Building Mana'o

Time to dust off the pink panther and let her get wet!

As we near the end of winter, and I look ahead in my calendar, I see July 31, 2011 in bright lights - our Molokai Channel race date! ... So I took  the panther out of her cover and let my paddling muscles remember what it is they love to do.

Winter on Kauai means lots of rain, lots of wind, and lots of whales...  Last year I started bringing my phone along for safety, and the benefit is that my phone also takes pictures... please enjoy!

Kauai - The East Side!
  

- Sleeping Giant Mountain (famous hike)- 

an aquatic perspective

The Swimming Giants

Whales are just so, well, they are so BIG! When the babies are flopping and the moms are grunting, I usually head for the inside route and try to stay out of their way. Lucky for me, the pair that cruised me on this paddle were very mellow, and so I stopped to take their picture. They did a little show for me that I did not capture, but you can see my mammalian friends in this short video...

Mana'o

After paddling down from Kealia beach, I landed in Wailua and continued my paddle into the dark in the river. Along the way, I met papio fisherman Maurice and got to see his catch. We talked about the ocean for a few minutes, and I took this photo (he also took the one of me at the start of this post). Before he kept fishing and I kept paddling, Maurice asked me if I was from the island. This question is always difficult to answer for me. I said no, and he looked at me for a long time. Then he said, "you have a lot of mana'o". Mana'o, as I understand it, is your belief and intention combined with your life experiences and knowledge. Maurice - thank you for the  compliment.