Gumby Does Maliko
Feb 23rd, 2009 by Kenalu Cross post
Maliko Gulch in the early morning is a strange place. Rainwater rushes through the creek from rainstorms up the mountain. The gulch smells of horseshit and squashed green things (there’s a ranch up the gulch). As I parked next to the muddy road in some tall grass I could see a swarm of mosquitoes lifting from the damp ground. I either disturbed them or they smelled blood. Neither alternative was good.
At the ocean end of the gulch I could see big swells pounding on the rocks at the entrance, but there was no wind and no whitecaps. I was in the gulch to do the Maui Canoe and Kayak Club’s Maliko Gultch race, sponsored by Koho’s restaurant. Looked like it was going to be a long morning.
Kiwi (Mark Jackson) was already there, taking pictures and helping other SUP paddlers with their boards. There were lots canoes, though not in the kind of numbers that turn up for south shore races, and i didn’t see any surfskis. I went up to register and the lady asked me if I’d done Malko runs before. “I went twice last week” was my reply, leaving out fact that those two were my ONLY Maliko runs. Trusting soul, she accepted my entry and they wrote my number on my arm. Not really so the scorers could see it, but so I could remember it.
The plan was to ride Gumby, my new old downwinder board I’d bought from Bill Foote. The night before I tarted it up with some pad extensions made from scrap, and a freshly painted mascot on the nose–Gumby, in big trouble, sketched using Posca pens.
Gumby, in deep doo-doo. A little reminder to help me stay outside of Spartan’s Reef
A little closer shot. I missed a line on the inside of the right leg. Oh, well.
So I felt comp [...]
