Editor:

I got so excited when I turned the page in the Dec. 18 issue of the Journal to find a picture of an older woman using a stand-up paddle board and dove right into the article ("Walk on Water: No Faith Required"). But as I read my heart sank.

She mentioned the physical hurdle of strapping a board to your car and the storage hurdle of, well, storing a 14-foot beast in your garage.

I wanted to yell out, "we're here, we're here!" and wave my arms around. You see, I work for the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, located on the Eureka waterfront just a couple blocks from Old Town. We are an indoor boat storage and rental facility funded by the Department of Boating and Water Way grants and supported by the HSU University Center as an Auxiliary Program. And a big part of our mission is to provide accessible aquatics sports and programs to the community. Basically we want to get people out on the water and train them to be safe boaters.

We have the cheapest rentals in town (I know there is an aversion to the sport because of the cost of gear) which include wetsuits, PFD's, paddles and a paddle and safety talk. We offer all sorts of introductory programs and classes, and have facility staff that can help you carry your boat down to our own dock, just outside our huge warehouse. We will even go over the tidal shifts with you and help you plan your trip around the islands, up the Eureka Slough, or just paddling around the Samoa Bridge.

We have only been renting to the public for two years now which is why no one knows about us yet, but we're here, we're here! Come on down or Google us. We're awesome and we're here for the community.

Trevor McKee, Blue Lake