Here is another sailing video. This shows a couple waves, but once again the wide angle lens really flattens out the surf… The day before this was taken, the wind was about 5-10 knots stronger and the waves were 50% bigger. The rides were 3-4 times as long, and even more fun! Derek (in seat 1) has plans for a larger sail and a possible donor for a “safety” ama. 60% more sail area? Yeah baby! I’m ready to give THAT a whirl! The music for this video is “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” from Lilo and Stitch. I thought it appropriate, as Holole’a is Hawaiian for “a ride, as at a carnival or amusement park”. That is what this canoe is all about.
Aloha.

Download this episode or watch it on your phone. | Duration: 3:21

Kaile had a “drop-off” birthday party in Lanikai, the weather was perfect, Stace was game… All I heard was blah, blah, we can take out Holole’a! Stace called Nani, Nani called Hillary, next thing you know the boat was full. I’ve been meaning to get some footage of the canoe with the trampoline on, so I brought the cameras along. Unfortunately, the front camera’s memory card crapped out, so all I have is the mast head shot; but hey, at least it’s something. We started inside the reef, headed for the Mokes, then headed out through one of the channels. The wide angle lens flattens out the waves, so you’ll have to take my word for it that there was a little surf running on the outside… Once we got clear of the breaking waves, we shot down to flat island to make a couple loops. “One more time” started to become the rally cry, but since that phrase rarely ends well, we changed it to the less final, “let’s go around again!” The camera only records about an hour, so all I have on film is the launch through the first time around flat. Once again, you’ll have to take my word for it, but we caught some much better waves on subsequent trips around. I guess I need to take the camera out again…
Final note: Usually, finding the right music for these little video clips is one of the hardest things to do – this time it was a no-brainer .
Aloha.

Download this episode or watch it on your phone. | Duration: 3:40

Kaile was a trooper and didn’t even complain much when she got cold, Dan was the man and held down the ama every time we were on a port tack, and Roxy paddled it like she stole it! We went from Lanikai, to Smith point, to the Mokes, around Flat Island, and back.

The music is “The Ocean” by Barefoot Truth. Roxy found it on iodapromo, and used it on her last episode of Beach Walks. I liked it so much, I used it here…

What a life! Aloha.

Eric, Mike, and Kaile

Cool effect.

Timeless

On to the repairs… Fixing the mast step turned out to be relatively simple. The mast step base popped off because I hadn’t really attached it very well… I wanted to be sure I could remove it if things didn’t line up properly. Placement was good, and it was seeming to hold just fine, so I pushed it a little too hard… The actual base, is merely a PVC end cap affixed to the deck. Originally, I just scuffed it up and glued it down with 5-min epoxy… Not so strong. This time, I drilled a hole in the middle of it (to fill with epoxy), and also glassed around the base and up the sides with a couple layers of glass, matting and epoxy resin. The additional glassing should prevent any future “popping off”…

Mast step base glassed in

Note the hole and the flange of glass around the cup.

While I had a batch of epoxy mixed up, I went ahead and reinforced the cracked mast step. Jay said he’s going to hook me up with a good one (ie. professionally done by an expert – not crooked, off center, and kinda gooned up like mine…), but I figured I would try and repair this one, too, since I had the epoxy and glass available…

This piece straps to the front wai (cross brace) above the base cup.

Another view. I did the repair out on the beach by the boat...

While I was taking pics of my handiwork, I thought I’d snap a couple pictures of the paddles I made…

My steering blades

The first one I made was the wood one. The shaft is made of tiger wood (VERY dense and HEAVY) I had left over from a deck railing project, and the blade is made of monkey pod I had laying around in the garage. This paddle was a lot of work to shape (by hand with a bench plane and a spoke shave…), and I think it came out really well. It’s VERY heavy, but it’s also VERY effective.

Wooden blade

The second one I made was the carbon fiber one. The shaft is actually the top of an old carbon windsurfer mast, and the blade is shaped from 3/8″ foam with 3 layers of 5-6oz carbon fiber on each side. I made the “T” top out of a scrap piece of mango wood I had in the garage. The blade itself is HUGE. It’s 13 1/2 inches wide at the widest point, and almost 27″ tall. If you notice in the pictures at the top, I don’t even have it all the way in the water to steer. When it’s windier, or while I’m surfing, I can drop it lower for more effectiveness, and effectiveness is something it’s definitely not lacking. I think I could steer the Titanic with that thing!

Here is the blade

Here is the T top

Next weekend we will be in Waikiki, but the following weekend, I hope to get back out sailing. The goal is to put a GoPro on the top of the mast and film from above…

A hui hoe.

As for the SUP run… It was a perfect day, except for the lack of surf. The ocean was like glass, and I paddled from Kailua to the Mokes. There was a small ENE bump moving through, so I caught a few waves en route. There were some better waves between the Mokes, at Channels, so I went over to surf a little. Paddling back out after my second wave at Channels, I got to see why the camera has a lanyard attached… Ever wonder what happens to all the stuff you lose paddling or surfing? Well check out the last portion of the video to find out. I went right to keep from messing up another guys ride, and while making sure I was holding the board, my sunglasses, and my paddle, I managed to kick the camera off the board. I picked some landmarks to pinpoint my spot, and there was a big white rock on the bottom to help mark where I was… I tried to spot it standing on the SUP and looking with my polarized glasses, no luck. I tried to dive for it without a mask, still no luck. Unfortunately, I was out of time. I had 15 minutes to get back to Lanikai so I could watch Kaile while Stacey went to OC6 practice… Kaile and I swam for a while then went home. I got my snorkeling gear, and when Stacey got done with practice (several hours later), I went back out to search for the camera. Luckily, I was able to find the big white rock pretty easily… I spent about 20-30 minutes searching, and then found it! It was only about 20′ from the big white rock. When I brought it up, it was off (It turns off when the battery’s are low). I turned it back on and it worked… I thought it might have some more life left in it, so I tried to film on the way back in. It turned itself back off almost immediately… Oh well, at least I found it! Hope you enjoy the footage…
Aloha,
Eric

I called Mike to ask about OC-4′s and get some info on what to buy / where / who from / used canoes / etc. He responded with “you wanna take one out?”. HELL YEAH I DO!! So we did. Mike borrowed the boat from his friend Robin, and we headed out (thanks Robin!). We dropped the cooler on the Mokes and then launched for the surfing you see below. I wanted to do some cool tricks, but am lacking in the skill department… Derek pulled some head stands, but his head blocked the camera, so they didn’t make the video. Following the fun, Mike let me steer back to Lanikai. I need some practice, but first I need to get a boat…

Pueo, OC-1, outrigger, Hawaii, Kailua

ipod version