TACOMA, Wash. — For Doug Barclift, the owner of Big Bus Paddlesports, any morning that promises people will eventually be standing up on a paddle board in Puget Sound is a good morning.
"In general paddle boarding is a really really accessible thing," Barclift said. "You just need a board, a paddle, you need a life jacket, you need a leash, right? So the barrier to entry is very low."
Sundays are especially rewarding for Barclift. He's not just renting boards. He's teaching people how to use them.
"We are at what I officially refer to as the nicest patch of grass in Tacoma," Barclift laughed as he helped warm up members of the Seattle chapter of the recreational group Outdoor Afro.
"Sometimes it's easier to learn a new activity in a group," said Tasha Stukes, who booked the private party after reading a Seattle Times article in which Barclift said, "Lately I've been trying my damn hardest to get Black women into the water."
"Doug is a really good example of black leadership in nature," Stukes continued. "And Outdoor Afro is all about black connections in leadership and nature.
"So to come out here with a group of brown people and have our own private event, to learn from someone who is going to take their time, and understand the hesitation that Black people specifically may have in water, it's a real privilege to be out here with Doug today."
Barclift knows some people may dread the water, so he asks questions.
"What are you afraid of, what's stopping you? And then we try and inform that fear because fear is commonly what stops us from doing anything," Barclift said.
Barclift is overcoming his own fear. He was afraid he'd never rent enough paddle boards to pay the bills and he was afraid he'd never be a good enough teacher to make this new business venture work.
"Honestly I was nervous about teaching," he said.
But we got waist deep in the cold water with Barclift and discovered he had a way with the wary.
"Splash some water on your face," he told a woman completely new to the sport.
She dunked her head and came up saying, "Oh! I think I taste the salt!"
"Got to keep your mouth closed when you do that," laughed Barclift. "I forgot that one precious step!"
Derek Bryant had never tried to stand up on a paddleboard before.
"My son paddleboards, my wife paddleboards, so now it's time for me," he said.
Barclilft held the board steady as Bryant stood up. But when Barclift let go of the board and told Bryant to back up a few inches, Bryant wound up in the water. He would fall in four or five times.
"He kept falling in the water and he kept persisting," Stukes said with admiration.
"I learned to keep my eyes on the horizon and I learned the sound was cold," Bryant laughed.
"Well I learned that the ocean isn't as scary as it might be in your mind," Stukes said.
"A lot of times people are afraid of not being able to see the bottom," Barclift said. "They're afraid of not being able to swim or not feeling like they can swim well enough, or sharks."
Barclift laughed again.
"The running joke is if you see a shark it's already way too late," he laughed again.
By the end of the session Barclift had every member of Outdoor Afro up on the board. Some looked quite comfortable
"This is filling the cup for me," Barclift said. "What turned out to be a moment of fear for me turned out to be just a whole other form of celebration."
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