Author: Terry Shimabukuro

A group of “off-road” RC car enthusiasts commandeered the Pōkaʻī Bay boat ramp forcing us to unload our kayaks in the main parking lot and haul them to the beach. Was this unexpected inconvenience a sign of things to come? Seven eager kayakers lined up their boats along the beach all ready to go except for one thing, their paddle leader. Steve neglected to tell us that he was going on a trip, so, no paperwork, making this an unofficial paddle.

Bill and Stan D. took Debi, Amy, Nadine and Monte to Mākua on the carpool so that they could scope out the landing site as this was their first time doing this route. An advisory level south swell had just ended, but the surf was still up so they also evaluated the surf there and deemed it fit for landing. The best laid plans…

July’s breezy trade winds continued, but we’d be paddling in the lee of the Waiʻanae Mountains so we’d have lighter winds. Prior to launch I warned that we have run into headwinds going into Mākua under similar forecast conditions and to be prepared for that possibility. A slight understatement…

As predicted, it was fairly easy paddling up to Makaha. It was calm enough for a curious honu to visit Amy and swim under her kayak while she was taking a water break. The calm before the storm…

I caught an aha (crocodile needlefish) outside of Keʻeau Beach Park and took awhile to dispatch it and put it in my fish bag. I was pretty far behind the group when I started paddling again. Stan and Nadine slowed down so that I could catch up. The three of us were at least half a mile behind the others. We were around the Makua Cave when Debi radioed that Bill had hulied and they didn’t know what to do to help. I was too far back to see what happened, but I picked up the pace to get to them. By the time I reached them Bill was standing onshore and he radioed that he was alright. The headwind was now blowing hard, kicking up white caps. We still had a mile to go to reach our Mākua landing spot. Stan sensed that the group was too tired to continue and suggested a small beach that we had just passed as an emergency take out. We agreed and headed over.

The small sandy beach was fronted by a shallow rock shelf and a few large protruding rocks. The waves were small and the tide was high enough that you could make it all the way onto the sand so I charged ahead. I landed without incident, dragged my kayak up the beach and returned to guide the others in. Thus began an impromptu crash and burn clinic. We had one big huli and a couple small ones, but everyone made it out with no serious injuries (couple of scrapes).

After making sure everyone was OK we took a breath and began to recount our misadventure. Stan immediately took off up the coast to find Bill. Nadine and Debi volunteered to make the mile plus hike to Mākua to retrieve a couple of cars. Amy, Monte and I began carrying our gear and kayaks up a small bluff to the highway. It took a long time and a great team effort, but we eventually got everyone loaded up and on the road home. Exhausted, we must have all been secretly glad that there was no club paddle the following week.

Kollin, if you’re reading this, your old kayaks picked up a few more scratches on the landing, but they were handled capably by Nadine and Amy and they will continue to go on many more club adventures with these ladies.

Half of the kayakers on this paddle had survived a “hairy” journey around Kahuku Point in Small Craft Advisory wind and swell the previous week. As we gathered at Waialeʻe we watched close to SCA level whipping up white caps just offshore. Leader Stan D., one of the Kahuku Point survivors, was more cautious than normal in his pre-launch briefing and had us all buddy up. But, unlike the previous week where more than half the paddle was either into a strong headwind or starboard-side wind we knew that we’d have a tailwind the entire run so we were confident that this would be a much more enjoyable paddle…and what a joy it was!

The four of us that brought sails for this journey were treated to perfect conditions for a Windbag warmup. I flew down the coast with my Wind Paddle pop-up sail. According to my tracker I hit a max speed of 8 mph with an average over 5 mph. My heart raced when I’d catch a trade swell and throw rooster tails off both sides of my hull. Most fun that I’ve ever had kayak sailing!

Stan loaned his Wind Paddle to Debi and she became an instant sailing enthusiast. Stan coached Debi and Sandy in the finer points of handling a pop-up sail as he paddled hard to keep up with them.

With no north swell we coasted easily onto the beach at Waimea Bay for a short lunch break. Daring youngsters entertained us with their rock diving. Their exuberant energy spurred Steve and Stan to take Debi spelunking into the caverns under the rock and at the end of the beach.

The wind had calmed down a bit after lunch, but it was still strong enough for us to continue sailing all the way back to Haleʻiwa. Smooth sailing, no drama, just FUN!

Another Small Craft Advisory threatened to upset our Sunday plans once more, but paddle leader Eileen was determined to proceed with this event even if we had to leave our kayaks on our cars and walk to the Mai Tai Bar. Luckily, the SCA ended before the paddle so we unloaded and headed toward Leahi. As we enjoyed a lovely day on the water, Mark Ling, readied things for us at the Mai Tai Bar. Mahalo for hosting us Mark!

We encouraged people to use tandems for this paddle to reduced the beach parking needed at the Royal Hawaiian so I offered a seat to Nadine in my Malibu Two and she happily accepted. She used my backup Werner paddle and was amazed at how light it was compared to her normal paddle. The reduced weight turned her into the Tasmanian Devil and I had to repeatedly ask her to slow down as we left the rest of the pack in the dust in spite of a breezy headwind. She took advantage of the many breaks we took to take some great photos and video. She put together a great video recap that speaks better than words so I’ll let her visuals end this story.

Our Tracks to Pōkaʻī Bay paddle was canceled due to a Small Craft Advisory. We did an unofficial casual paddle in the lee of the trade winds from Tracks to Ko Olina and back instead. It was a short, but beautiful outing with just a few strong gusts of wind. A brief, but dynamic dolphin encounter capped off the day. No story, just a quick video.