WOW! I had the chance to test paddle a newly released hull design for OC6 at Lili'uokalani.

Within 3 stokes of leaving the shore you could feel that this canoe handled very differently and more smoothly than either a Mirage or Bradley. The canoe sat high in the water, cut thru the waves, surfed every ripple. There was no "squirrely" feel to the steering in side on chop or when surfing the top of the wave face. It flew on the downwind run and sliced through the bumps on the upwind.

I had never felt so pumped up and excited about a new design as I was after a paddle in this canoe. Other teams from Austrailia, Californina, Arizona, Oahu and Oregon were there giving her a spin and everyone agreed that this canoe felt like no other they had ever paddled.

Will be interesting to see how this new design called the "O'o" shakes things up a bit!

I added a nice little tide chart to my blog. It's a neat little gadget that is fed with official data.

Thus if you are planning your Hawaii Kai run, you can lookup this handy little graphic.
Hanauma Bay is minus 1 hour from Honolulu I believe. Please correct me if that is wrong.

http://www.oc1design.blogspot.com

At Rambo's September 03, 2008, blog there's a story that starts:

"Bailing

"Hey guys, bailing is a skill and another reason why we should be proud our sport is so different from others. The Top Crews will make a move when they see another crew bail, it can make or break a race and it’s all part of racing smart..."

He goes on and comes to a conclusion. (By the way, is Mooloolaba anywhere near Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory?)

This sport is all about more than paddling fast. There's problem solving and seamanship. Personally I see it as adventure racing.

I watched the Olympic Crew 8's in Beijing and though I admired their conditioning and skill, I did not envy their rowing up a waveless river that was like a swimming pool.

I've been researching various canoes on this forum and others. I'd like to buy my new wife an OC-1 for her birthday next month and for training (she's on the Beach Boys OC-6team). I would also like to give this sport a try as well. I keep hearing all about the newer Fuzes, the older Hurricanes and Vantages, Pahoas and Pegsuses so my purchase will probably be along these lines.

The problem is with choosing one.

I've been trying to find a list of the canoes and their respective rankings in the Molokai Hoe race, but all I can find are names of paddlers and their times. Anybody know how I can find out which OC1s are placing consistently?

Also everybody keeps telling me to "try them out first" to see which ones fit/work the best. It's driving me nuts and is starting to annoy me since we can't just go out and rent a few to try out like we can with kayaks, surfboards or SUPs. Unless somebody knows of a rental place that I haven't heard of.

"Join a club" is the next typical response. She's already in one and all she gets to do is train and race in the OC-6. She did get to try out an OC-1 once but it was a unbranded beater fiberglass canoe. I have the impression that just by signing up with a club, I won't all of the sudden be able to try out a bunch of different nice boats that I'm thinking about buying. I'm also deaf so socializing in such a club wouldn't be something that would happen. I think it would just be a drain on a public teacher's salary.

Does anybody have any advice, suggestions or thoughts? Best thing I can think of is to find a consistent finisher in the races (not sponsored if possible) and go with that brand/type as a first boat and take things from there.

Lastly, I'm not sure who would use it more, her or I so an OC-1 that covers a broad weight range would be outstanding - is that even possible? She's 125 and I'm 165 pounds.

Thanks,

Paul

I have a stuck iako that I can not get out of my Huki V1-R. The back one came out ok with a little tug, but the front one will not even move a little bit. Any ideas before I break out the pipe wrench and try not to do a ton of damage?!?!

Just felt like a bit of history this morning.

Here's the USS Milwaukee in 1923. Notice the sailing outrigger canoe in the foreground. The iakos are different from anything I know. My guess is the photographer was a bit under the weather.

Aloha paddlers
Roz Savage made it to Hawai'i today. She left San Francisco 99 days ago and rowed across the Pacific to Waikiki. Amazing. She makes our "long distance" season seem so minini in comparison. The Advertiser article is provided but I am sure there will be a lot more coverage about her amazing adventure in the coming days. Her blog is RozSavage.com.
Mikala
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080901/BR...

Aloha paddlers,

I wanted to let you know that the 5th episode of Ocean paddler tv will start to air in Hawaii on OC-16 Tuesday @ 6:30pm.
The 4th on line show (www.oceanpaddler.tv) will begin Friday September 5th.

This months show will have an unreal segment from States!
You can catch the show 40 times this month on:

Mondays - 11;30am
Tue - 6:30pm
Wed - 12:30am
Thu - 1:00pm and 10:00pm
Fri - 4:00am and 9:30pm
Sat - 3;30am
Sun - 5;30am and again at 3:00pm

BIG Mahalo's to all of you who are helping to make YOUR show such a success. As also, keep the feedback coming:):)
Terry
Ocean Paddler TV
terry@oceanpaddler.tv
www.oceanpaddler.tv

anyone know the rusults for the kona race.

Aloha,

Video just pau. Features Buffalo and Momi Keaulana at blessing, some killer views, bumps, small kine scare (kailua in lead, hulis, with outrigger closing in). Didn't get to shoot OC-1's on big bumps before Kaena as cameraman had to move from camera jet ski to official boat and double as an official that was MIA.