Na Pali Coast, Kaua'i

A poster and an invitation appeared on my Facebook page. Here’s the poster:

The invitation was from Kanesa Duncan Seraphin. She was letting everyone she could know about this.

I took one look and I was done. I had goosebumps for twenty minutes. I had to do this. DeeAnn and I visited the Na Pali Coast on a catamaran tour over 20 years ago. It’s unforgettable. It’s magical. It’s imposing in its dimension. It’s deeply revered and it exudes Hawaiian culture and ancestral history. The place is both timeless and alive. In short, nothing on earth could be more sacred. The idea of paddling it was to take part in all of that, to feel what it was, is, and is becoming. (Google “Na Pali coast” and you’ll see many sites with great pictures of this stunning coastline. Even these can’t do it justice.)

But the dream flickered for a few weeks. When I saw Kanesa at the Jay Race, it wasn’t looking so good. She really encouraged me. Thanks to her extra effort, and an alignment of things happening in our lives, it came together: DeeAnn and I made it to Kaua‘i.

My impressions of this place have come from being an observer. I was about to be taken in by Na Pali, to become a participant instead. 

My day began with this (click on pictures to enlarge):

We ate, we loaded up, and we headed for the end of the road.

Entering Hanalei

If you're a guy and you're gonna paddle a pink board, it helps
if the board has made multiple crossings from Molokai to Oahu under a proven champion.

West side of Hanalei Bay

The check-in

The starting line.

I knew the course represented a challenge for me. It was my first real downwind race. I did not know the waters – I have never paddled there before. Once you leave the shore, you’re committed. There’s no going halfway, except to accept help from support. The winds were around 15 knots. There were whitecaps. There was swell in the water from several directions. What would the currents be like? I knew I would not be on my knees much, if at all, between the paddleboard made for one much lighter and the conditions on the water.

All I could do was prepare my paddleboard, turn to positive thoughts, and trust all would work out. After all, it was a beautiful day, the kind to be hoped for. The earlier part of the week was grey and it rained off and on. Now it was all sunshine, and the wind seemed to be blowing in the best direction.

The opening ceremony was moving, acknowledging place, time, context, spirit.

Then we watched the first wave of paddlers head out, many letting the winds carry them too far to the inside, towards shallow reefs. So, the line was more straight out and let the wind correct the course.

We lined up just before noon. It was a beach start. The beach was steep and the waves were washing up the beach instead of breaking. That made the entry easy and we were on our way.

Prepped.

Kanesa has cool tape for her bottles!

Where we're going first.

Kanesa, headed for the lineup.

How'm I gonna keep this cap on????

I'll never feel sorry for myself when carrying a paddleboard.

Toes on the line ...

Head for acres of cotton balls.

DeeAnn saw us off, returned to our rental car, and began a three-hour drive around Kaua‘i to meet me at the finish. Good thing there was some scenery, because that last few miles on the dirt road was less than ideal. And when she finally arrived, it was hot and windless. All in all, this was not her favorite way to spend precious island time, to say the least.

Na Pali's west side comes into view

The board wanted to surf. It was exhilarating to catch bumps. There was also cross swell, headed more to the inside, towards Na Pali’s cliffs. That’s the swell that was sometimes whitecapping and could knock me off – only a couple times did it succeed. You have to learn not to fight it. You don’t want to do any fighting. That takes a lot of energy you don’t have to spare. There were one or two spots where there were crazy currents. How playful!

Support was superb. I saw them several times. One came by when I sat up for a gel break and checked on me. It was after he left that I got a pretty good jelly sting on the arm. I didn’t see the jelly. But I found out pretty quick that can be ignored and that continually running my arm through the water (it’s called “paddling”!) seemed to help a lot.

I’ve learned in the few short years I’ve been paddling that objects are further than they appear. At Na Pali, the perception of what’s the next corner shifts as the scenery changes. You’d have to go here a lot to know your way around.

So, at two hours, I was wondering, how far am I? Just then the jetski came, and its driver guessed halfway. But, thankfully, it turned out to be more like two-thirds.

Not so long after that, “around the next corner” turned out to be the last corner. I could see the long spit of Polihale beach in sight. I guessed I was on the last stretch. The tail wind subsided. But then it turned into a headwind. Was the last few miles going to be uphill? Luckily, that wind decided to lay down. But now there was chop: south swell, west swell, and backwash from the cliffs. From then on, it was nothing but chop and there was nowhere to hide.

I paddled up to another who lost his water bottle, so I stopped to share. He might have been dehydrated, seasick, or both. He urged me on, but I said I’m hardly gonna win this race! And stayed a few more minutes. He seemed stable enough that I went on.

Next, I found myself sitting up often.  I started dividing up the distance to the finish, using rock piles along the cliffs as my goals. I did get sick once.

But soon I rounded the buoy, picked the time between waves, and … IN. The finish was perfect. A caddy took the board, and I headed up the beach. I found my legs rather quickly and was able to trot in.

And there were DeeAnn and Karen (Kanesa's mom) .

Kanesa arrives

Me, so ready to be done!

Pleasantly surprised I can use my legs

It took a little time to stabilize, but when I did, elation set in. There was a dinner and awards. Kanesa did a great job of handling the awards. And there must have been only three in men’s unlimited prone class, cuz I got third. What a nice shock! When it all sank in, I couldn’t stop laughing. I still am. This day I will never forget.

UPDATE: 8/14 the race results were posted. I was right, there were only three of us BUT...I GOT SECOND. Now I'm REALLY shocked!

And paddlers, wear your shirt. I did, and Mariko (women's SUP winner) noticed me at Duke's Nawiliwili Harbor on Wednesday. She remembered me and said: "If you're a guy and you're gonna paddle a pink board, you better win!"