Story and Photos by Terry Shimabukuro
June 2, 2024
Advisory level trades threatened to cancel our paddle, but the SCA ended early Sunday morning so it was a go for six paddlers, including new member Bill McCarthy who was on his first paddle on the open ocean.
Small swells rolled up the beach at Tracks, but they weren’t breaking so we all launched without incident. As we began our journey up the coast a lifeguard on an Ocean Safety jet ski pulled along side me and asked where we were headed. When I replied Pokai he responded, “Whoa!”
He warned me that there was surf breaking along the coast so he suggested that we stay a little outside. I passed the word along as the lifeguard zoomed in to intercept Stan Dalbec who was already busy with his usual close inspection of the rocky coastline.
Our dolphin escort failed to show up for this paddle. I think they knew that Beth, Eileen, Nikko and Sandy weren’t with us so they went to look for a better audience. I didn’t see much wildlife except one large honu and a few ‘ua’u kani (wedge-tailed shearwater) flying by.
Without wildlife to entertain us the Waianae mountains filled the void with a glorious show. The heavy May showers produced lush green valleys and hillsides. High clouds framed jagged peaks from Makakilo to Makaha. Normally, at this time of the year the leeward coast is more brown than green so we relished this rare treat.
While I don’t claim that these photos are works of art try viewing them on the largest screen that you can (or at least read this in landscape mode) to get a better sense of what we saw.
Bill McCarthy stands a lanky 6′-4″ and he folded himself into his used Scrambler for this 8-mile trek. His long reach gives him a powerful stroke that allowed him to keep up with us, at least until the pad-eye anchoring his seat back popped off. I noticed that he had another pad-eye forward of the failed one so I attempted an on-water repair with some spare line that I carry. We clipped his seat back to the line and I cinched it up and, “Ping!”, another pad-eye launched into the sea! Disappointed in my failed McGuyver moment, Bill shrugged it off, engaged his core and soldiered on.
He was running low on gas by the end of the paddle, but we cruised safely into Pokai Bay. In spite of his struggles Bill remained in good spirits. Earlier, when we took a short break after rounding Ma’ili Point Bill took a moment to soak in the vista. He turned to me and said, “It never gets old.” Bill gets it. This is why we paddle. Welcome to the Hui Bill!