Looks like Parko has even seen the light - heading for big volume boards
Maybe he will be on a 666 before we know it
The punishing Molokai-2-Oahu 32 mile (51km) ocean paddleboard race is something Joel Parkinson has wanted to do for a long time but never had the chance. “It's always been on the bucket list but I never thought it'd come together until I'd finished with the tour,” Parko has said.
But serious consideration to enter the 2012 race came from a preview screening of Ironman Wes Berg's movie “One Touch” in the surfers' area at Bells Beach. Parko and Kelly Slater were inspired after watching Wes, Dean Brady and Jamie Mitchell's journey on the way to Jamie's unprecedented tenth-in-a-row Molokai 2011 win.
But more than just pre-heat bravado and posturing, Parko has been taking his training seriously, paddling from Kingscliff to Snapper Rocks, as well as this 7.5km paddle from the Tweed River to Kirra before the Billabong Rio Pro.
“I'd never paddled boards on my knees like that, and I didn't realise it's actually quite painful. I've got no skin left on my knees and when I came home I had so many bandages on my knees I looked like Petero Civoniceva. I'm learning from scratch, learning to paddle the boards in the open ocean. It's good to do something I'm a full kook at. It's good to be humbled occasionally. There'll be a lot of training between now and the end of July, but I've got a month in Fiji and I'll have my paddleboard with me, so I reckon I'll be doing a few figure-eights around Tavarua and Namotu.
Shield Parko Berg-1403
"Hello Molokai, goodbye knees!" Parko tweeted when he posted this photo.
Parko will be teaming up with his fitness trainer Wes Berg to complete the race on 29 July, but don't get any ideas that he's forgotten that he currently leads the World Tour Championship ratings.
“The tour and the title is my number one thing and it always will be, but it's good right now to think there's something else, another goal I've put in front of myself. For the past 10 years or longer my goal has always been the same thing, and that goal will still be there, but it's good to add another one in the mix and it fits into a pretty good break in the tour. There are probably a few critics who'll say it won't help my surfing on tour, but I already juggle a lot in my life between my surfing and my family. I think sometimes I'm a better competitor when I don't think about it too much. I think a bit of distraction can be a good thing. And there's so much mental and physical discipline required in doing the race, you could argue it's actually going to help my surfing on tour. There's nowhere to hide out there. I want to get out there and do some hard work.
And what about the rumours Kelly Slater's been training with Trevor Hendy for the race?
“Yeah… (laughing) maybe he doesn't want Jamie to get to 11 Molokai wins! Nah, I reckon he'll be doing it for pretty much the same reasons I'm doing it. I'll just be happy to finish. I'm there for the experience, not the win - it's about being in the ocean, that's why I'm doing it.”
really gets me into waves that i know i cant use the shorty on. last sunday was the prime example. perfect left and rights but only waist high...the 
