Nicole Sanchez, Maui photographer extraordinaire, e-mailed me some shots from my day of stand-up paddling with the Fabulous Maui Surfer Girls. She's clearly a fantastic lenswoman, because she made me look like a pro ...

First, I had the honor of taking a lesson from Maria Souza, who runs her own paddle surfing school in Maui and is one of the badass chicks surfing Jaws I mentioned in my last post. (And who considers a 40-mile paddle "fun.") We start by warming up our shoulders (and our balance!) on the beach ...

Then she talks me through the correct paddling motion and body position ...

After about 15 minutes of instruction, we head to the water, to practice our (well, my) paddling skills ...

And then, we grab our boards and away we go. I can't think of a more perfect way to spend an afternoon. Thanks, girls!