Just want to see if anyone else out there has had an escort like the one I did for the Molokai paddleboard race last weekend. Here's the list,
......never met prior to the race to go over his GPS which he didn't know how to use
......hassled me about taking my board over cause he wanted to fish ( ended up paying another 70 to someone else to get it over)
..... starting trolling one hour into the race, claimed he didn't know his friend put the line out
..... stayed a 1/4 mile away most of the race except when I managed to get his attention for a water bottle change
......couldn't tell me any information on my position not even distance to portlock at any point, the information I got was like "oh you're south of the rum line or you're north" thats it
..... blasted rap the whole way never turned on the CB not even once
Just wanted to see if this was the norm, 'cause I was starting to think it was me who was f'd up...... don't get me wrong I am a fisherman but there is a time and a place.
Needless to say he's been blackballed from this race hopefully all others
I would hate to see others pay 800 bucks to go through what I did
Submitted by Huki on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 12:47pm
Wow! That guy sucked! Sorry about that guy...he gives other good boat drivers a bad rep. One way that you can make sure that you are taken care of is to have someone on your escort to be your voice. That person would call your course, tell the driver where to go ("Get closer to him so I can talk to him"), tell the driver when it is time for a water drop, and tell the driver to STOP FISHING!!! What an ass! Glad you made it safely and hopefully you placed where you wanted to eventho this ass was driving your escort. Better luck next year!
Mikala
#1 Thu, 07/31/2008 - 4:40pm
give the name of the boat...
#2 Thu, 07/31/2008 - 9:40pm
Wat tha fetch!?!?! Are you serious?! FISHING??? Brah, just doing that race is grueling enough.. but to have to deal with that too?? Oh gawd no, that's definitely NOT the norm. I actually never knew there were escorters such as that. All the escorters that myself and/or friends had, were in the race as if they're racing themselves. That's terrible. I agree wit Mikala, must have someone on the escort boat for you next time. I'm sure get choke people that would most definitely luv to help you out. Kudos to you for hanging in there!
#3 Fri, 08/01/2008 - 8:08am
I feel so bad for you. What we do when we hire escort boats for our events. We dont pay them until after the race. If I catch them fishing, or drinking..they are out and I dont pay them. They are aware of my expectations prior to the race. I might pay them a few bucks more, but the escort guys need to know they are working for you, and are out there for safety reasons. Not a day of fishing. Yes I can be a hag, but I feel strongly about this kind of stuff! You need to have someone with you who has your back!
As hard as it is, you gotta take a stand. I am so sorry you had to endure that kind of horror. Honestly, you should tell people his name so noone else will hire him and he is out of the loop!
Great job in hanging in there, it must have made for a stressful day.
#4 Fri, 08/01/2008 - 8:27am
When you find a good escort guy make sure you take care of him. It's better to pay $50 to a $100 bucks more for a good escort.
Huki, at least your escort boat's rudder didn't fall off. Yeah thats happened to our team before....
#5 Fri, 08/01/2008 - 8:45am
we had our escort boat setup the week before the molokai relay. he had escorted us for the solo the week prior and we had a verbal agreement in place for the relay.
calls on Friday to say he is having issues with his boat and is trying to fix, may have another guy call us.
went by his house to see whats up and his wife says he got the boat running and is going to molokai.
we tried calling him numerous times to meet up and make sure all was ok.
long story short he chose to escort his friend and no one ever called us. left us on the beach at kalua koi and said it wasn't his fault, it was the guy who he had as our backups fault.
a$$h0l3
#6 Fri, 08/01/2008 - 11:35am
Our escort boat pilot for Hawaiki Nui is a very nice man. Two years ago, the day before the race, a team from Tahiti came to see him and offered to pay him twice the money we were giving him. They needed a boat to transport their girlfriends cause their escort told them they couldn't stay on the boat (too many people...).
Our pilot said no to their offer, he told me he would have felt ashamed ause he had already given his word to my team.
And we hadn't even paid him when he was offered this deal... We were supposed to pay him at the end of the race !
Guess who was our escort the next year ? and who will be this year ?
Some people are a$$h0l3$ as kahiwaa said, but some others are very respectable peoples.
I think just like Kanu37, give the name of the boat an/or the man so noone else will hire him...
#7 Fri, 08/01/2008 - 4:18pm
Hey Mahalos everyone for the comments.....
I wasn't going to post his name but I just feel this guy is just some donkey who could afford a boat, which as we all know doesn't mean anything in terms of being a solid escort.
His name is KYLE STANFORD from Hawaii Kai he has a 26' Glacier Bay
do not hire this guy................. ever!
#8 Sun, 08/03/2008 - 11:47pm
Huki, you hit a great point. A lot of people own boats and do a lot of fishing. Because they know the ocean so well, doing all the fishing, they think that escorting a canoe/paddleboard race is a piece of cake. How hard can it be, follow the dude and throw him some water?
I think a lot of people, like you, find out that's not the case the hard way. There's a lot more to escorting than meets the eye.
#9 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 8:37am
Wow, Poops...that was the most normal post I have ever seen written by you. Was that "Serious Poops" in disquise? I totally agree with you, by the way.
Mikala
#10 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 9:51am
"There's a lot more to escorting than meets the eye."
What sort of escorts are we talking about here,poops?
I think it was poops disguised as Serious Poops disguised as poops.
#11 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 10:28am
I believe the use of sarcasm, the insulting tone, and the thinly veiled anger make it a non-serious poopoo comment, but the author may correct me if I'm interpreting erroneously.
#12 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 12:07pm
Yeah Poops I have found a similarity among people with boats who love to fish and think that escorting is simple. They are a lot like my friends who surf but don't paddle, they think its just paddling. "I could do that, it's just paddling" But as we all know there is so much more involved than just paddling. When I convince my friends to paddle in a races and they come in at the back of the pack they are totally humbled. "Wow, it's not just paddling!"
So yeah escorting is not just following someone and throwing them water as you said. Much more......much more.
Aloha
#13 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 12:10pm
By no means was it a serious post. I hope the sarcastic tone and underlying insulting manner was apparent yet disguised at the same time.
I think what happened was the sarcasm negated the insulting tone and it inadvertently became a serious post. So kind of like what Jibofo said I guess.
Anyhow, I just saw transformers so I felt the more than meets the eye thing was fitting.
To prove my point, one time our escort boat broke a few days before the Duke's race. One of the crew members called a friend who called a brother's friends uncle's calabash cousin's son who knew a guy that had a boat. The dude shows up race morning with a rusted 1908 ford towing a 18' knock off whaler that looked like it would sink anytime, wearing OP coduroy shorts (yeah you know which ones), no shirt and gut hanging over. We laughed it off, expecting to be totally screwed especially because it was a rough badass day. We even packed water in our canoe not expecting the escort boat making it to the finish. Well it turned out braddah could drive. He was one of the best escort drivers I've ever had. Plus with his small boat he could pull in close to the wall and maneuver wherever he damn well pleased.
so transformers 2 huh? cool..
#14 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 1:51pm
Most escort boat owners will be fisherman, if they are not, I would be real concerned about their ability to get a boat back and forth to Molokai. Escorting is not rocket science, but yes, if the guys never done it before, you got problems...
Anyway, I've raced the channel, I've escorted the channel and I fish the channel (just not during a race). I have an awesome escort boat and available to escort, but I'm really only interested in competitive paddlers/crews, sorry beginners but I don't get paid more to battle the channel all day. If needed let me know. Paddle hard or stay home!!!!
Aaaaaloha
#15 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 3:02pm
Huh, I never thought about that. The longer you're in the channel, the more expensive it is for the escort. Huh...
#16 Mon, 08/04/2008 - 3:13pm
thanks for being upfront.....
by the way, our team is planning on coming over from Seattle to paddle in the Molokai..... our escort boat is no longer going to be available - does anyone have any good contacts for us? can anyone help our team out (and we probably fit into the "newbie" category)?
mahalo........
#17 Tue, 08/05/2008 - 9:41am
Maybe escort boat drivers should charge by the hour. Or partially by the hour. $500 for the first two hours + $100 per hour thereafter (I don't know if those numbers would end up working out, an experienced escort boat driver would have to figure that part out). Maybe there should be a standard rate schedule applied too (based on size of boat, duration of race/ability of paddlers, skill/experience of boat driver, etc.). I have no clue how to figure all of that out, just throwing up the concept. Yes, that's right, I said throwing up.
#18 Tue, 08/05/2008 - 9:54am
I wonder if it would be practical, proper and feasible to post a list of reputable and trustworthy escort boat driver contacts so people can get at least some starting point when looking for an escort. Probably not I guess.
In that same paddleboard race, my friend said her husband paid the escort boat driver to take him over to Moloka'i and escort him back. He had sponsorship and paid everything and the driver for the race. He asked if they could leave before 8 PM the night before the race and the driver just replied "nah, were going to leave at 8pm!"
After 5 hours in the channel (and not even half way there) heading towards Moloka'i, they took on some huge swells on the 45 feet boat and turned back to O'ahu. Her interpretation of the situation of course.
Not sure how this will impact the sponsorship but all that training and time invested was washed.
#19 Tue, 08/05/2008 - 10:43am
Way too many cocky escort boat drivers.. On the same note, never take your escort boat driver for granted. It's basic economics. Supply and demand. A good escort boat driver (EBD) is a commodity as is a fast paddler. EBD's don't want to spend all day in the channel.The better you are as a driver should count for something. Bad attitude drivers should never be rehired.Gold is worth $. Squat is worth squat. It all comes out in the end, Like bad gas, we can smell you coming.
#20 Tue, 08/05/2008 - 9:56pm
gold is worth money, squat is worth squat? Groundbreaking!
#21 Wed, 08/06/2008 - 8:50am
Thanks poopoopaddler, I'm glad you kinda got it...
#22 Wed, 08/06/2008 - 10:55am
As far as good escort boats- I have had good respose from Ivan. He coordinates a network of guys that are resposible escort boat drivers. I think he has also had extra boats make the trip to Molokai for races in case of breakdowns. I have had 3 races escorted by him or his gang and all were great.
It is a great idea to have someone you know and who knows what you need on the boat as well. My first Molokai Solo was a true SOLO learning experience, the guy had a 30' diesel boat and was the only person on board. He basically followed me all the way across the channel, unable to give me water, food, encouragement or course information. Since then I've always had someone on board to help.
#23 Wed, 08/06/2008 - 11:38am
Once you get into real long distance racing (in any sport) your support crew won't win the race for you, but they can definitely lose it for you. Way back, I did the Race Across America (RAAM) bike race. I can tell you nightmare support crew stories that will curl your hair. And no, I didn't win.
#24 Wed, 08/06/2008 - 5:20pm