My last day on Maui time for the last Maliko down-winder, north shore ground swell starting to come back, not super windy but probably 20 knots and the sun is shining. The Maliko down wind run goes from Maliko Gulch (gully) which is east of Hookipa just before Jaws and ends at the Kahalui Harbour, it takes you past Hookipa, Lanes, Camp One, Sprecklesville, Kanaha, Pier 1 and finally to the harbour. It's about 9.5 miles or 15k.

Dave Kalama has broken the hour on a good run and he can do it on an OC1 (outrigger canoe) about 5 minutes faster than on a SUP. Takes me about 25 minutes longer on my F14!

Kelly Moore a Maui local has just started a shuttle service, she has a 15 seat van and a big trailer and for $10 she will drive you from the Canoe Club in the Harbour up to Maliko with your gear.

Can't think of any reason whatsoever that she won't be successful, as long as she leaves her pets at home.....




I was doing it with Randy and Chan and Chris, Dave Kalama is at the Canoe Club as we are getting the truck loaded and wants a lift up to do the run with us!! He is a super friendly down to earth guy, I'd just spent the last 10 or 15 minutes teaching him the the moves I've learnt with my new shoulder fitness thing Indian Clubs



My clubs aren't as fancy as the ones in the video, I just made them from bits of polly pipe and fittings from the plumbing aisle of the local Maui Bunnings type store. All up less than $10 including tape and super glue! I was giving them to one of the local canoe paddlers, T, she is a super strong paddler and like all the guys there very keen to maintain shoulder strength and mobility, Dave was interested and wanted to have a go too, he liked the home made aussie ingenuity of my clubs and is planning to make himself a set too.



It's pretty amazing what you can fit on a good set of roof racks with a bit of patient shuffling, three 20' OC1's and two 14' SUP's






You start off paddling out of Maliko Gulch through a 100m wide opening with rocky outcrops on either side, usually a very strong crosswind and pretty wild currents at the entrance, but it was pretty mild today.

Here are some shots Randy took from a run we did the weekend before, setting off from Maliko Gulch.

Slater Trout and Bill Foote




Paddling out to the open water




Jeremy at the rocks on his 14' Bill Foote board - 25" wide, he has incredible balance, didn't once see him fall or even come close.




Me on a runner on the F14, saw myself fall plenty of times!




Doing the run with Dave Kalama was a real privilege, he was in an OC1 and taking it easy - I think it was his second run for the day. And when he came up to me and asked if I would like some stroke tips......does the Pope wear a frock!

He got me to reach much further forward with the paddle at the start of my stroke by rotating my torso much more than I was. This meant that my lower arm came further forward, so the stroke started further forward - so instead of just reaching forward with my shoulders, now I was reaching forward by rotating my torso - sort of coiling up like a spring - so the start of the actual stroke was uncoiling the spring and all the strength came form my torso, not my shoulders. Instantly I was getting much more power into the stroke and catching glides more easily and more often. He was kind enough to watch and offer corrections for 5 or 10 minutes while I tried to get it together - then of course he just casually took off at about twice my speed. What an experience - thank you Dave!! I spent the whole plane trip home going through it in my mind.

The rest of the paddle felt so different, it was great to have another 10k or so to try to get it into the old skull. In fact I was so distracted that I kinda forgot to look where I was going. All the way there had been big fat ground swells going past with the wind swells I was catching on top of them, they would come in from my right hand side and just pass underneath - got a bit steeper off Camp One which should have rung alarm bells but I was in star-struck Grasshopper thinking what the Master had told me mode.

Anyway finally I got to within about a k of the harbour mouth and the cross swell really started to jack up, looked around and realised that I was way too far in and in the Pier 1 breaking zone. Pier 1 is a tow in spot so the waves are big fat suckers.

A big set wave jacked up and there was no way I was going to get over it so just turned to shore, stepped way back on the F14 and with heart in mouth paddled onto the wave . The F14 handled it superbly, just tracked super solidly down the face and I even managed to turn right a little and hammer down WHAT A BLAST !! Fortunately it ends in a channel because now I was only about 100m from the harbour wall where there was some serious crashing wave action happening. Heart beating, turned and just paddled straight back out as fast as I could and (thank you god) made it back out before any more big ones came through.

Here is a video of the spot - I swear it was bigger than this, but reality kinda takes a back seat when you think you might die or at the very least have the new F14 end up in little pieces!



Paddled into harbour feeling soooo good. What a holiday!