Thursday, April 19, 2007

on a little journey...

...that's where I'm gonna take you guys today.

A downwind run on my one man canoe (OC-1) from Maliko bay to Kanaha.
The video is 10 minutes, so grab a coffee or a cold beer, depending on your time zone...
There's a surprise ending that I will explain later on this post.
I strongly recommend not to blow the surprise and watch the video first... THEN scroll down.
If you can't see it here, try here.

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What happened to the canoe?!?! Not yet... I'm gonna create some suspense and tease you with a few... windsurfing photos, for a change!

It's blowing like stink these days and Tuesday 4 17 there was a decent NW swell. A lot of photoshoots. Here's Boujmaa hitting a critical section.


And here he's in a one hand aerial.


I don't know who this guy is, but this photo gives you an idea of how windy it was...


Hookipa was so busy that the JP sailors went to Lanes (the photographer was on an helicopter). Here's Alex Mussolini. I love the light.


Mussolini again in a one hand backloop.


Polakow in a huge backloop.


Plenty more photos here.

Ok, time to explain the end of the vid.
What happened is that the canoe got capsized by a wave entering the inside of the reef at Camp One. I always enter the reef there, because it's very close to the beach...
Well, this time I definitely appreciated that, since the boat capsized and after I turned it back over, a wave took it out of my hands. Swimming with the paddle is not the best and before I finally realized that with the paddle I could not reach the canoe, it was too late...

I saw my canoe happily sailing away from me. I wasn't too worried because, again, the swim to the beach is short and there's a million windsurfers downwind.
In fact, once on the beach, I met a group of them and one offered to tow me to the canoe. It had a 5.8 and slalom board in 25 knots and it turned out to be Jimmy Diaz (the F2 guy).
The towing action (I was holding the back footstraps) was a lot of fun (almost planing), but the canoe was a bit too downwind and we couldn't make it, so he towed me back to the beach.
In the meantime, another guy called Steve had got a rope and sailed to the canoe. Jimmy went back out and after a few minutes he was able to tow the canoe back to shore.
UNFORTUNATELY, by then the camera had already shot for 54 minutes and the memory card was full, so it didn't shoot the rescue...

Here's what I learned:
- next time I'm gonna have a leash attached to the canoe
- if it's windy and there's no leash, immediately drop the paddle and swim as hard possible. The paddle floats and it drifts downwind, so it's easy to be rescued afterward... and it costs less than a canoe!
And I learned that much without losing anything? I'm stoked...

This little camera rocks! And I just had an idea... stay tuned.

PS. Rambo's comment inspired me to write more about my canoe. (BTW, check this crazy Makaha action on his blog).
It's a Honu (shape by John Martin), and it's quite old and heavy. Heavy means robust, so I like that. Compared to the lighter new canoes, it's slower (don't really care... the workout is actually better...), but it has more rocker, so it surfs the waves better. I'll do a proper canoe wave riding video later on in summer time.
I kept it at the canoe club in Kahului on an outside rack (too cheap to pay for the lockers) and somebody stole the ama. Then somebody stole my car in Kahului and on top of the three surfboards that were inside and the stereo components, they also took the two iakus and the paddle. So, all of a sudden, I was left with the boat only.

I built the iakus out of a windsurfing boom (prolly better than the original), bought a used abandoned ama at the canoe club (I offered 40 bucks, they said:"that's fair!") and had Malama shape me a new paddle. And now my baby is back in the water.

Oh, her name is Mergellina, which is the Naples' neighborhood where I grew up. Here are some photos and here, believe it or not, is the related wikipedia entry.

22 comments:

Lano said...

LOL @ you swimming after your canoe! hahahaha! Glad you got it back though. That is one hell of a paddle.

Anonymous said...

Q: How many italians does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Five. One to capsize the receptacle, a second to right it, a third to hold the bulb, a fourth to drop it, and a fifth to swim after the other four.

Anonymous said...

hey dude
just want to say that i really like your work!!! keep on rocking
best regards from europe

Rambo said...

Ohh my o my, Cammar this just happened to me only in a big way, if you haven't already, check my blog, i lost my canoe and got badly smashed twice. Direct link http://rambos-locker.blogspot.com/2007/04/rambo-smashed-again.html

The first one recorded on GPS (upped to Google Earth), the 2nd one smashed my oC1 and had me stranded in the ocean for over 2 hours.
MUST HAVE LEG ROPE !!!

Rambo

cammar said...

Lano, the paddle is 10-11 miles and if it's windy it's not that bad at all... I did it in 35-40 knots and it's a blast (pretty hard on the boat, though...).
Hey, no comments from the ladies of your office?

First anonymous: not funny for me, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself...

Second anonymous: thanks!

Rambo, excellent blog you have! You inspired me to write more about my canoe in a PS to this post.

Anonymous said...

GP, big respect for your comment about Maui's best restaurant. One billion people worldwide live on less than $1 per day; another two billion live on less than $2 per day. As many as 25,000 die of hunger-related causes every day. Anyone who can afford to spend $100 on a meal is in a position to give back in a meaningful way - but the amount of contributions from the US going to alleviate poverty puts this country near the bottom of the list of developed nations, on the basis of percentage of income.

Anonymous said...

GP - I have to admit i skipped the vid, but if the rescue would have been recorded, then I would push work aside and find some time.. especially for you planing on your arse / belly down wind, towed by the sexy Mr Diaz. Though, my visual is already amusing me!

Anonymous said...

ps. I always had a leash on downwinders. I thought you gave me that tip? guess not!

[franken:rabiator] said...

your a special guy ;-) funny new perspective of hookipa

cheers
Frankenrabiator

cammar said...

Cisco,
thanks a lot for your comment and link.
The economic system on which capitalistic societies are founded doesn't have too much room for charity. The economy wants you to spend your money on goods to keep the country going...
That's why every time I go to Costco (which for me is Babylon) I am so disgusted that I almost throw up. People buying the most expensive and unnecessary shit. And I think:"oh my god, what would a kid from India or an Afgani refugee think if he saw this?"
The system keeps the consumers uninformed and numbs their mind.
Hey there, if you own and watch a tv, I'm talking to you too!
The level of unawareness of the americans of what's going on in the world is mesmerizing. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Ok, not all americans are like that, but that's a good picture of the average. And most of the western countries are not that much better.
Hats off to Sweden!

Meesh, never thought that Mr. Diaz could be sexy, but now that you make my think about I may agree. Girls, check him out: http://www.north-windsurf.com/team/jimmy-diaz.en
I might have given you the tip for the SUP downwind, but I never thought I could lose my canoe...

Franken:Rabiator, thanks. I watched that movie about the tidal wave in the Amazon you posted on your blog and I was quite impressed... looks like a lot of fun...

Anonymous said...

Hey- I found your site. Steve here, from the rescue. After I got the line to try to tow it in, Jimmy showed up, and offered to do the towing. Since I was on a 4.0 and a wave board, and he was on racing gear, I was glad to let him to it!

I still need to catch up with you to get that beer :)

cammar said...

Hey Steve, thanks again to you and Jimmy for the help!
Beer? Of course!
Where should we meet?
If there's waves I usually sail lowers... or email me (there's an email me button on the right of the main page).

Anonymous said...

ciao sono max dalla Sardegna, ogni volta che guardo il tuo blog mi viene voglia di lasciare tutto รจ partire x maui. Complimenti belle foto ciao

Anonymous said...

On my Adventure Island Trimaran Kayak I use a leash on the paddle and one on my ankle, unless I'm being lazy and just have the paddle leash. I found out the hard way that jumping off a kayak for a quick swim in even light wind is a bad idea--the kayak blows away faster than you can swim. If the rudder hadn't been turned some I would still be swimming (or not).

Anonymous said...
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