February 23, 2008

Koho’s Maliko

or

What happened to the wind?

The big story this year was the lack of wind. The tempest that normally defines Maliko was tamed into lake-like conditions. Smooth, hot, yet, we were definitely on the North shore with the big old waves at Spreckelsville surprising a few paddlers and sending the heart rate monitors into “beep, beep, b-beep” range.

The race started at 11 a.m. Which gave us lots of extra time to contemplate our windless predicament. I ate my usual pre-race, junk food breakfast: musubi and a doughnut (chocolate), visited with some of my favorite people on the island, and gave my husband a peck on the cheek for luck. Sharon chanted beautifully and offered flowers to toss in the water as paddlers remembered those departed and close to their hearts. I paddled out of Maliko Bay thinking of my grandma. It felt good to dedicate my race to a strong woman in my life, and feel her spirit with me. She was a fierce competitor who took gold in Senior Olympics- she would have loved my paddling.

I can’t comment much on the race that was happening on the horizon ahead of me. Apparently a bunch of ya’ll can paddle really fast! I enjoyed myself with my small pod of paddlers: Christina Dougherty, Donna Abdil & Ellen Federoff , Katherine Longstaff & William Lagemann, Pedro Gapero (our fearless leader who knows his way through all that surf), and Tom Wright. We paddled down through Spreckelsville in an interesting manner: straight, dedicated, on line, then oops, sharp turn right and paddle for your life, breathe, go over another wave as it crests, and then settle in once again, repeat several times, and remember to breathe! A whale fully out of the water received a lot of “oohs and “ahhs” before the atomic bomb splashdown which, much to my amusement, rated a scream from someone. The whales also dazzled us swimming in the big swells just outside our line, giving us the “toot-toot, keep on truckin” whale blast , while showing themselves off like a piece if artwork hanging from a wall of water.

Barry took the inside line and had to jump off his canoe as a wave broke on him, he got back on, and said, despite the waves, it was still faster to go inside. Slater Trout was towed out beyond the breakers as he got himself too far inside on his standup. But, overall, awesome job Slater for completing Maliko and winning gold at 13 years old! Nancy Plenty had a brief halt to her race as she waited for a barge to clear the harbor entrance so that she could finish- which she did in style with a gold medal.

Prepare yourself:  Kai won. That man is awesome, and his wife is my hero: Lauren came in 1st elite woman. I had a brief audience with the king of paddling who told me he took the inside line, ate oatmeal for breakfast, and listened to Rage Against the Machine and Black Eyed Peas while paddling. He must have said some other intriguing things, but I was star-struck, and I can’t remember. Suffice to say, you guys rock!

Scoreboard:

Biggie 2, Placourakis 2.

Kai, Danny, and Mael came in 1,2,3 ahead of the surfskis.

Keri and Don managed 20 seconds over the speedy team of Chris & Sara Smith. 

Ah, and Christina beat me yet again, so it’s Christina 10 (if you count all of last year too), Brandis 1 as she was a no show for the Pali Triangle and let me take 1st place, finally.

Thank you to our sponsor Koho’s for the grinds and beer. Thank you to Na Kai Ewalu for allowing us to use their Hale. Thanks to Debbie who took 500 pictures from the escort boat. If you have ever wondered what you look like paddling, I think you’ll have a pretty good idea after she posts her pictures. Thanks to the volunteers. And thanks for the great prizes from Hammer Nutrition. I won Ultra Endurance Fuel, so watch out during the relay- I plan to be on fire!  Or at least well fueled.

I look forward to seeing you all at next Saturday’s Whalefest.

Brandis Sarich, V.P.