9x 32 miles = more than 40 hours paddling Kaiwi Channel

Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard 2009 - 9th crossing in a row. 7th win... going for a full decade in 2010!

Aloha and mahalo for all of your support!.... I especially appreciated in this years race!  My work schedule and travel to conferences limited my training, which was okay as I'd planned around it and got some early miles in, but then I got pretty sick 3 weeks ago... so after resting for the past 3 weeks, I went into this year's channel a bit behind where I would have liked fitness-wise.

However, I think my experience and my supporters came through for me in the end and I still managed to pull out a good race... conditions were definitely challenging, and it sounds like pretty much everyone wished for a bit more muscle power in the last hour!! My main man Norm, the ultimate boat driver escort, kept me in good shape, and his wife Mikala and my boyfriend Thor all backed me up in water drops and cheers.

Overall, my training partners did great - Brian Rocheleau got second overall, Mikey Cote killed the stock division and my coach Eric Abbott took 3rd stock. My friends over the years from California, France and Australia also paddled well.... so that was fun to see! And, It was pretty awesome to be able to give Jerry Lopez a lei after he finished the team Stand Up race with Sparky (from Rainbow sandals)!  All in all a heck of a day.

Now that I have the channel down (which is one heck of a training run), I'm looking to be in good shape for the remainder of the season!

Thanks for all of your support and love. I received so many comments from people who are excited that we're bringing awareness to WWW.RACETOHEAL.COM and cancer screening / treatment options, especially for those folks without health insurance.

Keep up the good work!
Here is latest press - the link to the video has expired, and I didn't archive the file (if you watched it, you got to see Iwalani and Gordon - my Pualani swimsuit sponsors in the background as I finish).

Molokai Race to Heal

3 days to go 'til 2009 Molokai Pboard channel race - we had a fabulous press conference, pre-race dinner hosted by Maui Jims and a fun registration get-together last night.

Here are links to the KHNL News 8 story (I think there was more live on TV as I'm told I talked quite a bit!) and here is a link to a write up and online video in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper. Always nice when they help me do my job of integrating marine science in daily life. Gotta love it!

And for more on the pink board saga.... it rests safely at the repair shop. It's not done getting fixed yet, but that's okay as I've decided to go with the yellow Bark board I paddled last year (which rocks!). It has a bit less rocker and an easier entry into waves, which will be good for the channel as we're setting up for seas with lower wave height and pretty short periods - the forecast is for some light to moderate winds with an ebbing tide and a SW swell pushing against us.

Pink PINK Pink - RACE TO HEAL

Gearing up for Sunday's Molokai Channel - We did a photo shoot with Dana Edmunds yesterday for Maui Jims Sunglasses and a press conference today.

Here's a sneak preview of the pink beauty, which we are using to showcase www.racetoheal.org, a group supporting awareness for women's breast / cervical cancer and programs, like those at Queen's hospital, that provide free screening and free treatment for people with low income and no health insurance.

The board did have an accident yesterday, however, and is at the repair shop now, so it might sit out the channel. But, it will be back in no time for some epic downwind paddles - now off to the races.

Photos by Dana Edmunds - http://www.danafoto.com/

Cold California - Monterey and Carmel

ITINERARY:

Fly from Honolulu to San Francisco.
Check.
Get one very supportive mom to play taxi driver. Check.
Drive to Santa Cruz and pick up board from very hospitable SurfTech folks.
Check.
Show up in Monterey for work meetings and conference...... squeeze in as much paddling as possible.
Check.

When I got to Monterey, I thought that they would laugh at me and my Hawaii-adapted blood when I showed up with my XCEL paddling pants, a paddling top, my shortie wetsuit and my mom's booties to layer up for my cold water paddle... but then I saw that everyone else was wearing full wetsuits. IN JULY. TO PADDLEBOARD. Suddenly my layers felt more inadequate rather than overkill.

At Whaler's Cove

Nevertheless, I braved the water, the kelp and the fog to paddle with a great group of guys (the CWC, or Carmel Waterman's Club). They showed me the beautiful coastline of Carmel, from Stillwater Cove along 17-mile drive to Whaler's Bay. We scouted out the course for their upcoming (August 9, 2009) inaugural paddleboard race and they pretty much arranged all of their schedules around my conferences (National Marine Educator's Association Conference and Sea Grant Educator's Network Meeting) to help me train! They even fed me dinner (steak, salmon, chicken, artichoke, asparagus)... I highly recommend this area of CA for the good people and the scenery - next time, I'll just ask them to turn on the water heater before I arrive!

ps. Next stop = Molokai to Oahu! (hurricanes not withstanding - it looks like a few are heading our way!)

Paddling back.....

Mom, the taxi driver, takes to the water on a slightly drier & warmer vehicle than a paddleboard!

No shortage of wild life - the baby sea otters and their moms were all around us!

The sea lions of CA - this one is a BIG BOY!

One of the Seven Wonders of The World - Na Pali, Kauai

Coming off the Cline Mann race on June 13th, we regrouped for a paddle last Saturday. Me and the crew (Brian, Marc, Keoni, & Kimo) paddled from Sandy Beach to the Ala Wai and back to Kaimana Beach. I was feeling the paddle, but still looking good for the Father's Day northshore the next day (the Sunday the 21st of June) .... but  I got the opportunity to paddle the Na Pali Coast on the island of Kauai. It's something I've been planning to do for years, and I  got the chance to go on a day when the winds were cranking. I hopped a plane and got set to paddle the 17 mile stretch of coast from Kauai's North to West shore.

I hooked up with a friend (Josh) who is just starting to paddleboard and runs a kayak tour company (Na Pali Kayak Tours), so I had a ride and a guide to point out sea caves and the like, but the catch is that Josh couldn't paddleboard so I had to hang WITH the tour. A 3 or 4 hour paddle just became 7 or 8 hours. Wow. So, at 430am I woke up and headed to Hanalei, on Kauai's North Shore, armed with some gu gels, water and an expired, disposable underwater camera. I paddled circles around the "scupper" plastic kayaks, but in the process I think I made a few new fans of our paddleboard sport along the way!

I ended up with some good upwind (at one point when I had "escaped" the tour I paddled 45 minutes upwind trying to find them) and downwind training. In fact, am so stoked on this paddle that I can't wait to realize my next dream of organizing a group of paddleboarders to paddle the coast. Anybody want to join me?

Here are some shots from the expired camera. Enjoy!

Now, I'm off to paddle in some very cold Monterey, CA water. The guys there are trying to get me into a race from Santa Cruz to Monterey (26 miles) this Saturday, but it is the same day as the meeting I'm attending, so I'll have to settle for some dusk paddles :).

Waterfall past Hanakapiai

Sea Cave past Hanakapiai

Heading to Kalalau

On the beach at Kalalau

On the home stretch to Polihale ... it's getting sunnier and hotter over here!

Off at The Races

Thank you all for your support of the Cline Mann memorial Koolaupoko paddleboard race - many of you donated prizes and they were greatly appreciated by all of the competitors!

Conditions were sufficiently gnarly, and the race went off in some serious wind and waves - to the enjoyment and mastery of some and the trial of others... actually the overall consensus was that this year was one of the tougher race courses we've had in the past few years. There were many broken and damaged boards as well as some bruised egos! ... I crossed the finish line in a respectable 3 hours, but 25 minutes slower than my record breaking time of last year.

Me with my wonderful Alora prize pack and Mike Ako

Mikey Cote (3rd), Brian Rocheleau (2nd), and Jamie Mitchell (1st)

results:  http://www.pacificsportevents.com/Results.htm

2009 CLINE MANN MEMORIAL PADDLEBOARD RACE
KO'OLAUPOKO - MAKAPU'U * HAWAII KAI TO KAIMANA
SATURDAY JUNE 13TH, 2009
LONG COURSE

Place    No.    Name    Div    Div    Shaper    Time
1    1    Jamie Mitchell    1    UNLMEN 1-39    Adrian Burse    2:27:30
2    13    Brian Rocheleau    2    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    2:31:40
3    4    Mikey Cote'    3    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    2:37:25
4    20    Keoni Watson    4    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    2:41:03
5    17    Mitch De Geus    1    STKMEN 01-39    Bark    2:43:30
6    28    Kaeo'o'kalani Abbey    5    UNLMEN 1-39    Joe Bark    2:48:19
7    29    Kai Hall    2    STKMEN 01-39    Pang    2:51:25
8    32    Brad Thomas    1    UNLMEN 40-99    Richmond    2:53:44
9    9    Chris Owens    2    UNLMEN 40-99    Richmond    2:54:05
10    3    Matthew Sack    6    UNLMEN 1-39    Richmond    2:57:15
11    11    Travis Des Roches    3    STKMEN 01-39    Bark    2:58:22
12    6    Eric Abbott    4    STKMEN 01-39    Bark    2:58:40
13    23    Kimo Greenwell    5    STKMEN 01-39    Dennis Pang    2:59:09
14    14    Bryan Phillips    7    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    3:03:06
15    7    Kanesa Duncan    1    UNLOPEN FEMALE    Bark    3:04:59
16    19    George Jose Ramos Jr.    1    STKMEN 40-99    Dennis Pang    3:17:54
17    5    Austin Kino    6    STKMEN 01-39    Joe Bark    3:19:42
18    26    Peter Hursty    8    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    3:20:15
19    33    Justin Langlais    9    UNLMEN 1-39    Infront    3:22:26
20    21    Michael Cheape    2    STKMEN 40-99    Dennis Pang    3:22:37
21    31    Scott McPhail    3    STKMEN 40-99        3:25:39
22    16    Ryan Hatfield    7    STKMEN 01-39    Bark    3:37:22
23    30    Kelly Tam Sing    8    STKMEN 01-39    D. Pang    3:37:54
24    24    Mike Bennett    3    UNLMEN 40-99    Bark    3:39:37
25    27    Clark Abbey    4    UNLMEN 40-99    Bark    3:40:10
26    8    Dustin Morris    9    STKMEN 01-39        3:45:41
27    10    Rua Taft    10    STKMEN 01-39    Bark    3:48:46
28    22    Robert Egbert    10    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    3:49:29
29    35    Mark Hand    11    UNLMEN 1-39    Bark    4:06:06
30    2    Joanna Bilancieri    1    STKOPEN FEMALE    Bark    4:11:44
31    25    Mike Bakinowski    5    UNLMEN 40-99    Bark    5:10:24

2009 CLINE MANN MEMORIAL PADDLEBOARD RACE
KO'OLAUPOKO - MAKAPU'U * HAWAII KAI TO KAIMANA
SATURDAY JUNE 13TH, 2009
SHORT COURSE

Place    No.    Name    Div    Div    Shaper    Time
1    114    Guy Pere    1    SU UNLMEN 18-39    Bark    1:19:16
2    86    Scott Gamble    2    SU UNLMEN 18-39        1:20:19
3    53    Kamaki Worthington    3    SU UNLMEN 18-39    Dp    1:22:31
4    96    Noland Martin    1    SU STKMEN 18-39    Dave Parmenter    1:23:06
5    94    Manny Kulukulualani    2    SU STKMEN 18-39    Iggy    1:23:28
6    84    Dave Parmenter    1    SU STKMEN 40-99    Self    1:24:59
7    112    Edmund Pestana    1    SU UNLMEN 40-99        1:26:13
8    83    Greg Pavao    2    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4    1:26:35
9    116    Christian Bradley    3    SU STKMEN 18-39    C4    1:27:22
10    102    Chris Fong    1    BoysStk 1-17    Eleu    1:29:20
11    115    Todd Bradley    3    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4    1:31:40
12    70    Marc Haine    1    UNLMEN 40-99    Bark    1:31:42
13    61    Jason Ignacio    4    SU UNLMEN 18-39    Raaphorst F-16    1:31:47
14    113    Dale Hope    1    STKMEN 40-99    Bark    1:31:50
15    67    Kaipo Guerrero    4    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4 Vortice    1:32:04
16    60    James Martindale    5    SU UNLMEN 18-39    F-16    1:32:20
17    91    Riggs Napoleon    1    SU BoysStk 1-17    Bark    1:33:27
18    117    Brendan Bradley    2    BoysStk 1-17    C4    1:34:25
19    104    Chuck Kelley    2    STKMEN 40-99        1:35:12
20    107    Kevin Seid    2    SU UNLMEN 40-99    F-16    1:37:16
21    69    Hilton Alves    6    SU UNLMEN 18-39    C4 Waterman    1:38:12
22    103    Robby Kelley    1    STKMEN 18-39    Eleu    1:38:22
23    108    Eric Olson    4    SU STKMEN 18-39    Angulo    1:39:31
24    85    Jody Ragsdale    3    SU UNLMEN 40-99        1:39:38
25    119    Mark Cunnigham    3    STKMEN 40-99    Bark    1:39:56
26    92    Justin Rapoza    7    SU UNLMEN 18-39        1:41:09
27    82    Anders Jonsson    2    STKMEN 18-39    Bark    1:41:17
28    109    Brad Akeo    4    STKMEN 40-99    Waterman    1:42:48
29    68    Heather Jeppessen    1    SU STKFEMALE    C4-Vortice    1:44:37
30    59    Ray Shiraishi    5    SU STKMEN 40-99    Raaphorst    1:44:46
31    98    Herbie Titcomb    6    SU STKMEN 40-99        1:44:50
32    100    Kyle Bernhardt    7    SU STKMEN 40-99    Self    1:45:13
33    95    Jon Piper    5    STKMEN 40-99    Bark 12    1:45:58
34    99    Bodo Van Der Leeden    8    SU STKMEN 40-99    Softop 12'    1:46:45
35    118    Mike Fox    9    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4 Parmenter    1:48:02
36    79    James Bradley    5    SU STKMEN 18-39    Parmentor    1:48:30
37    80    Mike Takahashi    2    UNLMEN 40-99    Joe Bark    1:48:38
38    77    Buttons Kaluhiokalani    6    STKMEN 40-99        1:50:04
39    58    Alika Willis    10    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4    1:50:25
40    110    Layne Owen    7    STKMEN 40-99    Dennis Pang    1:50:26
41    54    Cory Larrieu    11    SU STKMEN 40-99    Jimmy Lewis    1:50:48
42    72    Carl Kimm    8    STKMEN 40-99    Eleu    1:52:18
43    81    Holden Takahashi    3    BoysStk 1-17    Dennis Pang    1:52:46
44    106    Shane Sakai    6    SU STKMEN 18-39    C4    1:53:52
45    89    Tim Johns    9    STKMEN 40-99    Dennis Pang    1:55:16
46    111    Stuart Nakata    12    SU STKMEN 40-99    Dennis Pang    1:55:44
47    56    Robert Picayo    7    SU STKMEN 18-39    Ted Spencer    1:56:31
48    75    Timothy Fernandez    10    STKMEN 40-99        1:58:02
49    93    Jimmy Keaulana    4    SU UNLMEN 40-99    Mark M    1:58:51
50    97    Juan Caviedes    8    SU STKMEN 18-39    Walden    1:59:10
51    64    Peter Jensen    11    STKMEN 40-99    Bark    2:02:09
52    120    Randy Shibuya    12    STKMEN 40-99        2:02:35
53    73    Katie Slocumb    1    SU UNLFEMALE    Raaphorst    2:02:37
54    101    Brett Thomas    13    STKMEN 40-99    Bark    2:03:01
55    65    Ed Wheeler    13    SU STKMEN 40-99    C4    2:04:12
56    90    Kevin Johns    3    STKMEN 18-39        2:04:31
57    52    Mary Jo Gumbert    2    SU UNLFEMALE    Sic    2:06:04
58    76    Natalie Jane Wallgrove    1    STKOPEN FEMALE    Waterman    2:07:34
59    57    Corbin Peleiholani-Kuhns    14    STKMEN 40-99    D. Pang    2:09:20
60    87    Kristen Lee    2    STKOPEN FEMALE    Pang    2:12:48
61    62    Keala Fung    2    SU STKFEMALE    Pearson Arrow    2:14:15
62    63    Jared Kimbler    9    SU STKMEN 18-39    Schaper    2:14:15
63    105    James Baloaloa    10    SU STKMEN 18-39    C4    2:20:40
64    74    J Stephens    15    STKMEN 40-99    Bark    2:23:48
65    55    Chris Whitesides    5    SU UNLMEN 40-99    Mark Raphorst    2:25:55
66    88    Lisa Livingston    3    STKOPEN FEMALE    C4    2:31:58
67    51    Micah Liana    2    SU BoysStk 1-17    Oxbow    2:34:47
68    71    David Bearden    11    SU STKMEN 18-39    Angulo/tropical Blen    2:42:01
69    66    Kaeo Kaleoaloha    3    UNLMEN 40-99    Bark    2:47:00
                             

Let the training begin...

We paddled around Sandy Beach on Saturday and Sunday... here is a photo by Dale Hope.

Let the training begin....