time for a redux of the classic Drano Run.

yes, it's on a river,
no, Youtube wouldn;t let me us the music I wanted,
yes, it was as much fun as it looks...

enjoy

I am looking for traditional Hawaiian phrases or sayings in regards to "ocean currents," as well as "white caps"

Also I am open to phrases from Tahitian, New Zealand, or other nationalities.

I had Holmes' book The Hawaiian Canoe, but I loaned it out many years ago and
you know how that goes. As I remember there are some items in there. I also did a couple of searches on-line but didn't find much. I looked on Polynesian Voyaging Society's website as well. Many great things, but didn't see anything in relation to the specific terms I am looking for.

If you have a link, resource, or can post here or send me private message, that would be great.

Mahalo

Going into distance season, what paddles do people like and why?

What I'm using: Kialoa Axel II
Why: I'm used to it. Well made.

But I'm looking to try some other paddles.

Ideas?

I thought you other paddlers out there might be interested in our hell-ish experience on Go! Airlines this past weekend. Copied below is a letter I just sent to their customer service department and then forwarded to the local papers. I intend to follow up with a group letter coordinated with other affected canoe clubs. I got the names and contact info of about 11 other paddling-related travelers who were waiting it out with us. Several Lanikai coaches, as well as other paddlers, were in the same situation we were. The rest of the people on our original flight were either on a coordinated one-day tour that was canceled or found their own flights to Hilo or Kona on other airlines.

We planned on getting into Hilo about mid-day with plenty of time to relax and enjoy our vacation rental as we got ready for the races the following day. Instead, we finally laid down in our vacation rental at about 4am and slept fitfully until about 8am, when we drove back into town for our race.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Flight reliability
Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:49:42 -1000

To whom it may concern:

My husband and I were scheduled to fly on Go! flight 1036 from Honolulu to Hilo on Friday July 31st. Our flight was first delayed and then canceled and we were put on standby for the rest of the day. We finally got on a plane at 12:30am, a full thirteen hours after our scheduled departure. In addition to general anxiety and annoyance at the fact that it should never take 15 hrs to travel from Honolulu to Hilo (a 40 min flight), this tremendous delay resulted in the following:

1. Our perishable items that we placed in our cooler with blue ice and then paid you $10 to check on were all ruined.
2. We paid for car rental and accommodations that we barely got to use.
3. Most importantly, we did not get any rest the night before our State Championship canoe races.

Since this has proved that we cannot expect Go! to get us where we are going in a reliable manner, at the very minimum, I would like to get a full refund on our future booking for the weekend of Sept 4th. We intend to never fly with you again and plan to make sure that everyone in the paddling community is aware of the hell that we went through so that they won't either. The ironic thing is that up until now we had been happy return customers and have often stood up for Go! in conversations with our associates. We have been Go! miles members since you first started operations here.

Outrigger canoe racing is the official state sport of Hawaii and many of us were flying over for the State Championship races. Knowing travel would be hectic on this weekend, we made our reservations several months in advance. The least you could have done was make similar plans ahead of time knowing that flights would be fully booked for these few days.

It was nearly impossible to get any information or updates about the ongoing situation. All of the flights were delayed and everyone was upset. Yet some of us were stuck there for an extremely long time (13+ hrs) and a few never got out at all. Meanwhile we watched our team-mates arrive, wait for their delayed flights, and then leave. While we waited, and waited, and waited. We were made to feel that somehow it was our fault that we were on the single flight that got canceled, while passengers from other flights were given standby status above us.

There were a number of things that Go! employees could have done to make our awful experience at least somewhat bearable, including:

1. Get every available manager or other employee onto the floor to help answer questions and disseminate information.
2. Use the P/A system to give updates on when flights maybe expected to go out (flights were only announced once they were being boarded, so no one had any idea when they might be able to leave).
3. Have some level of communication with other airlines in order to be able to assist us in getting on alternative flights.
4. Provide water and snacks to the people in the holding area.
5. Had at least a modicum of empathy for those of us suffering through the situation.

Sincerely,
Rachel Orange

I heard that Team Bradley has added a couple strong new recruits to their crew list.

Just wondering if other clubs are looking at Team Bradley as a fair team to go up against, if it's really a race for second place, or if another entity should step up and cross over the club loyaties to create another all star team to challenge them?

What's more important: winning the race regardless of club or doing your best with what assets your club already has?

Since the State regatta just got completed, I want to again bring up possible changes to have the regatta end at a resonable time. That means eliminating races and cutting distances down.

keep the kids race distance format the same, but eliminate the 12 mix race and the 15's race. Just go with 12, 14, 16, 18.

For all the hero's races, men and women, keep the Freshman to Senior races, but have everyone just go a mile.

Novice races stay the same.

For the kupuna's, keep the 40, 50, 60's men and women, but put the 40's race at a half mile.

For the mixes, have kids mix 18 under, hero's mix open and 50's mix.

Start the comments coming. Just a jumping off point. We gotta do something to come down from 39 events, and hopefully have our state regatta end at a reasonable time. Also, eliminate classified and unclassified paddlers. One rule, everyone can paddle only two races as long as within age limit...period.

Come on Hawaii guys, share you mana'o...

JawsOut.

What would be your pick for the OC1 best suited for the OCPaddler game?

Hello,
I have owned a Huki V1R for 6 years. I am interested in doing the Maui to Molo race but would like to do it on a V1R similar to mine. If there is anybody who would be willing to allow me to race their V1R for a generous fee, please contact me.

Thanks :-)

Richard.

What advice would you give someone starting out on their first distance season? What do you wish you had known before your first distance season? Training tips? Seasickness tips? Water changes? What to bring in the drybag? Anything else?

Thanks!

Waikiki Training Distances:
Waikiki Training Distances:
I’m learning to use my new GPS unit so you may be interested in some exact training distances around the Ala Wai. Lokahi CC has a buoy at the Library end of the canal. From there to the #8 marker post off the end of the breakwater is exactly two miles. To get a mile split line up the two signs at the library end of the pedestrian bridge just past the Surf Club docks in front of the park. The #4 red can buoy (“taco bell’) in the channel is a popular place to start. From taco bell to Diamond Head buoy is 2.96 (say three) miles. This is a great training run – upwind towards Diamond Head and then catch the swells coming back. Plus the math is simple: If you do the 6 mile round trip in one hour that is exactly ten minutes per mile. Taco Bell (TB) to the Outrigger windsock is 2.0 miles. This isn’t a straight line, but assume you make a right angle turn at the swimmer’s channel, just past the surf line. TB to the red buoy at Kewalo Basin is 1.29 (say 1.3) miles. 2.6 miles down and back in 26 minutes is ten minutes per mile, and 23 minutes: 24 seconds is a nine minute average for the hot shots. If you are feeling particularly energetic do a triangle from TB to DH to Kewalo and back to TB. This is 8.35 miles total and one hour: 23 minutes is a ten minute average. Note that a direct line from DH to Kewalo is outside the bell buoys at the entrance to the channel. Another note: these are distances from the NOAA charts on my computer. If you ever get a chance to take a GPS unit your training run, it’s an eye opener. You’d be surprised how much you wander around when you think you’re going in a straight line. If you have a favorite run I’d be glad to calculate it for you, but I’ve only loaded the charts from Hawaii Kai up to Pearl Harbor, nothing for Kailua yet.

" If it feels good and natural when you first try it, it's probably wrong". Dave Pelz Putting Bible.