because if someone, I don’t really know much about stand-up paddleboarding, but if someone said, oh, Jason, you should do stand-up paddleboarding company and take a group to Ireland or the north coast of Ireland, I would be like, why would I do that? But you’ve got some connection there and some history there, so tell me how you came up with that.
Yeah, my partner is a travel writer. And so we went in 2018. Yeah, to Ireland and Northern Ireland. And we were doing a piece. So I’ve started writing and shooting. I’ve been a photographer as well. So we combined our skills. And so we did a piece on traveling in the wake of St. Patrick’s.
Jason Elkins (24:41.89)
So we traveled all through Ireland, Northern Ireland, and paddled in locations that St. Patrick may have landed, or he may have, you know, he was a shepherd for a while, where he may have shepherded. And if he’d been more woke, may have even went paddle boarding. Exactly, yes. So that’s what we did, and it was amazing. And back then, there really weren’t very much, there really wasn’t an infrastructure there for.
water sports and things like that. So we had, you know, we toted our boards along with us and, but got out into some amazing, amazing paddling locations. There’s fabulous rivers and locks and the North Coast is with castles on the cliffs and you can paddle all along below and go into caves and there’s cathedral caves with, you know, sunlight beaming through
the ceiling. Now I understand. I’m picturing this. I bet you got some amazing photography as well, didn’t you? Yeah, quite a bit. And then we were just back this spring to do some more work and of course paddling in a lot of the ulcer away locations. And the infrastructure there now is…
great. There’s lots of outfits that are renting boards and have decent equipment and have some guides. And so it’s hot on our radar again for the next year because we’ve got everything there we need. Since you brought up, it’s come up a couple times, culinary delights, food, Ireland. Tell me about the food scene in Ireland.
Well, it’s, you know. And what does Yvonne think about doing trips in Ireland? Yeah, we haven’t broached that yet with her for there, but yes, she might be into that. I’m sure she would. The food in Ireland, you know, traditionally has been lots of potatoes, and you know, you were traditionally, you go into a pub and…
Jason Elkins (27:00.306)
get served three kinds of potatoes, you know, with one meal. Fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, we could put it over a little bit of ground beef and call it shepherd’s pie, right? Yeah, yeah. But there has been a reconnaissance. There are lots of far I mean, the food there is so healthy. Everything is grown. Most of it’s organic. They don’t even use the term organic because they don’t need to.
Yeah, so lots of fabulous healthy food and it’s a farm to table movement and it’s just wonderful and lots of really interesting little bistros and restaurants and as well as the traditional, you know, and there’s nothing wrong with the traditional Irish cuisine. I’m a potato lover, like, you know, give me mashed potatoes and fries and so it’s great.
Um, but also, um, I’m vegan, so there’s a, yeah, there are, probably adds a layer to it. It did. And we thought it was going to be difficult, but it was not. And there’s, um, pair of celebrity chefs, the happy they’re called the happy pair. They’re, they’re twins. Um, they are very much on a wellness movement and they’ve started this. They have a restaurant in a small town in Ireland and
right near the water and they have a community, they’re all about connection and community and they do it around food and they have a wild swimming community that gets up every morning for the past eight years and walks down to the ocean and swims at sunrise every day. That’ll wake you up by yeah yes and they have a far so we’re starting to see that there is that
as many places, a real emphasis on healthy farm to table food and experiences and with the goal of bringing people together. So, it’s a dream. And I think Ireland does that. Yeah, I think Ireland does that well. I’ve spent some time there and I almost became a vegan there after I had kidney pie. Oh no! I’ve eaten a lot of things in a lot of places. That’s probably the only thing that I absolutely will never eat again.
Jason Elkins (29:20.354)
but I like to try things. And there were things that I wanted to try that I hadn’t had before, but also the connection with the people. I mean, it really is a community of.
There’s maybe some stereotypes when I use the word the pub, but it is a community of get together at the pub. It is. And connect and share stories. And I think it was my first night in Ireland. My guests, my hosts, they ran a fishing lodger and they took me down to the pub and I quickly learned. Yeah, it’s a great opportunity to socialize, but if you’re not used to their level of socializing.
you might want to face yourself. And yeah, I have so many fond memories of Ireland. So I think that’s, so that would be, I would sign up for a trip like that. The other thing you mentioned taking, dragging your boards along with you, I had this moment of, I wanted to ask you, there are inflatable paddleboards, correct? Correct, yeah. And maybe somebody listening to this has kind of thought about paddle boarding, maybe someone’s thinking about it. Like, should I get an inflatable?
I mean, we’re not here to help necessarily people select paddleboards, but I’m curious. I’m going to ask, is that a legitimate thing to do or is that just kind of a gimmicky thing? Yeah, so first of all, what should I buy, an inflatable or a hardboard? Is the number one question that I’m supposed to ask. I don’t feel bad then. All right. OK, that was a good question. Totally. And the answer is it depends. Of course, of course it does. Yeah.
And they’re not a gimmick at all. There are there’s companies like Red, Paddle Co and Starboard. Starboard makes hard and inflatables, but Red has always been, they were the initial company to make high quality inflatables. But they make such high quality inflatables that most people don’t even know it’s an inflatable. They can touch it and feel it and it feels solid.
Jason Elkins (31:24.842)
Yeah, so the high quality ones will pump up to really high PSI. So they’re really rigid. Um, and they’re a great option. So if you, um, don’t have somewhere to store your boards, a hardboard, you know, do you have a, somewhere to store a 12 foot, 14 foot long board? Maybe not. So an inflatable will fit into your car trunk and you can leave it there or it’ll fit into your closet, uh, rolled up. Right.
I mean, I guess you could travel with anything, but is it a reasonable thing to travel with this, with an inflatable on an airplane? Totally, it’s easy. Yeah, throw it on. It just goes on as regular checked luggage. You don’t even have to pay the extra fee for sports equipment. Nice. Are the inflatable paddleblurreds, how long have they been around? Have they been around a long time or is that kind of more recent?
No, they’ve been around a long time. I’m not sure when Red was the initial company, I’m not sure, but they’ve been around over, you know, well over 10 years for sure. And they just keep getting better and better. And, and yeah, so the differences, they’re also great site. Some people don’t want to be lifting a heavy board on top of their car. So you can leave them inflated and they’re
You’re easy to throw up, easy to carry, they’re lighter, they’re easy to carry down to the water. The drawbacks to them are they’re not great in wind. So even the best inflatable will not perform as well as a good hardboard in the wind because they blow around more, they’re lighter. Yeah, they just don’t track as well and they’re much lighter. So.
But not everyone’s out there in the wind. I’ve got so many questions that the listeners are going to be like, Jason, we don’t need to analyze this too much. But I’m curious. So I guess I’ll boil it down to if someone’s listening to this and they’re thinking, you know, I think I’d like to try paddle boarding, but nobody does it around me. Maybe I can go on Amazon or maybe I take a trip somewhere and I buy a paddle board, rent a paddle board.
Jason Elkins (33:43.826)
What should somebody know? Like you said the first day, you had a hard time standing up on the board, but you still thought it was a lot of fun. So is this something like people should like, because I’m kind of impulsive sometimes, and I might like, I’m gonna go buy a paddle board. And okay, I’ll probably need a life jacket and a paddle. And then after one day, I’m like, holy cow. So do you always recommend people do a rental? Is it important to do a lesson the first time? I mean, obviously that’s part of your business, you do lessons and.
people can do lessons, whether they’re brand new beginners or want to do advanced, and I get that. But I guess like, are the chances significantly higher of somebody enjoying it if they go do a lesson or is it something they can kind of do on their own? And then, I mean, do you know what I’m trying to get with this? Yeah, yeah, you know, it depends on the person, right? I mean, a lot of people like to just go and throw themselves in.
something impulsively. That’s me, right? For sure. I mean, that’s how it started. A lot of us, a lot of adventure travel type of people are like that. Yeah. But we’re not always our target market. I’ve discovered that. But when I first did it, it was sort of the first generation of modern paddle boards where they were really tippy. They were more like a
a windsurf board, which is, you know, it’s our surfboard, which is tippy, they’re not tippy like that anymore. So, you know, you could go to a rental place and you could get a most rental, like all the rental fleets now are just stable. There’s the boards are stable. So it’s not that hard to go out and you know, most, most rental companies are reputable. So you’ll have the PFD and everything included. One of the things though that
they’re usually included now, they haven’t always been, and it depends where you go. And I would recommend that if, say you were gonna go somewhere warm and you thought like, I’m going to Hawaii or something, I’m gonna try paddle boarding, right? Is the use of a leash. So you have to have your PFD, but as important, or maybe even more important is using a leash that just like a surfboard that you would strap onto the board and then onto your ankle or your calf.
Jason Elkins (36:03.022)
You could buy one of Canadian Tire or so, you know at a local sports thing for that. Where did you say? What did you just say Canadian Tires are our community? They all think sports and automotive you go down to the tire store to get a leash Okay, but I have been to Canada as well and I do remember yeah So meaning made basically that it’s not there. It’s $30 for this piece of gear that’s you know, it was tiny and
you can stick in your luggage. And I would always, always use a leash. Like don’t go out on a board. Do you leash your paddle as well? No, because you can prone paddle like a surfer. If you drop your paddle, they don’t sink, they float. So you know, you can just get yourself over to them. No, so we don’t leash the paddle. But if you’ve got your board, it’s a huge floatation device. When you open
Is your retail shop is open now? It is, yes. How long have you had the doors open? Just softly open since July, and then we’re gonna have a grand opening maybe in the new year when we get more stock. And we were just really concentrating on our, finishing up our season and then starting to stock the shop. But we have a few things now and we’ll be getting more in as we go. So these questions I’m asking you are the-
you’re going to be answering these same exact questions 42 times a day guaranteed, right? Totally. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I already do. And it’s great, right? You want to, yeah, it’s good. Yeah. And as soon as you open a retail store, that magnifies because of your website, people that are going to reach out to you through your website or your classes or whatever, they kind of, they seeked it out. They looked for it.
Yes. Where you’re going to have the curious guy like me. They’re like, I’ve never thought about getting on a paddleboard. I don’t know anything about paddleboards, but I’m the guy who walks down the street. And if I see a shop and I don’t understand what that shop is, no matter what it is, I’m going to walk in. It might be, they walked by one the other day. I was like, totally fascinated. It was a, you know, one of those design your own perfume type of shops. I was like a deer in headlights. I just.
Jason Elkins (38:23.166)
stopped and I’m looking in there and I think I’ve seen them before but it just like it just caught my attention and it took everything I had not to walk in there and ask them about no I didn’t I didn’t like oh to adventure or something yeah like what do you have part of it’s because I’m in Colombia my Spanish is pretty good but I don’t really want to put them through having to listen to my Spanish to answer questions that are probably not going to result in the sale because I’m not even in the market for
perfume. Yeah, I’ve walked into so many like, what is this you sell? How to who buys this? What are all those questions? So which is why I started a podcast so I can just ask people questions that I think other people might want to ask. So thank you. Thank you for your thank you for your patience. Let’s, let’s talk a little bit more about British Columbia, why the area that you’re in? What makes it unique? What people that haven’t been there whether because obviously we’re talking about
stand-up paddle boarding, but we’re also talking about BC. So help get a picture for people that aren’t as familiar when they should come, what kind of things are there to do, what should they do? Yeah, in British Columbia, we’re on the West Coast of Canada, of course. And I’m on Vancouver Island, so most of my programming is here because there’s so much to do. And it is, I call it the land of seas, trees, and peace.
So it’s ocean all around us, trees, old growth forest in many areas. You know, you get off the plane in the outside of Victoria and the first thing you smell isn’t the ocean actually, surprisingly, it’s the cedar trees. It’s the beautiful, fresh smell of trees. And then just so there’s so much open, you know, forest and wilderness.
just pure wilderness. And the people are very laid back. We have a very, you know, you’ll see stickers on people’s bump on their bumper stickers. Like you’re on the, like slow down. You’re on the island now. And that’s what it’s like. It’s a different lifestyle here than the rest of Canada. It’s, people are here usually because they love the outdoors and they’re…
Jason Elkins (40:47.19)
their lifestyle is very much outdoor oriented. So all sorts of opportunities like hiking, any ocean sports, paddling, sailing, lots of road trips here, lots of really famous, which areas have become famous like Tofino, most of the world doesn’t know about Tofino these days, it was an old surf town and now it’s gentrified a little bit but it’s still very special.
a five hour drive from anywhere you want to go and just very remote and yet very wonderful. Yeah. So that description for me begs the question, who is it not for? Because I’m kind of picturing, okay, the people that might enjoy it, but sometimes there’s places that are amazing, but they’re not for everybody. Some places, you know, I speak with some people that are like, yeah, everybody can find something to do here because we’ve got.
city, nightlife, to beaches, to this, to this, to that. But in my mind, and I’ve been to BC, I have not been to Vancouver Island. Who is it not for? Well, it is one of those places where there’s something for everyone. We have Victoria, which is a small city. It’s a beautiful city. It’s our capital, the BC capital. So we have beautiful, historic government buildings with the waterfront right on the ocean.
anywhere on the island, you’re minutes away from the ocean. So yeah, so opportunities for all sorts of things. There’s a famous Bouchard Gardens for people who love to wander through gardens and just scenery and scenery. There’s, you know, soft adventure like whale watching and you can rent bicycles to go around town and things like that. It’s also for people who
just really want to get away and get out into the middle of nowhere. It’s for surfers, it’s for hikers, it’s for people and their dogs, it’s for families, you know, collecting beach glass and sea stars and sand dollars. And there’s tons of wild bunnies that you can almost pet. Like it’s just, it really is a place for everything. There’s world-class mountain biking, world-class surfing. Yeah, sailing.
Jason Elkins (43:11.746)
boating and just, yeah, just the wandering around. People love Victoria. It’s often voted one of the best places to live. Is it growing quickly? Cause usually when you get a place like that, you know, that can be a challenge, right? Yeah, it is. I mean, there’s a fair number of suburbs, but it’s not like sprawl, like say you would see in Toronto or anywhere else, some of those bigger cities. It’s a much smaller, more intimate.
city. And when I first moved here, there were so many things to do. And there were so many, there was just so many activities going on that were free, like festivals. And there were two festivals and there was like all sorts of riftlandia, like crazy music festivals and food festivals. There were so many things to do that it was overwhelming. And a lot of it is free.
So it’s that kind of place, right? And great dining. We have a really great dining scene all over the island within Victoria, but also in lots of the smaller communities. What’s the icon? Like I have not had lunch yet. I’m not sure. But you’re a chip. And I keep talking about food. And I’m like, oh, what’s the iconic kind of, I don’t know if it’s BC thing, Victoria or.
Vancouver Island, what’s the iconic thing that everybody is like, Oh, I gotta have that one there. I mean, I have some ideas of what it might be, but I want to hear from you. Yeah, interesting. You know, I think more and more it’s a lot about the fresh, the fresh produce, fresh produce, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables. We have tons of farm stands that, you know, you can drive down the road and there’s
stands. And it’s a real, a real joy for the people who live here and people who visit to be able to, to do that. You can buy farm fresh eggs on the side of the road, flowers and yeah, and, and lots of it’s really about locally made and locally sourced here. And it’s just becoming more and more. So, so locally and local cideries, we having a lot of cideries and we actually have a lot of vineyards
Jason Elkins (45:36.202)
with historically using old, um, the cideries use old fashioned apples and things that have been growing, like the trees have been growing for, you know, probably a hundred years here and there at heirloom species. So I think, you know, there’s not one specific food or dish. I think it is more of that locally sourced, um, just fresh, delicious, healthy food.
Jason Elkins (46:06.606)
If I were to ask you, what’s the difference between Northern Washington and Southern BC? There’s a lot, I’m sure. Yeah. What do you think? I give somebody’s… because some people might say, well, I’ve been to Seattle. I’ve been, you know, I don’t need to go there because I’ve been to Seattle. I’ve been to Bainbridge Island. I’ve been somewhere in that area, but I’m sure there’s some differences. Or maybe there’s not. I don’t know. You tell me. Um, I think…
You know, I think I’m going to say it’s the people, I think. It’s our way of life and our expectation here. You walk down the street, and I live in Sydney, but even in Victoria, you walk down the street, people look you in the eye and they smile, they say hello. Go back home to Toronto, and if I look someone on the street, in the eye on the street, and Toronto’s a friendly, safe city, but they, you know, there’s still a city.
And if you it’s that same sort of thing, if you look them in the eye and say, I don’t know, but here, people want to engage. And you walk down the street and everyone says hello. And that’s common throughout British Columbia throughout, even within the cities. It’s. So I think it’s very much that. And it just also the diversity of things to do. Yeah.
from intellectual pursuits to outdoor, to just all of that. Very cool. I think we’ve discussed a lot about BC, a bit about paddle boarding. What do you want people to know about your business? So like, if somebody is listening to this, because sometimes it’s just hearing an idea. You might say something that somebody’s like, oh my gosh, I never would have thought of that or didn’t make the connection. So what do you want people to know about
your business, padboarding, really anything, I guess, that might prompt them to, what I always say is like, get up off the couch and go do something. I’m sure people listening to this are not sitting on the couch too often, but what is there that you think they should know to help them get up off their couch and go do something?
Jason Elkins (48:23.242)
Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Probably most people listening to it are already active. I think one of the things that I’m really noticing lately in the past few years is the interest in the sport for older people.
Jason Elkins (48:52.27)
it’s just becoming very attractive to people like 60 plus. And some people who maybe, you know, didn’t think that they would be able to do something like this, or maybe they used to be athletes and now, you know, they’re in their 80s and even 90s. I have a man who is 90 years old in his 90s and was a competitive runner. And…
I forced him to come out for a paddleboard lesson and he was kind of grumbling about it. And I thought, oh man, I’m not sure how I’m going to adapt. Like, you know, as soon as you see the clients, you’re figuring out how to adapt it and meet them where they’re at so that they have a- Was that when your company name was still like sprinkles twinkle muffins or whatever? No. It was when it was- That might’ve been part of it.
much different. Okay, so she talked him into it. He came out. He got on the board. He listened. He you know, he did all the introductory stuff. And then all of a sudden, I saw a light in his eye. And it was like, something changed. And he started to paddle faster and harder and faster. And suddenly he was gone. And we’re like paddling after him. Just trying to get away from his wife.
Yeah, no, he suddenly it all clicked and, and it, it offered him an opportunity to get back to that, you know, feeling of, of freedom. Is it freedom to is it freedom to because what I’m hearing when you’re describing this 90 year old man who used to run an athlete. Yeah, that’s like, I can see that. Oh, freedom, I can.
this way, I can go that way, I’m being active, I’m doing something, I’m by myself on the paddleboard. That’s, I see the value. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so, so that was a huge success story. So I see that a lot. I see it as a way, and a lot of professional athletes and stuff too, who have, you know, we used to be hockey players and now can’t, just can’t play anymore.
Jason Elkins (51:08.354)
or it’s giving them that other opportunity because you can get an incredibly hard workout with low impact. Yeah, I was thinking, yeah, low impact. And I’m relating this to, I mean, I’ve done the kayaking, canoeing, so I know that there’s that, the balance thing. I shouldn’t be doing hand and arm signals here because we’re on a podcast, but I think of like at the gym, they’ve got those boards that have like half of the yoga ball or whatever, half of the ball and you stand on it.
Yeah. And you like, you just try and balance, which works all of your core. Yeah. So, you know, you get a great workout, but you’re not banging up your knees. You’re probably not likely to fall off and hit it. If you do fall off a paddle board, probably it’s not going to, you’re not going to hit anything too hard. I mean, I’m sure there’s situations where it could be, but yeah, it seems like a pretty ideal workout. Yeah. And I’m so happy to ask you that question. Yeah.
And boards now are so stable that it’s really, you’re not going to, like, it’s not gonna tip over. Some people think the board’s gonna tip over. They don’t tip over. So they just don’t. So unless you’re on a race board, right? So you’re not gonna start out on a race board. So they don’t tip over. So, and you just take your time. So you can have, people have just as much fun sitting on the paddle board.
If you don’t ever want to stand up, you can still get out there and paddle and take your picnic and go for a, you know, this awesome paddle and never stand up. And I have clients who like, they just want to be out in the middle of the water. You can even take an anchor and just sit out there and meditate and lie, you know, do some yoga or just lie and have a nap if you want. But so yeah, so I’m seeing a lot of that. It’s older people who are.
Sometimes it’s just a bucket list thing they want to tick off, but they’re really embracing it as something that they can do as they get older. And we’re building a community here, and you’ll see it in a lot of other locations too. It’s a real great way for people to come together. We do social panels and things. And the reason is to bring people together so that they can then go off on their own and not always have to.
Jason Elkins (53:28.018)
hire a guide or you know they can get out together so. Then it seems for some reason this analogy or whatever is to like biking maybe the biking community because biking is both a solo endeavor as well as a social endeavor you can do by yourself you can do with the group and my son he’s 17 and he’s just been super excited about these bike ride outs that they got.
where he goes, you know, a little bike shop will get a group of riders and they’ll just go ride for 15, 20 miles on different trails. It’s actually in Phoenix, so it’s in, pretty much in the city. But he’s so excited about the opportunity to meet other people, to do something he really enjoys. He gets to do it with other people. So when you describe, you know, the groups getting the groups together and going and doing this, it’s like, oh yeah, that’s gotta be pretty, pretty similar. So yeah, that’s- That’s a great comparison. Yeah, it’s a great comparison.
you know, I get people who called, he’ll say, you know, oh, I’m going to be in town for, you know, on such and such a date. Are there any, and I’m looking for people to paddle with. So people are able to do that, right? So, which is great to be able to facilitate that and say, oh yeah, you know, our shop is going to have a paddle or, on the peninsula here where I am, we have a great collaborative relationship with two other.
paddle shops too. So if we’re not doing something, you know, you can go paddle with them or them or so. Yeah, it’s becoming a destination thing. People are like, well, I’m going to visit there. And it’d be great to get out and paddle with someone. So yeah, I like it. I’m intrigued by the whole thing. I’ve got so many thoughts going through my head. I was I was a fishing guide. fly fishing was very, very important to me and still is for many years and
It was tough because it could be very individual and it was fun to go fishing with other people, but when you’re fishing, you need a little bit of space, especially fly fishing. So you’re always kind of limited. Like you don’t say, Hey, we’ve got 30, 40 people, let’s get together and go on a fishing trip because it just doesn’t work. It’s you, maybe one, maybe two other people. And even then you’re 40, 50, you know, a hundred, a hundred feet down the beat or the beach or the river, whatever.
Jason Elkins (55:46.806)
Whereas I can imagine like the paddle boarding, you can be having kind of your own experience, but you can also be five feet from somebody and having a conversation. And the social aspects of it are pretty cool. I’m intrigued. I’m gonna do it. Okay. Oh, you should come. You should come. You told me. I’m in. I’m gonna wait till it warms up a little bit up there before we do it though. Cause I don’t wanna fall in that cold water. Maybe I’ll wait. I’ll meet you in Costa Rica. How’s that?
Okay, oh, that sounds good. I love it. Because I’m imagining falling off my board, not that would happen, but into the British. Well, maybe that does that come up? Do when you paddleboard there, do people wear wetsuits or yeah, what should people know about the British Colombian waters and falling in? Well, our you know, our lakes are similar to
other places like Ontario, wherever. So they do warm up, but ocean paddling, of course, the ocean never really never really changes beyond maybe two to four degrees Celsius. So that it’s always it’s always cool. Although there are some remote locations which are warmer, but most people won’t get up there. In the summertime, you know, it’s warm enough here, people are wearing their bathing suits in there. What they would wear anywhere else.
shorts and t-shirts. As we start to get more early spring or into the fall, some people will choose to wear our wetsuits. And then through the winter, we’re wearing dry suits and neoprene and different. I realized based on your response, I realized I had this false conception that we’re talking about sea paddle boarding this entire conversation. And then I had this little ah moment.
I have no idea what percentage of your paddling, maybe your classes, your workshops and stuff like that are on still water lakes as opposed to saltwater. I’m mostly saltwater just because, I mean, that’s where I am. That’s what’s most around us. We, closest to me, we don’t have a lot of rivers that are great for paddling. But if clients, some clients don’t want to be on the ocean.
Jason Elkins (58:10.686)
They want to be on a lake. So there are a few lakes that if that’s what the client wants, then I’m happy to go. I was just curious when you mentioned that sometimes the lakes warm up. I thought, oh, maybe I’ve got a misperception going on. All right. Killer whales. Yes. Do your clients freak out about that?
Really? Do you even see them? Yeah, we do sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been on the been on the water when there’s a pod of killer whales or orcas hunting. So that was interesting to see. But I’m gonna ask, I’m gonna ask you, do you have like scary stories around that, that you’re willing to share? No, no scary stories at all. They mean, they’re, they’re not interested in people. And there’s
not interested in harming people. They’re eating fish and seals. So, you know, that’s it. And no, it’s more of a magical experience of, you know, if you do experience that, it’s pretty special. And yeah, so no, no. I think so too, but I have a feeling probably some of your clients or potential clients have asked you that, haven’t they? Yeah, well, you know, there are people who don’t even want a seal to come.
come near them, but most people are pretty excited by the thought of it. Pretty cool. Sounds like a lot of fun. Super excited to see as you kind of re-expand your program. I’m not sure what word you’re using to describe it, but it sounds like with Yvonne coming back, you’re going to add some new stuff or re-add some stuff back into it that sounds really cool. What you’re doing already is cool in itself. The shop.
I’m impressed. So thank you for taking time out of your day to come chat with me here. Is there any last minute stuff you wanna mention before we wrap it up? Just, you know, come on down in the summer and we’ll take you out on the water and you can try it out. And yeah, just for everyone, give it a try. And yeah, it’s pretty magical experience to be out on the water under your own steam.
Jason Elkins (01:00:24.31)
It sounds really, really cool. I also noticed that you said, come on down. And that’s because you live in Southern Canada. That’s right. Because I would never describe BC as coming on down. That’s true. I guess, come on up. So anyway, Liam, thank you so much. It was a real pleasure. I look forward to working on some projects with you in the future and reconnecting. So thank you. Thank you for joining us. What, Jason?
Follow 205+ Leaders and the Stories That Shape the Adventure Travel World on the Big World Made Small Podcast
Access the stories here, or on your favorite platform; wherever you prefer.
Get Expert Interviews Delivered Directly to Your Inbox
Join the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast community and we’ll send you new podcast episodes weekly, and make sure you hear about exclusive and relevant opportunities that you won’t find elsewhere.