“Take a stand” on Deal Lake
New paddle board business offers lessons, guided tours and rentals
A new aquatic activity is available in Asbury Park.
Stand Up Paddle : Asbury Park, or SUP Asbury, allows patrons a chance to take in the sights and sounds of Deal Lake from a new angle – while standing on a paddle board floating right atop it.
The business, a refurbished Wonderbread truck that houses 13 paddle boards, is located on the east end of Deal Lake on the corner of Main Street and 7th Avenue.
Owner Michael Briody [in photo at top] offers stand up paddle board lessons, tours and rentals to patrons who book online via the company’s website.
Private 90 minute lessons start at $70 for one person and decrease depending on the number of people signed up with a group. Rentals start at $50 for an hour.
“You have to take a lesson first before you take out a rental,” he said.
The lessons start on land. Briody teaches patrons how to get on the board, how to stand up from the initial kneeling position, proper mechanics of paddling and how to retrieve the board and right themselves should they fall off.
He also gives general water safety tips, which include things to look out for in the water like rocks and other floating elements.
Using money from the fees Briody’s company provided to the city to operate on the lake, the Department of Public Works [DPW] built a set of concrete steps on the same side of the lake as the current boat ramp for access into to the lake.
“We were originally going to use the old slate, but it wasn’t safe and would have been too slippery,” said Robert Bianchini, deputy director of the DPW.
The steps rise out of the water and up the embankment, which makes it easier for Briody to launch his customers into the water and keeps him out of the way of boaters.
It was something Briody had stipulated when he made his offer to the city.
“We’re out of everybody’s way over here,” he said.
Part of the agreement Briody made with the city also includes “lake cleanup” initiatives.
“It only seems right that I take care of this land,” he said.
Briody is an Allenhurst resident but grew up on Long Island. His connection to the Asbury area and general love for the water came from time spent at his Grandmother’s house near Sandy Hook in Highlands.
“It’s natural that I love to be around water,” he said.
Briody has been stand up paddle boarding for the last couple years, and got serious about it within the last few months, he said.
Right now Briody is the only guide, but prospective employees are coming in and he will eventually hire more people to help him run the tours.
“We have to pick the right people,” he said.
SUP Asbury is open 7 days a week, through appointment.
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