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A Maui Stand Up Paddle Downwind Experience (Part 2 of 3) |
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By: "Iron Phil" Gregory
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 |
Next it was the Hennessey’s Race on the North Shore Turtle Bay to Waimea Bay 11kms. Nowhere near as good as Maliko Gulch on Maui but still fun (paddle power). It was so hectic at the start with 41 SUP’s & 143 Paddleboarders I gave everybody a 60metre head start just to avoid the massive wake! When I started I took off & mowed em down. Having some fun paddle battles with the competitors, some competitors said to me later “you wait until next year” I had to laugh. As I was approaching Waimea Bay this scuba diver appeared out of nowhere & I nearly took his head off, luckily the lifeguard was on a jet ski close by as I yelled out & pointed “mine field” he was quickly told to move.
Results:
1st Jamie Mitchell 64 minutes
1st Nathan Henderson 66 minutes
2nd Dean Hanmer 73 minutes
1st Mick DiBetta 69 minutes
2nd Shakira Westdrop 79 minutes
11th Phil Gregory 81 minutes
Next morning 6:30am it was time for a shark dive.
www.hawaiisharkencounters.com Upon entering the shark cage most of the
Galapagos sharks disappeared & out of the depths came the biggest,
meanest Tiger shark 12ft + coming straight for the cage. Smashing the
cage, circling the cage eyeing us off thinking they look good to eat -
it was truly an awesome sight. She just kept hanging around my corner
not only that the Tiger shark hung around the edge of the boat where I
was sitting gnawing on the platform at the stern of the boat I was just
in awe of this thing so I had to give her a pat on the head (like you
would a puppy dog) that made my day.
My next adventure was over to the big island of Hawaii to
check out the Kilauea Volcano www.kilaueavolcano.com .What a sight -
the crater has a hole 100ft wide with smoke & gas spewing out into
the sky. So much smoke it covers the town of Kailua-Kona 2 hrs away.
The lava flow then travels through lava tubes to meet the ocean. It’s
certainly putting on a good show with lava as big as a Malibu surfboard
spewing out & flying high into the air - along with more smoke
& gas. Truly an amazing thing to witness mother nature at its best.
New land being formed with over 600,000 hectares being formed over a
space of 25 yrs. You could probably buy cheap waterfront property.
About one month ago a young local Hawaiian on his F-16 SUP made news by
paddling up close to the lava flow entering the ocean. He was later
quoted saying “a couple of drops of salt water landed on his feet and
scalded him”. If he was to fall into the ocean it would have meant
instant death.
The temperature of the lava ranges between 1100 deg C - 500 deg C. The
water literally boils where lava meets the ocean and walking through an
old lava tube 20 ft round is a great experience. Having a busted
eardrum from a surfing accident many years ago & also having
surfers ear it would be a real nightmare to live on the big island of
Hawaii. It’s the newest formed island and while driving around the
island the altitudes are continually up & down - from sea level to
4,000 ft above. I had to keep equalising my ears due to the change in
elevation. It can really do ones heads in. By the end of the day I was
walking around like I had shellshock I couldn’t hear anything.
The next day I was off to Mauna Kea summit 14,000ft above sea
level (well above the clouds) www.maunakea.com to watch the spectacular
sun set where there is a group of astronomical observatories due to the
very clear skies. Talk about cold decked out in our artic parkas &
gloves -0 deg C. Great sunset followed by star gazing through big
telescopes. Due to no light pollution the night sky is truly amazing it
was a real buzz checking out new galaxies, the moons around Jupiter,
Saturn, black holes, & numerous constellations.
END PART 2 OF 3
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