Category: Paddles

Kayaking from Mokulēʻia to Keawaʻula Bay around Kaʻena Point treats paddlers to vistas of a windswept mountain ridge, seabirds soaring above a protected coastal plain, waves crashing against a rocky shore and if you’re lucky sightings of large honu, a cruising pod of naiʻa, a curious ‘īlioholoikauaua (“Dog that runs in rough water”, Hawaiian monk seal) or, if you’re really lucky, a splashing koholā. As awesome as this sounds, paddling this route involves planning a long, arduous carpool and careful monitoring of wind and wave forecasts to avoid dangerous conditions. Stan, a diligent paddle leader, pondered these factors for a week and decided to play it safe and switched to a round trip from Mākua to the point and back, no carpool required. 

This switch prompted several more carpool adverse paddlers to sign up, including myself. A half-dozen kayakers showed up. Even though I live the closest I was the last to show up as everyone else got there early and were almost ready to launch. I scrambled to get ready as the others studied the small shore break. The conditions looked great so everyone was eager to go.

Stan held a brief Captain’s meeting. Steve heard an ulua calling his name so he charged out…right into a small set. He gave a great demonstration on how to wait out a set while keeping control of your kayak. This was Amy’s first shore break launch and she timed her launch much better. 

I followed Stan out and after clearing the swells I looked up to see several dorsal fins silently arcing out of the water. I was surrounded by a large naiʻa pod! I radioed the group, who were already paddling west, about the dolphins, but I didn’t know they had been watching them from shore and had seen enough by the time I launched. So, I sat idle, by myself, enjoying the acrobatic show of the playful keiki until the pod moved on. (Watch the video on YouTube if you’re not getting good resolution)

We made good time paddling out to the point with calm water and light variable wind. I opted to stay close to shore with Stan to get a good look at the rugged shoreline. The gentle swell allowed us to get up close. At several places I thought I saw arches that I didn’t remember from hiking the coast. As I paddled past I was disappointed that they were just illusions of light and shadows that made them appear as arches from a certain angle. When I reached the big arch that everyone sees from the hiking trail I was skeptical that it was the same one. Looking at my photo afterward I was happy to see that it wasn’t an illusion.

I spotted a white plastic jug bobbing on the surface and went to collect it as any good ocean steward would. I couldn’t simply pluck it from the water, however, as it was securely anchored in place with over a 100-pound test monofilament line. I gave it a few good tugs hoping to break the line close to its anchor, but it’s hard to generate enough force when you’re just floating in a kayak. I cut the jug free, retrieving it plus a couple hundred yards of braided fishing line. It must have been in the water for a while judging by the amount of flotsam tangled up in it. 

I wish the state would ban this type of fishing as having this much submerged line is a danger to marine life and boaters that can get it tangled in their propellers. Earlier this year a young monk seal died after becoming entangled in a similar jug rig. This is the second time that I’ve pulled up a mess like this. The first time, I helped Sandy who ran into the fishing line with her paddle. That time, a large honu popped up behind Sandy as we were retrieving the line as if to say mahalo. This time, three large honus surfaced after I finished. (I didn’t get a photo, you’ll just have to take my word for it.) Whenever you’re paddling, if you see a jug floating on the water take the time to pick it up and if it has fishing line attached to it check to see it a fisherman is still attached to the other end. If not, retrieve as much of the line as you safely can. A honu may thank you too.

As many times that I’ve paddled and hiked this coast it was my first time truly appreciating the scale of the old Oʻahu Railway foundation. Stan said that those foundation rocks were all manually placed. Impressive, they survived over 100 years of erosion from storms and pounding surf.

I rendezvoused with Amy, Kelvin and Stan at the point. We took a break to soak up the breathtaking scenery and surmised that we could probably paddle to Mokuleʻia with the conditions that day. I herded them together for a group photo.

As we began the return journey, we realized that the current has carried us a long way from the point. We felt it too, as it was slow going to get back to the point. I looked at my GPS track after the paddle and we had drifted almost a mile beyond the point! Maybe not the best place to take a long break unless your destination is Kauai.

We managed to get spread out far apart on the return leg. Our unintended separation demonstrated the value of everyone having working VHF radios as we were able to keep track of each other and ensure that the less experienced kayakers returned safely. Congratulations to Amy for completing her first long distance paddle and to Kelvin who made it back unassisted even though he was running on empty! Mahalo to Stan for making the switch to a round trip so that more of us could experience this incredible journey!

Several paddlers had perfect weather for their trek to Turtletown on the last day of the fishing tournament campout. Some were campers and others came in for the day. Jled, our resident teenager, joined the fray to ace his very first solo paddle. Leader Eileen Helmstetter was upbeat and prepared. There is no finer sight than kayaks of many colors against the backdrop of beautiful Kaneohe bay!

A few kayakers opted to snorkel around the chosen patch reef while the rest watched the boats and kept an eye out for more turtles. Eileen dived deep to capture a peek at a turtle wedged in a crevice. The remaining swimmers were rewarded with views of other interesting reef life.

Carolyn got the coveted prize of turtle themed swag donated by Eileen for sighting the most (9) turtles along the way. All in all it was a ‘3 hour tour’ with a happy memories of great fun on the water.

As picturesque bands of mauka showers drifted across the island, seven intrepid paddlers convened to make the journey from Nimitz Beach to Tracks on the leeward coast. Terry, Sandy, Jennifer, Stan, Steve and myself joined Beth’s return to the Hui Waʻa Sunday paddles.

Ever changing swell and pounding shore breaks made launching a bit tricky and reports are that more than one of us were toppled as we launched. Thankfully, all members eventually launched safely and started the downwind leg around Barbers Point .

The downwind leg proved to be quite epic as 6 ft+ southern swells rolled under us while a trade wind driven swell sometimes gently and sometimes not so gently pushed us past the Barbers Point lighthouse and into smoother water. Such were the rolling swells that my heart rate monitor was at its highest during the last half mile stretch around the point as I rode the swirling waters just outside the area where they turned into breakers!

Rounding the point to the leeward coast brought much calmer waters, but it also brought unpleasant aroma of the recycling center which one paddler described as “The butthole of Oʻahu”. The author can’t disagree with the analogy! We were reminded over the radio to be grateful for the area that helps maintain the standard of living we all enjoy on the island! Thankfully, as we paddled further up the coast we were greeted with fresher winds and more pleasant scenery as more bands of showers floated across the Waiānae mountains, replacing the the tanks and refinery as the visual source of beauty.

We were rewarded with beautiful calm and clear waters as we arrived at the reef just before Electric beach where Beth and Jennifer (and maybe others) took the opportunity to snorkel. Beth had an amazing interaction with two good sized Honu that surfaced literally within arm’s reach of her after she observed them sparring under water. They seemed to be very curious of her and her kayak and took a minute or two to investigate while filling their lungs for their next dive.

The team was quite spread out by the end but all paddlers arrived safely at Tracks in beautifully calm water for a much more gentle landing after 8.3 miles and 3.5 hours of paddling.

Steve and Terry were joined by Jennifer in trolling during the paddle. Jennifer caught one fish in the first five minutes! Terry ended up with four caught and one keeper. Steve caught and released two.

To quote Sailor Steve, “It was another great paddle!”

Technically the solstice was the day before, but we planned our Summer Solstice Celebration on a Saturday so that the working folks could attend. We didn’t think a one second shorter day would matter to anyone. I chose a new event location, the Kalanianaʻole Beach Park, because it had a good picnic area, a convenient restroom and shower, an easy beach launch and lots of parking. Unfortunately, that day coincided with a couple of large family events that brought hundreds of people to the park. The picnic grounds and beach were packed!

There was a bit of chaos unloading kayaks and gear in the full parking lot. We hastily unloaded while double parked and drivers scrambled into a spot if one opened up. Luckily, we did have lots of room at our picnic site to stage all the kayaks. Sixteen kayakers showed up and another half dozen guests came just to picnic. The beach was filled with afternoon swimmers forcing us to launch single-file to carefully dodge all the bobbing bodies in the water. We made it through the gauntlet without incident.

Norm led us to the Kahe power plant warm water outflow. The wind was a bit stronger than forecast, but the ocean was calm and everyone, including three beginners, made it without issue. Norm dropped an anchor and a few paddlers tied off to snorkel.

I stayed with tandem kayakers Mariah and first-timer Aiko. I tethered their kayak to mine so we could snorkel. Aiko, without warning, jumped into the water. Unfortunately, she must have gotten too high on her dismount and they hulied! We quickly righted the kayak and I helped Mariah get back on. She was fine, but soon noticed that the clip holding her waterproof phone case to its lanyard had released and her phone was gone. Her case didn’t float so down it went. The wind pushed us quite a distance from where they hulied so Aiko and I couldn’t find it by snorkeling. Mariah bid a sad farewell to her phone along with thousands of unbacked up photos and videos (more on her phone at the end of the story).

Most of the non-snorkelers just paddled around the outflow enjoying the scenery. Stan took the opportunity to practice reentry using a paddle float and somehow he got separated from his kayak. He called out to me for assistance as he was floating on his paddle float. By the time I reached him Marie was already paddling hard toward us towing Stan’s kayak. Marie gets credit for her first kayak rescue!

As we gathered just before heading back a small pod of naiʻa (spinner dolphin) gave us a brief show. I didn’t see any aerial acrobatics, they just swam in our vicinity surfacing now and then. We surmised that they were waking up from their daytime slumber getting ready for their nightly feed. Sorry, no dolphin pics you’ll have to take my word for it.

There were still a lot of swimmers in the water when we landed so we had to carefully paddle through them. We got a workout dragging our kayaks up the steep beach. Alan didn’t paddle, but he came down to the beach and provided some much appreciated muscle hauling boats. A young bystander volunteered to help carry my kayak and Monte’s back to the grass. Great to see the aloha spirit alive and well!

Hungry from our workout, our stomachs rumbled at the aroma of food on the grill as the grillmaster, my cousin Macky, got things cooking while we were paddling. The picnic table overflowed with a great variety of potluck dishes and everyone settled in as the sun began to set.

Low clouds and heavy vog led to an underwhelming sunset. The sun didn’t really set, it just disappeared. Still, it made a pleasant end to the second longest day of the year. Everyone went home with a full belly and memories of another great Hui paddle.

Back to Mariah’s phone…Aiko texted me on Monday asking for the approximate location where they hulied. She reached out to the local diving community to see if anyone would be willing to look for Mariah’s phone. Amazingly, a diver found it and Mariah had her phone back on Tuesday in perfect working condition! More aloha spirit in action. How’s that for a happy ending!