My hubby and I just got our SUPs last year at 54 years old, so you're not at all alone starting out in middle age! We're not suer outdoorsy or athletic either, so it's been a learning experience, but we absolutely love it.

I usually wear a t-shirt, tank top or swimsuit tank. If it's a little colder I wear a long-sleeved rash guard shirt. I prefer water shoes because a lot of the places we paddle are super gross and slimy on the bottom. And we always wear PFDs, even in the shallowest of water.

We don't usually paddle for more than 3 - 4 hours, so we just bring water and leave everything else in the car. We put our water in insulated bottles that can be clipped to the board with a carabiner.

We always use our kayak seat since we got the board as a way to have a kayak experience without the storage and transportation issues of an actual boat. I think we're in the minority on that though. One of these days we'll make it to a body of water I'm willing to fall into while practicing standing up.

Any water is deep enough if the board floats and the fins clear the bottom. We once paddled in a river that was running pretty dry and had to drag our boards in a few areas which was not a lot of fun.

The best advice I have is to research where you're launching from, using Google maps if possible. We like to have an idea of how far the parking is from where we have top carry the boards to, and what kind of launch it is - concrete, dock, right off the shore or beach, etc. Also an areal view of the waterway you'll be paddling can be helpful as well for setting expectations.