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My Pialolo Challenge Experience- Careful What You Wish For- 
Peter Marcus
09/18/18 #23801
Should have known… .When we flew into Kahului, Maui at almost the exact time that NOAA was expecting the Hurricane, now downsized, “Tropical Storm Olivia” to make landfall. When the pilot announced it might be a little bumpy on the landing and a few minutes later the plane dropped what seemed like “an elevator missing a couple of floors suddenly” but in reality only about one second, but all the passengers yelled like they were on the brink of going down a roller coaster rail, is probably when I started asking myself if my life insurance policy was paid up and if my daughters knew where my Will was kept and what on earth did I sign up for??? After we taxied in, half of my crew that I was paddling with, which were on the same plane, Coach Gordan Martinez, Seat Two in the canoe, Ken Kroeger, Seat Three (part of the Engine Room with me as we were called, in seat Four) gave me grief for thinking it was bumpy and that “Moana” (Vast Ocean) had other plans for us, again, I started thinking about my Will. Our stroke Joel Strimling (Seat One) and Walt Wolf (Seat Five and backup steersman) and our second coach and boat captain, Bo Chun Fook was our Seat Six and Steersman, all were flying in later, rounded out our crew of paddlers for Kikaha NorthWest.
We had signed up for the race as an Iron Team, thus no water change-outs during the “26 miles or so” from Maui to the little protection of a harbor and the beach of Kaunakakai on Moloka'i (The Friendly Isle). Before all this happened though, our crew had reserved five Oc 1's and an one Oc 2 to do a down winder on Maui called the Maliko Run. Basically a Steroid version of Drano to White Salmon at the The Gorge or really a double Steroid version of Wildcat Cove to the Harbor. This was only a day after Miss Olivia had paid a visit to Maui, and our down wind host, none other then one of the worlds best paddlers, Kai Bartlett, calmly asked whom among us had Ocean Experience then stated that it might be a little “lively” out there!! Should have known….I had been nursing a sore shoulder that forced me out of the last long training paddle with my crew but it seemed to get dialed in right before I left with last second Vodoo Stuff from expert Physio Therapist ,Carolyn Watson. Still trying to protect my shoulder for the Saturday Sleigh Ride I got to ride shotgun with Kai in the OC 2 thinking “no sweat”...wrong...throttle on full, don't stop, relax, breath, full throttle, put your paddle in all the way first, go, go, go ,go, relax , breath, turning right, turning left, duck (flying fish doing Kamikaze Runs at us or just trying to get out of the way) as we throttled down theses large rollers and waves at 15 to 20 mph. I was paddling with one of the masters if not the master of outrigger surfing and racing. Once I stopped spitting out salt water that had been injected into me most of the run and I pulled my board shorts back down to where they had started at the beginning of the run….I thought…I need a lot and a lot and a lot (did I mention, a lot) more practice…Kai is amazing. I don't care what it costs but if you get a chance to paddle with Kai….Just Do It (thank you Nike).
Race day dawned…Saturday....looked out the window seemed like a little less wind, tried to keep the nerves in check, but must have packed and repacked my racing clothes and nutrition and fidgeted like a little kid, “are we there yet, are we there yet.” All the experienced crews that had done it before all had warned about enough and proper hydration and fuel (4 of 6) of our crew had played on the Molokai Channel before (Not me…). So I selected what I thought I would need and a couple of the crew had made a killer breakfast from our big dinner the night before, and I forced down some chow. I wasn't hungry but knew I needed to eat. We had set up our Oc 6 the night before and with Gordan's organization and Bo leading the show on rigging, we all knew it was sturdy for the crossing except for……The Skirts. They were all in good shape except for the Neoprene waist wrap, unfortunately, we had to try to rebuild it with what we had which was some three inch Sail Tape and some Gorillia Tape, of course, it had rained the night before and a shower started up as we were nearly complete…which didn't help the adhesiveness. As the opening ceremonies completed, there were three starts scheduled. The women's crews launched through the building break followed by the rest of the 80 canoe fleet. Another 60 escort boats bobbed off shore waiting for the first three change out crew members to be shuttled from the beach to the boat by jet ski's. (one of the Escort Boats would overturn and not finish as an Escort Boat….) Delays happened and then there were only two starts and then we were on the line with organized chaos all around, Jet ski s zinging back forth around you with all the escort boats who were jockeying for position and race directors yelling about “20 minute penalties” and 90 seconds to the start. Not sure what was worse, the waves flipping all over the place from boats or looking out and seeing the Moana throwing out huge swells in front of you that you about to enter in the Channel or just really realizing that you had no out and here we go...For a newbie like me….it was quite intense focus, get to Molokai, Live, then Drink Beer…basically in that order!!
We took a middle of the line start and as the fleet progressed we found ourselves to the left of the majority of canoes as we headed through the channel towards Molokai. It seemed like only a moment but suddenly we were six miles in and as the swells started to build to small house size the wind did too. When you could for a split second, kind of glance around, everyone was GONE….where did everyone go??? The swells just swallow everything up…so you just focus on the far shore of Molokai and keep trying to convince yourself that it is getting closer. Then the thought (which you try to force out of your brain…) “what if something goes wrong?” comes across your forehead like a Ticker Tape and you you erase it and keep on paddling hard. The water…..as some of you have seen the pictures….started to find its way into the canoe, forcing zippers open and leaking through the rubber. As the weight of the boat went up dramatically with injected H20 and with building seas now approaching occasionally maybe 15 feet, we altered our course to taking some of the seas more broadside and little less to our stern. We worked in a more direct line toward the coast. Occasionally you get a glimpse of another canoe, usually only when you were both on top of a swell which, for me, reassured me a little, not sure why….but the water….the pre-race plan was to have bailers under seat two, three and four secured. As Ke Kai ( The Sea) started to be in the wrong place, bailing became a priority. Bo is an excellent steersman but with constant extra water weight and the wind building, which by my guess as we got to the shore of Molokai with about 12 miles to go, was maybe 35 mph….when the canoe would point down hill, so did the water, driving momentum of the canoe not only down the wave but also lower onto the wave putting the steersman and the stern up high and more exposed to the building wind creating a lot of leverage which made it very difficult for Bo and backup steersman, Walt, to keep us in line when surfing down the wave. Every 15 waves or so, it was all hands to keep the canoe from spinning left as we crossed the channel. Complicating this situation even more, was the fact that I would have to stop paddling slowing the boat down to bail like crazy. Ken needed to keep paddling to keep some power going and Gordon had to Kahe (spelling?) right or left to deal with the conditions and with the water throwing the canoe around. I had to bail probably a quarter of the time and left part of my knuckles in the canoe by the end, for someone else to find, sorry!.To add more excitement, this newbie had his paddle in his hand and then the next moment…didn't….no idea what happened, on a change, was I bailing, swell catch it, but next thing I am yelling “paddle, paddle.” It slid right out of the grasp of Bo who had it for a second, then I watched it drift away, briefly because the canoe turned sideways as we stalled as I was trying to get my paddle. We then all looked up at the approaching wave and SH-@#$%, we got to get out of here and underway, luckily, but smartly, we had also attached a extra blade besides an extra steering blade…..(There is a happy ending to this, the crew felt bad and I was Thankful as they chipped in a few bucks for a future new paddle that I could possibly LOSE again….)
So it continued, bail, paddle, survive the almost broaches, catch a good ride every once and a while and listen intently to Walt and Bo behind me fighting to keep the canoe dialed in so I could instantly switch to the side they needed and help add power to combat the elements ….then the finish line approached. The last Three miles were pretty fun, finally, as the swells subsided a little and less water to battle and we could finally throttle up….I think our top speed was 17 mph hour and we bottomed out in the 4 mph hour range when struggling with the water in the canoe. For me, the intensity from start to finish, the 26 miles seemed like it took forever but was over in an instant. The beauty of the large swells pile driving into another and creating this Glacier Blue eruption was something to behold. The clarity of the Green Islands surrounding you and the deep Navy Blue swell bearing down on us was really powerful emotion wise. The wind and surf pounding the coastline of Molokai in Emerald Greens and Pearl Whites and the force of the wind and heat constantly coming at you was intense on the sensations, for sure. But most importantly, for me, was The Teamwork of our crew never giving up (yes we struggled at time, humbling for sure,) but you couldn't deny the comradery we had in and out of the canoe, no arguments, we all tried what we thought was the best for our team and canoe. But yeah, the waves were big, the wind strong, that's it. So, somewhere, my paddle will wash up on some beach….but in the meantime, Thank you Gordon, Bo, Walt, Joel and Ken, and yes….The Beer at the end was Awesome.
Peter
Mary Harmon
09/18/18 #23803
Awesome recount. Had to read it to the end. :)
Mary from White Salmon
Tyler Irwin
09/19/18 #23804
Peter,
Great write up! I hope that people take from this the sheer awesomeness of the Pailolo Channel. It truly is a great race and I appreciate that you have shared your experiences with the group. Channel crossings in an outrigger canoe with a team like that is an exceptionally unique event and I'm glad that you got to experience it!
PS. If you readers are further interested in the clinics that Peter referenced, look up Kai Bartlett on Facebook or head over to the Kai Wa'a website: https://www.kaiwaa.com he will give you a thorough education of the Maliko Gulch downwind run and put on a serious surfing clinic.
-Tyler
David Scherrer
09/19/18 #23805
Wow Peter…Great write up! Many thanks…D
Pmarcus
09/20/18 #23806
Thx…my English needs work, but quite the adventure with a great crew!!
David Hooper
09/20/18 #23807
Hey Peter,
That was really cool to read - definitely a lifetime adventure in wild conditions! Thanks for taking the time to share it.
Dave H.
