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The next step in the journey was to Molokai. my support boat skipper (Matt) took me on a full day of deep sea fishing to the northern side of Molokai hoping to catch a big brumby Marlin. I was picked up from his beach front property onto his 40fter styling. Absolutely picture postcard scenery with massive waterfalls & virgin cliff top forest. It looked like a scene out of King Kong- never saw another human being all day.
All of a sudden the fishing reel has gone ballistic & I’m looking
for this big brumby Marlin to start jumping out of the water. So I
start reeling her in on the 300lb line only to skull drag this 12kg
Wahoo to the boat instead, still happy with the catch but doesn’t beat
the 13kg GT I caught in Timor.
While trawling had this giant bright
blue Mahi Mahi? (metre + long) jump out of the water like a dolphin
& then start chasing the lure. Just looked like a massive blue
torpedo, by this stage I’m frothing at the mouth couldn’t get to the
reel fast enough. Unfortunately the Mahi Mahi are more into live bait
than lures. After all this excitement we anchored in this crystal clear
bay swam to shore & swum under this massive oasis waterfall
absolutely magic experience.
My final leg of the journey is the Quiksilver Edition Molokai
Race. 32 punishing miles!!! So here I am at the starting line. There
was 8 of us in my division. Unlimited SUP solo. This Hawaiian paddles
up to me & says “hey man you look like a spaceman” all I did was
start laughing. I had my full body white skins on for 2 reasons (1). I
won’t get sunburnt (2). The skins help pump the blood through your
system which helps fight fatigue (footballers train in this gear all
the time) + with my 3 litre camel back & extra bottles on the back
I guess I did look like a spaceman.
The siren sounds & away we go, white water wake going everywhere
I’m at the very back (the spaceman’s at the back) I’m just getting
ready to mow em down. I’m just ploughing through the water with my 10
inch Quickblade (my body works like a diesel motor, it takes a while to
get going but once its up to speed it will maintain that pace) I pass
one yellow singlet, I pass two yellow singlets, three, four & so
on. My next step is to mow the paddle boarders down. The first 10km was
too easy catching these little bumps doing good time. By this time
you’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - the swell starts coming
from the North (spew) it’s 7ft ocean swell going in the wrong
direction. Pumping if you’re paddling to the Marshall Islands. So it’s
a side chop paddle the rest of the way, you have to use caution due to
the swell - you don’t want to end up too far south of Coco Head as
you’ll have to contend with an outgoing tide + a 30 knot head wind. You
don’t want a North swell when paddling Molokai you want an ENE swell
with an incoming tide (that’s pumping conditions).
Anyway I’ve hit the halfway mark by this time I saw a couple of support
boats go past with Paddleboards or a SUP in the back of the boat I
truly felt sorry for whoever they were & by now I’ve mowed a few
more paddle boarders down stoked. By this stage I’ve come across
Hawaiian Jack Gillan - this bloke’s an axe. He’s won Molokai every year
he has entered, he’s paddling a F-16 custom 17fter but with no rudder
so he’s usually the only one in his division. (99% of the SUP Unlimited
Solo paddle custom F-16 17fters have rudders). For 4 hours I’m having
the biggest paddle battle with Jack Gillan he’d be 200 metres in front
then vice versa, I love that kind of racing - bulk fun. I’d be talking
to him every time I’d paddle past just to try & physic him out.
I’m a kilometre out from Coco Head at the 49km mark, my bodies still
feeling good, I’m paddling hard with my 10inch blade. I’ve hit the home
stretch Maunalua Bay 50 kilometre mark & my bodies all of a sudden
wanting to shut down, I’m cramping up big time. I could see the finish
line so I’m fighting the cramps (nothing’s going to stop me) I’m
hugging the cliff face to keep out of the 30 knot head wind & some
swell comes through so I’m riding this swell for bulk (it’s a world
class lefthander on it’s day) you could see the exposed reef up ahead
so I’ve bailed out, turned my F-16 upside down so I wouldn’t rip the
fin out - I’m lying flat like a dead man to let the white water push me
over the reef. You could feel the jagged coral heads scratching my
back.
So I’m paddling hard, the finish line is in sight. I couldn’t
workout why I wasn’t going anywhere then I noticed the breather plug on
the F-16 was out. My F-16 was filled with water all I could do was hang
my head in defeat, I was shattered there goes 3rd Place. I called the
support boat over to empty the water out. I’d trained 12 months for
this event. Even kept off the beer for 7½ months & trained when the
surf was pumping. (That’s a hard thing to do - keep off the beer &
turn your back on a surf just to train for Molokai)! Even when training
with Mick DiBetta & Shakira I always paddled that extra mile just
to make sure my fitness endurance was in form, all I wanted was to
finish in the top 3.
I wasted over 50 minutes to paddle the final mile just to get to the
finish line - shattered!. Kevin Horgan who won Molokai last year was in
2nd place & I was only 10 minutes behind him. This bloke is a
machine - doesn’t work - all he does is SUP all day. So I ended up
coming last. For 3 days after Molokai my body felt like it had played
footy against the All Blacks. I guess I’ll have to go back & try
again in 4 years time when I turn 50. Congratulations to Jamie Mitchell
winning his 7th Molokai stoked. Morgan Hoesterley the only female to do
Unlimited SUP Solo it took her 8 hours 57 minutes. I take my hat off to
her what a gun. I tell ya what they breed the sheilas hard over there
in Hawaii & good looking as well.
Results:
Overall Elite
1st Jamie Mitchell 4:57:14
Unlimited 40-49
1st Mick DiBetta
Unlimited 29 & under
1st Nathan Henderson 5:25:34
3rd Dean Hanmer 6:16:58
Unlimited women
2nd Shakira Westdrop
Unlimited Open SUP
Phil Gregory 7:47:20
TRIVIA
The parrot fish lives by eating coral & in it’s lifetime
deposits one tonne of faeces (sand) into the ocean. That’s why
Australia has beautiful sandy white beaches. So next time you’re
Lifeguarding at the beach digging your toes into the sand you’re
actually standing in fish poo!
END PART 3 OF 3! Thanks for sharing your stoke Phil.
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