Recently I bought a Hokulea canoe from Hypr canoe in mid-December. Last weekend we were doing a Makapuu run and the aiko system fell apart three miles out from Makapuu point! Never the less, I managed to make it in to Sandy's.

I'm attaching a picture of the sleeve which receives the rear iako, which was bouncing around inside my hull. With the help of a boat maker friend we managed to cut open a hole in the hull to gain access. And you would be surprized what we found. We found that the plastic sleeve was secured to the hull with one layer of fiberglass and epoxy resin. The fiberglass around the sleeve was still soft!

If you have recently bought a Hokulea canoe from Hypr canoe, please be careful.

If you think about it, there is some guy who probably doesn't even know how to hold the paddle the right way, putting together your boat. In the open ocean, your safety and life depend on your equiptment being solid.

This same guy is getting paid like $5 US a day for 12 hours of work in epoxy resin vapor filled sweat shop. You would think at least the cost of the boat would come down. wrong! They went up, thanks to some slick marketing and you. Yes that's right you. As the consumer you have the ability to demand a better product. Unfortunately, most of us (including myself) wanted a boat fast and were willing to pay the bucks.

Next time you buy a canoe, ask where it's made and who is making it. Inquire about boats made in HAWAII. Pay a little extra, beg John Martin to take that Pahoa mold and make you one, or buy a used one made at home.

eh all of u out there to get Rick Leton and Lanikai canoeclub, just stop about it. Brah if u guys have a problem about rick and his coverage, go say it to his face and stopp talking spank about him and his site, becauz all u guys are doing is just talking on a computer. Everything about team bradley and proffesional paddling shaaat up. Oh and by the way i hope all u people that want to see ur pictures are realatively fast because why would you like to just pictures of u in the pack, and chances are u wont buy pictures from rick, u just look or just try to steal um.
so shaat up!

One of the hardest outriggerraces on erath
47 miles around the island Hiddensee (Oc1, OC2, Oc6)
more infos about the Hiddenseemarathon www.outrigger-sport.de

Why do we all paddle? (note--- this is kinda long and there is not much of a point to it, so don't read it if you're short on time) 

I'm just curious to hear what peoples reasons are for paddling and I want to organize my thoughts on the subject.
I do not think that any of us really paddle just to stay in shape. It is a lot easier to put on a pair of running shoes and do a half hour run every morning before work then it is to take three hours to shuttle cars, rig canoes, and do a run.
What about a love for competition? I know that I personally love to race, but that is not the reason that I (or, I think, anyone else) paddles. I don't have any intense drive to try and paddle faster than other people, but I still love to race. Paddling is unique in that nearly every paddler competes at some level. Why is that? Competition gives us nothing. Even the worlds fastest paddlers are relatively unknown to anyone outside of the sport (at least in Hawai'i), and are unknown to a surprising amount of people within the sport. It is not uncommon for a paddler to devote upwards of twenty hours per week to the sport (add it all up, driving time, standing around time, paddling time, cross training etc.... it adds ups), but what is the reason?
I used to think that it was because I loved the ocean. But then I went to Southern California's Inland Empire and after not paddling for a month I settled for a reservoir. Even though paddling in circles sucks, it was still the highlight of my day. It was flat, cold and polluted water, yet it was still awesome. There was nothing other than the occasional boat wake to catch, and definitely never anything to connect to. Birds often shit on me (ten times in one minute once), I would catch fishing lines on my rudder, I would have to pay astronomical rates for a boat permit and for parking, yet I still did it everyday for two or three hours. For a little while I questioned my sanity, but I don't anymore. I think that most paddlers would have done the same thing. Take away the ocean, the competition, the fun, yet we still paddle. So what is it? Just a time consuming addiction, or something more?

My only idea is that it is a form of meditation. You go out on the water and there is nothing but you and the ocean (or whatever form of water you're on). The only thoughts are on how to make the canoe go faster, there is nothing else. I think that once we all get a dose of it, we can never go back to having a normal, paddle-less life. We love competition because that is the ultimate form of paddling meditation. In a race you cannot afford to have any distracting thought. In a regatta every stroke counts, in a long distance race every wave counts, and any wandering thought can make you miss that wave or stroke. Everyone needs a period of mindlessness in their days. Nothing matters on the water, no matter what is going on in someones lives, it all is gone when they are in a canoe.

Alright--- I think that my laundry is done. Any thoughts on what it is about the sport that draws you to it?

Ok I'm just throwing this out there to see what others have to say about it. What do you think about having a live chat added to OcPaddler? I'm not trying to add more work for Keizo and I have no idea what it takes to add live chat to a website. But wouldn't it be cool to talk story with other paddlers from around the world or in your own area and get instant feedback? It's like having a "real" conversation with someone without having to wait for a response in the regular forum, which by the way there's nothing wrong with. I'm not trying to fix something that's not broken, but only talking about adding features to it. The forum is good for people who just want to check in once in a while when they have time and still keep up to date with whats going on but some of us who have too much free time on our hands could hang around and talk story. Imagine talking to someone who just completed the Moloka'i Hoe or the Na Wahine O Ke Kai? Most everybody here has one thing in common, paddling. It's a pretty tight knit community and most share the ohana and kokua spirit that is passed down from our kupuna so we have some pretty cool people. On a side note, it could also benefit OcPaddler and us the users. People would hang around the site longer and that would make the advertisers happy because it gives them more exposure, which in turn means Keizo could charge more for ad space which in turn would mean more fun stuff for us and so on and so forth. Like I said, I'm just throwing this out there to see what others think and if this subjects already been brought up before I apologize for bringing it up again but I was too lazy to dig through the archives to see if it was. Malama pono.

Lopaka

Many of the people who have posted comments about Rick Leton's website have criticized his coverage with rude remarks about him being bias. One question. Do you judge a book by its cover? To those people who are so inconsiderate, do you know Rick Leton personally? Have you talked to him? Do you know what his life is like? People have been judging Rick Leton. Yes, there was a lack of coverage to the two women's races, but to start posting comments about how he is bias to Lanikai is so foolish and child like. After checking the Y2kanu archive at the past heading on the website, I found Lanikai only a few times. I also discovered that Outrigger Canoe Club had about two times as may headings and pictures. Now is Rick Leton bias to Outrigger? of course not. Lanikai and Outrigger are on the website the most becuase they are the ones winning all the races. Like Ocpaddler, the winners are usually shown on the front page.

Running a website is a hard job and I have talked to Rick and from what I understand, Y2kanu is for the people, not to make alot of money. Rick enjoys taking pictures of our wonderful sport. Maybe we should thank him for doing so! And if you were to make a website, you would be lying if you tell me that there wouldn't be alot of pictures of your canoe club or paddling friends on your website. So read the pages in between the cover before you comment.

-Pat Dolan
PS: If you have something against Lanikai, do something about it. We train smart and hard, what about you? See you on the water.

http://hawaiianwatershots.com/movies/makahiki2006.wmv

I just broke my OC1 (Viper) doing the run from Hawaii Kai to Kaimana. The nose snapped when I came down a wave entering Kaimana. Does anyone know the guy's name and number who fixes OC1 in Sand Island? Or any other reputable names other than the normal shop names? Any info is appreciated.

My paddling buddies never cease to amaze me with their array of excuses for paddling slow or coming in last on a run. I've got some time to kill so I figured I'd put together a list of things I've heard or said in the past. When I've gathered up enough of these execuses, I think I'll print the list out and keep them in my paddling shorts in case I need one.

Here are some of them:

1. I slept funny last nite and my shoulder is killing me.
2. I think I have a torn rotator cuff.
3. Did you see the branch that was stuck in my rudder? I think the tree was still attached to it.
4. Darnit! I think my boat has water in it -- again.
5. I already went to the gym this morning.
6. I really really really need a carbon boat.
7. I just got over a cold.
8. I fooled around with the settings on my ama so I'm just getting used to the boat.
9. The water was running on the inside, huh? I should have followed you.
10. I just gave blood.

Did I miss any?

Do you think if you took the top 7 or 8 OC-1 paddlers from Hawaii, they could now win the Tahiti "Hawaiki Nui Va’a"?

I know about five years ago Lanikai won a leg and did well, but I would argue that over the last five years the level of paddling sophistication in Hawaii has increased greatly. On the other hand, it has improved in Tahiti as well. I think it is possible to win with a Hawaii team, but it would take a lot of committment and money. Maybe a crew is planning to compete in the next couple of years, and we just don't know about it. I would think that the top paddlers would give up a Molokai win for a victory in the Hawaiki Nui Va’a. Maybe I'm wrong. I would love to hear thoughts on this question.

Mahalo