Maui Canoe Club Bulletin Board

Paddling Techniques Workshop Feedback

Mahalo to Jennifer Pratt for arranging and organizing the paddling techniques workshop. We would like to hear from you!

If you attended this morning workshop please take a moment to leave feedback on this page.

Specifically we would like to know:

1. What you liked and didn’t like
2. Was there something you didn’t understand that we need to go over next time in a more thorough way?
3. Was there something missing that you would like to see included?
4. Do you think we should invite instructor Franny Durham back for another session?
5. Anything other point(s) you would like to make

Mahalo

Mike Elam

CAPTAIN’S TRAINING ..in sea life rescue?

It didn’t start out as Training in Sea Life Rescue; it was just another Captain Training session The steering classes had started due to lack of Captains during summer months and the interest of a few paddlers who could not do the normal fall seasons course given by Dave Williams. It was just a usual nice sunny day in Kihei, Maui. Enough wave action to get the student captains going in and out avoiding large wave crests, first on North Lei Beach Park and then on the South part. Lei Beach Park is the official name of the county park on the beach at the foot of Ka Ono Ulu Street next to the Maui Lu Resort; also referred to as: Our Beach”.

I (Shel) was the Captain on board, with Chris Stankis, and Mike Reineer , as captains in training. Also on board was Washington Bob and the always willing to help out Al Bayless in seat one. I was trying to get Chris caught up in the training program because he was working more often than usual at his job as a kayak tour group leader. Chris was given double classes did very well and Mike was next in seat six as captain. I was going to get him to go in the same repetitive training sequence, as we had done previously.

“Let’s go out to Wilson “, Mike said. “They put a new float or something out there.”
Wilson is a location about 300 yards out from the Whale Sanctuary along a reef that essentially starts from the ancient fish pond out to sea. Wilson was so named because the buoy was usually a volley ball or basketball with the manufacture name Wilson on it. Later any floating ball would was substituted ; but still was called Wilson in honor of the year 2000 film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks where Hanks portrays a FedEx executive who is stranded on an uninhabited island after the Fed Ex plane crashes on a flight over the South Pacific. He befriends one of the cargo items…a Wilson volleyball. That is why we canoe clubs have our endearing friend out there.

Mike being very much in tune with the ocean and his sixth sense might have been telling him something. It seemed he was being directed to out to Wilson. I said “OK, as some sort of training we will make an educated guess on how many changes it will take to get there.” I thought that Mike could slide along the float and check his steering.

What is said about plans? Well something else happened. About 100 yards away from target Al yells out” Did you see that splashing?”

Mike and I responding together affirmed. The next splash as we approached closer was distinctly a turtle. It was still splashing as in a fight. I though, On No… the turtle was battling for its life against a shark.

Getting very close we could see that the turtle was tangled up in the rope attached to Wilson, which was not Wilson like instead a large plastic can serving as a float. Mike called “Lava back paddle” We drifted back. “Lava “again shouted Mike R. Mike in seat six and I in seat five tried to restrain the turtle. She, yes it was a she, was strong and slapping us and the canoe.

She has two loops around her neck and two loops around her right forward fin. Mike shouted to me. “Watch out, those fins have a harp edge. “ I had being having sprained arm problems and felt it would be better if Chris dropped back to my seat and I moved up on the iako, the wood portion of the outrigger system, to stabilize the canoe. We didn’t have a knife or a cell phone to call for help. We did have two strong men wrestling the turtle. They managed to loosen and untie the head loops and the get the fin loops untied. The turtle not knowing if we friend or foe was battling all the time. It looked at us with its mouth open. Even though I have seen turtles while diving and snorkeling I never had this close of a face to face encounter.
Our brave lads Mike and Chris deserve a lot of credit. Our female Honu (Green Sea Turtle) was free and headed straight down to get away from us, her perceived foe.

Perhaps when we go out there again she may realize that we were just helping out We came back to the beach “stoked” on our great day of Captain training and sea life rescue.

A&B Property Feedback Page

Please us this page to post your comments regarding the Club’s potential licensing of the A&B Property at Sugar Beach.

Non-Maui Canoe Club Events and Volunteer Opportunities

The purpose of the club Bulletin Board is to facilitate membership communication. Please use this page to post information about any special events, volunteer opportunities, and/or whatever else you would like to alert the club membership to.

In the Waves with the OC-4

Waves Today June 10, 2009

There were waves today and the numbers of people were such that the OC-4 could come into play. Richard Degroot seat one, Dale Webster seat 2, Shel Seat 4. Seat three was left empty due to the numbers and advice from surfers Hawaiian Mike and Sea watch Dave had given me. Load the front… keep the back light. As captain I took their advice.

The crew was strong and we could keep up with Kai i Hitu on the way out. We both jumped over some big waves. I turned back early to see if we could catch some waves. The surf had died down. We plied the beach a little. I was getting impatient and I heard the surfers mantra.. Try wait….which is what I did.

We came around and waited as the surge built up. I lined up and this monster 4 to 5 foot face loomed up and I yelled paddle hard. The OC-4 Nalu Hoholo lived up to her name. The back rose up and the nose pointed down. I think I could look down over Dale’s head and see Richards feet as my butt rose out of the seat. Keep my eye on the ama I said to myself as I steered into Kaonoulu beach with the roar of the wave directly behind us. “Turnig left” I shouted as Dale leaned on the iako. Lean left was the next command as we came across the face , turned and continued out to sea.

All of us were overjoyed with the experience. I asked if they were ready for another hardly getting the words out as they shouted Yes, Yeah! I headed out again and we stopped (Lava) while waiting for another set soon on its way. Dale asked Richard “Did you think that we could go head over heels. Richards response was Yes, for sure. I asked Dale if he felt being in seat three would be better. His response and therefore his position was changed.

Shortly after that along comes another surge giving birth to a monster. Here we go ! Back end up again. I start out Ok but the nose starts going left into the face. I try to pull the back around (more on that later) . I couldn’t get out of it. I second later I see Dale laying on the iako with the ama just about 11 o’clock over my head. The next thing I remember is being under water and smacking the top of my foot against the coral Well I knew where we were, The reef just in front of our beach.

At the surface I couldn’t see Dale or Richard over the upside down Nalu Hoholo and shouted “everyone OK?” I heard Dale and Richard shout that they were fine. Well I remember Mike Elam and I had talked about a huli practice on the OC-4. No need for me and my crew. All else went like clockwork. Richard gathered some paddles Dale and I kept the stern to the oncoming wave set. I called for waiting a bit until the set subsided. We ducked a few big waves hanging on to the canoe. Richard was on the shot end of the forward iako and Dale and I pushed up on the upside down ama and she flipped to upright quite easily. I told Dale to get in. He got in at seat four which was fine. Dale is a captain and so is Richard how lucky can you get. Richard and I got in as quickly as we could especially considering how high the gunnels are on the OC-4 even when one quarter full of water.
We paddled straight in with just a minor set behind us.

Jonica was on the beach and saw it all. I good thing, She gave me just a short but correct piece of advise. “Shel you gotta poke right .. you can never pull the rear around in that kind of wave,” She was right. I had gotten used to and it almost became habit to pull the stern. With those forces… neva happen.

The summary: I scrapped my instep. Nalu Hoholo had lost her virginity , Dale and Richard checked off yet another huli with captain Shel. We had fun, practiced, and learned.
Another day in paradise.

Hina Sailing Canoe Feedback

A Mirage Sailing Canoe

As many of you know, the club is considering the possible purchase of a sailing outrigger canoe.  The question is: to what extent would this canoe be used?  As a result the club is sponsoring this outing on the Hina Sailing Canoe in Wailea to gauge members’ interest.

Once you have had your experience on the Hina please take a moment to post a comment on the Bulletin Board here describing your feelings about your experience, good, bad or indifferent.  As a result of this experience would you advise the club to acquire or build a sailing canoe of our own?  Why or why not?  Would you be interested in using a Maui Canoe Club sailing canoe on a regular basis?  Why or why not?  Please describe any other factors you believe would impact the board’s decision on this matter.

Mahalo

Mike Elam

Canoe Swamping Experience

The canoe I took out during the ashes ceremony on Wednesday swamped in the surf zone.  I wanted to describe this experience and make it available for general discussion and comment.  Prior to Wednesday I had never had a huli or a swamping as a captain of Maui Canoe Club (I have had them in the past with a previous club).  My record is no longer unblemished and I would like everyone to learn from this experience.  I attempted to be as objective as possible.  I have documented my opinion of what went wrong and what went right here.  You may agree or disagree.  All comments and feedback are encouraged and appreciated.  Let’s all learn from each other. 

During the Canoe Blessing and Memorial Service this past Wednesday we experienced our first small swell of the season.  All seven canoes were lined up on the south beach prepared to launch and head to Wilson for the ashes ceremony.  As captain of Naia Kolohe with my crew of Meryl and Bruce Cohen, Jan Gayle, Al Bayless and Paul Bonanno my plan was to head south towards the fishpond wall and then out to sea trying to go around the impact zone.  After I launched heading south I found the rollers breaking against the right side of the canoe so I changed my plan to head straight out.  Let me be clear.  That was where I made my mistake.  I should have stuck to my original plan. The rest of what happened was a direct result of this mistake.

As we headed out watching the waves coming at us I kept the ama at roughly a 45 degree angle facing the wave.  All paddlers were paddling on the left.  We were hit by wave after wave.  Meryl in seat one had to quit paddling and duck as each wave hit.  As we went over each wave it lifted the ama and Bruce in seat four had the presence of mind to immediately lean out on the iako keeping us from a huli.  David Williams had drilled this point in to each of the students during the recent captain’s training course—do what you can to keep the ama from coming up.  Each wave filled the canoe with more and more water until we were submerged enough that the next wave knocked most of us out of the canoe, including me.  We did not huli that morning.

Once we were all in the water near the now-submerged canoe I communicated with each crew member asking if he or she was OK.  We gathered all the paddles and other items, i.e., water bottles, caps, cameras, seat cushions, etc.  I then had a decision to make.  Should we turn the boat upright or leave it submerged and bring it to shore.  We were still in the surf zone and the waves continued to roll in over us.  It was low tide and shallow enough for Paul and I to touch the bottom.  I decided that turning the boat over with the waves continuing to roll in was not the right option due to where we were still inside the surf zone, the waves would just continue to keep us submerged.  With Bruce on the ama and Al sitting in the canoe paddling we slowly and deliberately walked the boat into shore where we emptied it and pushed it up on to the beach.  People on shore pointed us left and right to help us avoid walking the canoe into the large submerged rocks.  The crew returned safely with no injuries and no damage occurred to the canoe.

Lessons learned in no particular order:

1.       From the south beach with swells 1-2 ft or more head south towards the fishpond and go around the waves, avoid heading directly into the impact zone.

2.       If the canoe becomes swamped inside the impact zone with waves continuing to roll in, your best course of action may be to bring (paddle or walk) the canoe back to the beach rather than try to empty it.

3.       Wear reef shoes.  Some were barefoot and found it difficult to walk over the rocks on the bottom on the way back to shore.  I had no trouble at all.

4.       When heading in to a wave do whatever you can to keep the ama down at all times.

5.       Those in seats one and two need to duck and cover to avoid being hit by the full impact of the wave.

6.       Keeping the ama at a 45 degree angle was the right approach but we just had too many waves one after another to get all the way through the surf zone safely.

7.       If you decide to paddle or walk a submerged canoe back to shore be sure to place someone on the ama.  The canoe at that point is like a large log and can roll over easily unless someone is hanging on the ama to keep it down.

All comments and feedback are encouraged and appreciated.  Let’s all learn from each other.

Mahalo

Mike

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