Download this episode or watch on your phone. | Duration: 00:39

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.

There she is! Holole’a with a sail (I finished the polas, mast step, and a GIANT carbon fiber steering blade last week). It was a beautiful day and Kai and I had a great time (Stace was at an OC-6 regatta in Waimanalo)! The only problem with the rig, is that I broke it… I guess the epoxy didn’t bond well enough to the PVC, and the cup at the bottom of the mast step popped off. Not a big deal, except I tried to paddle in without dropping the sail and cracked the mast step, too… Hopefully Jay can help me either repair it or make a new one…

Despite breaking the mast step, Kai and I still had a great day. We rode our bike to the boat and set it up, then went swimming while we waited for my friend Mike. As you can see below, the mast step makes a good umbrella stand…

Anyone for lunch?

Mike came out with us for the “shake down” run, and everything worked great! He couldn’t stay long, so when he left, Kai and I took the sail down and paddled out for a swim.

Monkey on the ama

After swimming for a while we were hungry, so we put the sail back on and sailed down to Kalapawai. The boat was really fast with just the two of us (and the wind was coming up a little).

Daddy and Kai on the way to Kalapawai

I took a quick clip with the Pentax… It’s really shaky, but hey, I was steering with a paddle, working the main sheet, and trying to film all at the same time… I didn’t do any editing, as I only have 20 seconds of video… … and, I’m lazy!

We made it to the beach by Kalapawai in record time. Kai had mac and cheese, and I had a “beach burger”. Tasty. After we ate, we were getting ready to sail back… The wind had come up a little more, and I was worried about sailing back without a safety ama (we would be on a port tack all the way back to Lanikai without an “ama mama” to hold the ama down). I was going to just paddle us, but with all the attention the boat drew, we ended up with an “ama mama” volunteer. Spectacular! AJ threw on her rash guard, and we were off! Unfortunately, we didn’t get far before we heard a CRACK! I knew right away what had popped. Crappy epoxy… Not a big deal, we could just paddle back. We cruised back to the beach to let AJ off (cracked the step enroute…), dropped the sail, and paddled back. While we were putting the boat away, Dan stopped in to say hi. He was a huge help, and took the paddles and the mast step home for me. Made the bike ride home much easier! Thanks, Dan! Dan actually came out and paddled with me yesterday. We had a blast and caught a couple waves at flat island while Stace was at practice. When Stace finished practice, Dan took some great pictures of us. This one is my favorite.

Stace and Eric head to the Mokes

Kai was still with Aunty Rox, who took her on an AWESOME overnight trip to Waikiki. She and Rox lived it up! It was a “trip” Kai will never forget. Without Kai, Stace and I dropped into a couple “bombs” at “Channels”… The new paddle works GREAT! I hope you enjoyed the pixs!

Aloha!

The new canoe, Holole'a

About a month ago, I gave up on my search for a used OC-4, and ordered a brand new one from Jay Dowsett (Kailua Kanu). This is the same design as the red and white canoe we surfed in the “OC-4 at the Mokes” video… After much drooling and anticipation, the canoe is finished! Jay delivered it with his son Michael yesterday evening. Kai and I met them at the boat ramp in Kailua to rig it up, and Roxy met us there just as we were unloading it from the trailer. Jay gave me a quick rigging lesson, and we were ready to paddle. We took a quick spin around flat island, and as it was getting a little late, we paddled over to Lanikai (where she will live). Stace was finishing up with OC-6 practice and joined us. We took one more paddle out to the reef and back, then put her away for the night. I didn’t take many pics, but don’t worry, there will be plenty coming!

Sunset in Lanikai

The Canoe is an Opelu (an opelu is a fish – a mackerel scad). Traditionally, an Opelu canoe was used for fishing and laying nets. Now, they are used for surfing and having fun. The wa’a (main hull) is 24′ long, with a beam of 18-19″. The iako are about 7 1/2′ long. The hull weighs about 170#, and all rigged up, the boat is around 200#. It’s fun to paddle and surfs really well. What really sold me on the Opelu, was how well it handles. Even though it is a surfing machine, and has the rocker needed to maneuver on the waves, it paddles efficiently enough to be fun for dinking around (and sails really well when rigged up for sailing – if you have a sunfish rig, let me know…).

I spent a lot of time researching an appropriate name, and came up with Holole’a. Holole’a is a contracted word that comes from holo – “run, sail, ride, go” and le’a (or le’a.le’a) – “joy, pleasure, happiness, merriment”. Put together, it is defined as “a ride, as at a carnival or amusement park”. I think it’s a perfect name for a surfing canoe; riding for joy, pleasure, happiness, or merriment. That is what this canoe is all about. Aloha.

When I got home, Stace had the one-mans loaded, and we headed back out. With the conditions being so awesome, Mike wanted to take the Opelu 4-man (from the OC-4 surf video) out again, so this time Stace scored the ride. I put Kai on back of my Pueo and followed them out. They stayed inside (and didn’t break anything…) and got some really fun rides. I stayed long enough to snap a couple pics, then headed back (Kai was getting cranky). Kai and I played on the beach for a while, and Stace got her chance to have some fun. Pics are below. Aloha.

My Pueo with Kai's seat all ready to head out.

Stace and crew heading out.

Opelu on a wave.

Even on the inside, the waves were fun!

Eric and Kai back at the beach.

Kaile made some sand balls while we waited for Mommy.

Here comes Mommy (in seat 1)!

You think they had some fun?

Lanikai Reef is going off!!!

Kaile had fun running around on the beach. The picture below was taken with my iPhone. The light was pretty, so I ran back to the truck for the real camera…

Kaile on the beach Saturday morning.

Picture below was taken with the real camera…

Kaile still running around...

Rain came back… So we left.

Here comes some more rain.

Now, we are back home and it’s still raining… Time to find something to do.

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…