Caribbean Paddling

Owen Corbel - Kayaks and Stand Up Paddle Boards in St Martin

Let me introduce you to Caribbean Paddling, AKA Oswen.

Oswen fell into sailing as a kid: lucky to end up on the island of St Pierre et Miquelon at the age of four, he started sailing a few years later, quite accidentally, actually.
He enrolled a youngster sailing dinghy regatta having never sailed before and learnt during the race, with no one even noticing it was his very first time handling a sailing vessel.

He keeps dear memories of his time there, which he nostalgically recalls as the ultimate freedom.
He left the island at the age of ten, stopping all water activities for over a decade.

It’s at the age of 25 that his life took a brand new turn when he moved to the Reunion. Getting back into his long lost love –sailing- he aspired at becoming a professional skipper and became very involved with the ocean, attending regattas and gaining experience on all sorts of vessels.

Returning in Europe a few years later to obtain a Federal License, he got into windsurfing and decided to add Kayaking to his Sailing License.

He obtained the double qualification, and, looking for a place to get started, he opted for St Martin in 2008.
Kayaking and sailing since a young age, windsurfing was his new mojo but he kept on being attracted by Stand Up paddling: he quickly added it to his range, finding there the perfect complement to windsurfing.

Oswen and I arrived on the island almost at the same time, both developing our businesses two bays away from one another, yet never bumping into each other.

Not only we were neighbours, but we also had a whole bunch of common friends: yet we managed to be unaware of each other for almost three years.
–proof that if the world is a small place, a small island can be a big world too….

It’s funnily on a matter having absolutely nothing to do with Kitesurfari that I contacted Oswen at the start of 2011.
Meeting the “St Maarten’s way” –meaning, laid back style with a bottle of wine and ending the night in some non sense conversation-, we became good friends rapidly and have since enjoyed many great SUP sessions.

Oswen is a peaceful character, with a wicked sense of humour –be warned it’s very second degree!-, a “no problem” mind set.
A great instructor that will greet you with a smile.

You can find him at Cul de Sac beach, near the dock, and rent out kayaks and Stand Up Paddle Boards to discover Pinel island surroundings.

Emilie Marx"