Aloha Everyone. This time (7:30am Hawaii Time) in 2 days time (Sunday), I will be on the water and have just started by Molokai Channel crossing. My first solo crossing. Preparations so far have been smooth. Training runs out from Manalua Bay have been great. Manalua Bay is where we finish, so to paddle the finish line area is very important to get a feel for the winds from the mountains (that push you out to sea/Waikiki) and the swell (which is tidal). If I was to do a straight line from the final headland - Koko Head - to the finish line, I would also have to battle against the wind from the mountains. The alternative is to hug the wall (the coast line) the whole way into Manalua Bay which gets me more shelter from the winds but then I need to surf the reef breaks. But it should be high tide, so not breaking to much. This tactic is important because it is the last 20 minutes (2km) of the race and this is when I will be the most tired and fatigued. Hopefully the Snickers and Dr Pepper will give me a good sugar hit and I may just be able to power through and take the straight line.....
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| Planet Sun Hawaii |
Picked up my race pack yesterday from Duke's. Still doesn't feel real...that I am doing this... but have no doubt it will feel real mid channel when I will feel so small in amongst the 8 foot average swells and 15 knot average wind speed, not being able to see land, and paddling across a channel that runs to 2300 feet deep, and where the water temperature is 2 degrees warmer than the air temperature.
Final training run on Oahu today too. Getting the drink bottle system fine tuned too which is great! Will post a photo of the final board setup next week.
We got some fantastic all natural sunscreen for our trip across the channel from Planet Sun Hawaii (
http://www.planetsunhawaii.com/) so a big thank you to John and Ben at Planet Sun Performance Sunscreen and UV Protection (All Natural sunscreen = I LOVE IT!!)
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| Hawaii Kai Marina |
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| My gear and bottles for race day |
We loaded up the boat yesterday at Hawaii Kai Marina (which is right behind Manalua Bay on the south east side of Oahu). We gave Bobby (the boat captain) all the gear required for the race day, including my race number - 85! Bobby is also going to take my board over for me which is great because it means I can get the board off the boat this afternoon and have a final (final) training run tomorrow afternoon. Also left my finish line back at Kathryn and Ricks place for Rick to bring to the finish line for me. It's a bright pink Victoria's Secret bag so hopefully he won't mind carrying that over for me!! Thanks Rick!
Leaving for the airport to fly to Molokai later on this afternoon. A tiny little propeller plane. Seats about 9-12 people. Wooo. It's like my own private jet but with propellers, so my own private propeller (doesn't quite have the same ring to it!).
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| REALLYYYY???!!!! |
Not sure what the Internet setup is over on Molokai in the condo and there is no cell reception so it will be hard to contact you, but when I finish, I will send out a text message to let you know.
Signing off now.... heading into the final couple of days before the biggest adventure and journey of my life begins.
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