Bob Purdy – The stuff of tough and other unlearning courtesy of Day 10

Bob Purdy is the “Standup Paddlesurfing, Elder in Training” from “Paddle for the Planet”. He has paddled his Standup Paddlesurfer every day since January 1, 2011 to “Change the Way we live on the Planet”. But it doesn’t stop there, Bob is the founder of “World Paddle for the Planet Day” and is featured in “The Paddler Movie”, released this past January.

Hard to believe, looking back today, that these accomplishments might never have happened! Bob had the idea for “Paddle for the Planet” in mid 2010 after selling Orange Otters, B.C.’s first SUP only store (Standup Paddle Surfing). He made a commitment to share the wonderful sport with as many people as possible after having a chance to see Laird Hamilton paddling in a magazine back in 2007. Bob wanted to combine his love of SUP with a long held desire to send a healthy and vibrant Planet into the future. While talking with the new owner of Orange Otters, Kevin O’Brien from Kalavida Surf Shop, Bob jokingly said, “Why don’t I paddle for a thousand days and do something for the Planet along the way”? They had a good laugh, but the idea sunk in and in mid 2010 after exploring all the reasons to paddle or not to paddle. The decision was made to paddle! Bob took to the water for the first time on Okanagan Lake in Kelowna, B.C. the place he calls home, and it was on that first of January 2011 that Bob stood on his paddle and hasn’t looked back since…well…sort of.

All went according to plan until Day 10 when the wheels nearly came off “Paddle for the Planet”!… What most people didn’t know on that first day was that Bob didn’t have a source of income, a planned job move fell apart a couple of months before Day 1 and what Bob didn’t fully realize was the magnitude of what he was about to attempt…

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