Ch 5: A Whale, a Pack of Sharks and a Pod of Dolphins

Ch 6: A Gold Medal and Sponsorship

Ch 7: Island Politics

Ch 8: H.A.W.A.I.I. Makes Waves

Ch 9: Fast Racers, Slow Boat

Ch 10: More Racing, Less Boat

Ch 11: Maui No Ka Oi

Ch 12: Honors I'll Always Appreciate

Chapter 5: A Whale, a Pack of Sharks and a Pod of Dolphins

Kailua Bay, Oahu, June 1988. Some of my friends talked me into entering a Course Racing event in Kailua Bay. So I joined the Hawaii Amateur Windsurfing Association International Inc. (H.A.W.A.I.I.). There were 7 local events scheduled that year and 3 were canceled due to no wind. I entered the March, April and two June events and while I didn't do so well in the rankings, I had fun and decided to continue training. The top three in the March event were Dave Cadiz, Rick Maxey and Rich Carvill; in the April event, Gunter Kauwertz, Dave Cadiz and Mike Fairchild; in the June event, Mike Weisbrod, Dave Wooten and Mike Fairchild. In June, Fred Eck came over from Southern California to conduct the Michelob Masters. I was impressed with how hard he worked just for the love of the sport ... and I also began thinking I'd like to give something back to the sport that was giving me so much enjoyment, so I offered for H.A.W.A.I.I. Board of Directors, was elected Secretary and began publishing the newsletter which continued for the next four years.

July 1988.Tom Stone (Josh and Jason Stone's father) organized the First Blue Water Adventure Crossing from Maui (The Valley Isle) to Molokai (the Friendly Isle) to Oahu (the Main Island). Eighteen of us made the trip. We left Fleming Beach next to Maui's Ritz-Carlton Resort and made the crossing under good wind. We were met by local Molokaians who greeted us with warm embraces, leis, and lunch. Afterwards, they took us by van to the Kaluakoi Resort on the northern end of the island where we spent the night. The next morning we rigged expecting the Trades to fill in around 11:00am or so but we never left for Oahu. The Trades had taken a three day hiatus. So we laid back, talked story, ate great food and just took it easy for three days until wind conditions improved. With the wind however, came an unseasonable north swell. We tried several launch sites and they all had six to eight foot breakers, and to make matters worse, the wind died in the shorebreak area between sets. It took two hours to get eighteen of us off the island and finally we decided that whoever made it out through the shorebreak would just go on and Tom Stone would bring up the rear. Tom had arranged for a Chase Boat so we knew if anyone had any trouble, help wouldn't be far away. For the first twenty minutes or so, the wind was strong and I was overpowered ... but then about three miles out the wind settled down to what I estimated was about 8-10 knots ... not enough wind for my Mistral Equippe, 6.6M sail and my 87K weight to plane ... so I turned the board downwind and just rode the swells to Oahu. What a back breaking ordeal that was! When the swell picked me up, I was backwinded ... when it left me behind, the wind filled the sail. About half way across, something happened I'll never forget! A pod of Dolphins came up and started jumping on both side of the board, happily chirping away. After a while, they began to cross in unison under the board ... then after a while, they went back to jumping on either side until they said "bye" and took off. That experience made my day for sure. Sonja Evensen wasn't so lucky ... a whale breached about fifteen feet in front of her ... twice! Eric Kobayashi wasn't so lucky either ... a pack of sharks circled him for a while. But we all made landfall at Kailua Beach Park ... happy to have made the crossing. The only MIA was the Chase Boat but it seems it never even left the harbor. We weren't sure but the rumor was the crew must have gotten a little laid back waiting for the wind ... and fell asleep or something.

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