Less Straddle, More Paddle
What a couple of weeks it has been! There is a lot and nothing to tell, in fact so, so nothing and a lot that I don’t know where to begin. I guess I’ll just pick something…
I saw dolphins this morning. We stopped to watch them go by, a pod of about 20 out in the bay. I thought, “We should make an I Stop for Dolphins bumper sticker.” Apparently, that’s what you do when you’re out in a Hawaiian canoe and you cross paths with a pod. You stop. You give them the right of way. You watch. You coo. You marvel.
It was around 6:30 this morning. The sun comes up early here, just before 6. And, if you are lucky, you can join the Lana’i Paddle Club at daybreak to go out for a paddle in the bay off of Hulopo’e Beach. I have joined them every day that I’ve been able and let me tell you, it sets you up for the best day you can imagine. Paddling is a wonderful combination of physical exertion with a common goal and patient teachers in a breathtaking setting. The dolphins today were the cherry on top. I read that whales show up there, too, in the winter. Can you imagine?
Hulopo’e Beach is a dream of a beach and a marine sanctuary. Frankly, it is like a big bathtub with a coral reef and tidal pools on both sides. The shore is at a fairly steep incline, not flat like in Port A or South Padre. When the water hits it, it kind of bounces off the side and slides back into whatever is coming behind it. Though I make it sound benign, you still have to pay attention. This is the Pacific Ocean, after all. Some days there is actually enough surf to board surf on one side of the bay, and you could easily be knocked over by a wave getting out if you are careless. The tide pools are outlined by eroded lava rocks that are rough and slippery at the same time, ideal for busting your butt or a leg or losing some skin. But going in off the beach, once you get past the break, it is a bathtub. You can just float and float and float without worrying too much. Yesterday I was thinking that if you tied yourself to a rock on the bottom to keep you from floating back in, you could probably take a nap out there, just floating on your back … I love watching the kids in the surf as well. They get their boogie boards and have a big time… The water gets over your head not far off shore… So odd… Rocks on the bottom…Bright and varied fish. Dreamy.
As you can imagine, getting the canoes into the water is also a process. No dreaming allowed here! All must pay attention and move as one. The canoes are about 18 feet long, accommodating 6 people and have an outrigger on the left side. It is called the “ama”. It stabilizes the canoe which is quite narrow. When you slide the canoe into the water, everyone is on that left side. The steersman says when to go, which is timed a receding wave. As the boat slides out with the water, you have to jump into your seat as soon as your feet get wet. If you miss, your job is to get out of the way as quickly as possible because everyone else is paddles in and pulling the boat out past the surge, which means that you then have to swim out and climb into the boat, a somewhat more challenging entry. It is pretty exciting getting in and out of the canoe and takes a lot of coordination as does the paddling which is timed and called. If you are asked to change positions, like I and another woman were twice today, you have to jump out and get back in, again always on the left side, the side of the ama. We don’t go super far away from the shore, but there is an open water feel to the experience. Sometimes they even paddle from one island to another. I have a hard time imagining that level of fitness. It is 15 miles to Maui and would require 4+ hours of paddling. What a thrill that would be!
Oh yeah, and then there’s work (Ha Ha) which is also a highly orchestrated endeavor. More about that later… Until then, aloha!
For a visual of the beach and bay:
