Story and Photos by Terry Shimabukuro
June 30, 2024
As we rendezvoused at the Hale‘iwa War Memorial the beach park was already bustling as early birds began to arrive for the 25th Hale‘iwa Arts Festival. While I’m sure the festival offered lots of nice things to see, three other paddlers and I opted to enjoy the beauty of the ocean instead.
The wind and ocean were calm leaving Hale‘iwa. Stan Dalbec, Bill Murphy and Harry Chiu decided to take a route inside the reef. I stayed outside the breakers as I was dragging a lure and hoped that the predicted uptick in wind would be strong enough for sailing.
The forecast was accurate as a steady breeze came up just after eleven. I opened my Wind Paddle and began a slow sail. Initially, I moved just a little faster than the paddlers, but the wind picked up and, as Bill told me later, I “shot ahead”. The wind got so strong that I dropped the sail for the last quarter mile because the cross swells were getting large and I had to weave my way through several groups of free divers.
As we approached the Dillingham Airfield a group of about six skydivers floated down from the clouds.
I waited outside of Runway Beach for the rest of the group to catch up, but only Bill appeared. The inside passage had closed out before our landing spot and while Bill was able to punch his way out Harry, who was on just his second club paddle, was not as fortunate and had his first huli. Bill said that while he learned about bracing into a wave when he was a beginner this was the first time he had to put it into practice. That tells you something about the conditions.
Stan came to Harry’s aid and they regrouped on shore. From shore they spotted a path through the surf and decided to paddle on. While this paddle was more challenging than Harry expected he was smiling at the end and looks forward to more adventures with the hui.