Lake Tahoe Circumnavigation by Breeze Turner & Captain Moo – LEG 1

 
 
Caribbean transplant Breeze Turner and her trusty sidekick Marley are taking Tahoe by storm. Their mission? A complete tour of the lake under their own steam. Just a girl, her dog and her board. Here is her first chapter:
 
 
INTRO

There aren’t too many things I can do in my day to day life that affect me the way paddle boarding does. It’s my exercise, my anti-depressant, my hobby, and my meditation. Paddle boarding has opened me up to a whole new community and allowed me access to countless places and adventures. The freedom I feel when I am out on the water and on my board is addictive, and I don’t see an end in sight for this new-found addiction.

 

With the help of my new friends at Lakeshore, I was able to begin my Summer paddle boarding endeavor: Circumnavigating Lake Tahoe.

 

Now, I know others have accomplished paddling these 72 miles, but has anyone ever made it around the lake with the deadweight of an 80 pound Golden Retriever on their board? Marley, or “Captain Moo” as she has recently been nicknamed, is an avid water dog with an affinity for crawdad hunting. She has been a “SUP PUP” from day one, and she will be joining me on every leg of my adventure. I am definitely no expert on paddle boarding, nor do I claim to have any idea what I’m doing, but life is about exploration, and I’m ready to explore!

 

 

FIRST LEG: Hidden Beach to Glenbrook

I’m not known for my planning. Frankly, logistics are my downfall in life. I often get myself into situations because I get so excited about an idea and I tend to just “wing it” when it comes to planning the details. This caused for a rocky first leg of my journey, when I ultimately got in way over my head and ended up feeling a lot like Tom Hanks in ‘Castaway’.

 

The first leg of our circumnavigation was a 10 mile paddle from Hidden Beach to Glenbrook. It was the maiden voyage for our awesome new Lakeshore Wet Woody Sport and I couldn’t wait to get out there. We paddled some incredible shoreline the first half of the trip, passing the crowds and activity of Sand Harbor, the incredible waterfront homes along East Shore Drive, and cliff jumpers and sunbathers on the North side of Chimney Beach. After a couple hours of paddling, we stopped and met friends just south of Chimney Beach. We had some lunch, took some photos, and leisurely got back on the water at about 4:30, just in time for a killer headwind, darkening skies, and several miles of completely uninhabited coastline (except for the 20+ naked people at Secret Cove of course).

 

By the time we got to Glenbrook, a private gated community on the East Shore, I was half dead. Marley was dragging every part of her waterlogged body off the sides of the board, my stomach was growling, and my legs were about to give out. With 12% battery life left on my cellphone, I was able to coordinate a pickup. My friend had to plead to be let in, telling the gate guards that he couldn’t bear to tell his “lost friend on a paddle board” that the next pick up option would be 4 miles further South. At the mercy of the Glenbrook security, Captain Moo and I finally made it onto dry land. Our 10 mile adventure ended up taking over 4 1/2 hours. I ate two plates of Mexican take-out and slept 13 hours that night. Marley was nearly comatose for two days.

 

About Breeze Turner

Breeze is a transplant from Anguilla, a little British island in the Northeastern Caribbean. She spent most of her childhood on the water, snorkeling, surfing, waterskiing, and exploring, until moving to the US for school. In 2010, Breeze moved to Reno, where she works as a Realtor.

 
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LEG 2

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LEG 9

LEG 10