Pono House

Carles Carrera recently published an excellent article in his blog about measuring the paddle length that best suits you: http://www.carlescarrera.com/2010/04/definitive-guide-for-choosing-your-sup.html. Carles is a guy after my own heart, Stand Up Paddle Surfing fanatic and a motorcycle nut, with an engineering bent. He went about his analysis in a time honored fashion–he built a table of [...]

Yesterday I did the Maui Canoe and Kayak Club race in the Stand Up Paddle Board division from Napiili Bay to Canoe Beach. Favorable wind and small bumps at first, followed by wind in our faces and swells from all directions for the last two miles. Ugh, what a grind. Finished third overall and second [...]

One of the best things about being on a Stand Up Paddle board is the marine life you can see. It’s always a privilege, even just looking at a little school of fish, or a nice reef. But when you get sot see something big in the water–a shark, a whale, a turtle–it seems really [...]

When you perform any exercise it makes sense to have your body operating at optimal levels, and hydration is clearly necessary to achieve optimal performance. But proper hydration is even more critical for Stand Up Paddle Surfing, because hydration has a profound effect on balance. Try this simple test. Next time you are thirsty, before [...]

Apple’s iPhone is a great tool for anyone, but it has some features and available applications that make it particularly great for Stand Up Paddle Surfing. The phone I’m going to cover is the 3G version, which is handiest since it has built-in GPS capabilities. In fact the iPhone GPS is especially useful since it [...]

A bit of business–Camelback(tm) is a trade name of the leader in hydration packs. We’re using the name genertically because most people refer to hydration packs as Camelbaks.
We’ll get to the Camelback part in a little bit, but first a little recap of current PFD requirements for SUP. If the U.S. Coast Guard has things [...]

As many regular readers know I’ve been working on GPS features for Ke Nalu. In my typical poster-boy-for-attention-deficit manner I have fertilized this already challenging project with a thick layer of new ideas and redesigns, Ke Nalu into a publishing empire (sort of).
First and foremost is an efficiency redesign. I spent some time analyzing what [...]

Rudder or no Rudder
It’s immediately obvious when paddling behind a long board like the Penetrator that rudders are a necessary evil. Tap the rudder and the board slews a little sideways. That can’t be good. So the plan generally is to minimize use, at least in flatwater. In swells, the rudder is necessary on a [...]

George Herbert said that sometime in the 1600’s, still true today. Stand Up Paddle Surfing has plenty of detractors, none of whom have the slightest idea of what SUP really is.
For example, yesterday started off inauspiciously. The North Shore of Maui was due for a decent swell, so I rousted myself early. Ho’okipa was closed [...]

Bob (Stoneaxe) remixed my SIC Animoto video. I like the results a lot. More active and upbeat. Shows that in Animoto, as in other things, less is more.
http://www.kenalu.com

You may wonder why there have been fewer articles in Ke Nalu recently, and why it’s taking so long to get the SUP surfing and SUP distance e-books done. it’s not just that I’ve been spending all my time getting the crap scared out of me in Maliko Gulch. I’ve been working on a set [...]

So maybe you’re getting tire of hearing about Maliko runs, I think this is the last one I’ll write up for awhile. But this one was kind of special, and perhaps a little stupid. I called the usual suspects and no one seemed to want to go. Just about as i was about to give [...]

I hope readers don’t mind these totally off topic videos. I don’t go scouting youtube for this stuff, but I get a lot of email correspondence from fellow nutcases, and it seems lately that whacked videos, especially as related to race cars or doing extreme extreme (uberextreme?) stuff makes up a large portion. So, this [...]

I NEVER say that. Never. But OMG. Watch this video and tremble.
wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.
http://www.kenalu.com

I’ve had a few people ask me what’s so special about a Maliko run. Hard to sum up. When it’s big and nasty it’s like nothing you’ve ever done before. Ten miles of hanging on for dear life. I was playing around with Animoto tonight and put this little slide show together. It gives [...]

Wow, I thought conditions were wild yesterday. Today the mouth of the channel that leads out from Maliko Gulch looked like death and destruction. Waves smashing on the rocks on both sides of the channel, spray everywhere, huge chop in the channel and whitecaps with spindrift blowing off them outside.
Perfect.
There was even a whale on [...]

Maliko run number four is in my official record book. Last guy to the beach again, but I improved my time over the last run (the Maui Canoe and Kayak club race) by 15 minutes. If I keep improving at this rate by the time I have Maliko 10 under my belt I’ll be whipping [...]

I turned the corner onto South Kihei Rd and saw whitecaps. Big, fluffy spraying-off-the-top whitecaps, and chunky swells even with the short fetch from Maalaea Bay. Perfect for a fast downwinder to the Four Seasons beach. Diane was dubious as usual, she considers anything beyond a gentle zephyr to be life-threatening, but I couldn’t [...]

Mark’s Big Idea
Kiwi Jackson got sick just prior to the showcase, which upset him as much as it did me. Not only is he a fine SUP racer but he has a couple of very interesting boards and he’s a really nice guy who is always fun to be around. Sick though he was, he [...]

The heavy lump resting against my leg leaped from the bed and ran straight into the screen door, barking viciously. “What the hell is that stupid dog barking at” thinks I. I had foolishly trusted Sam to stay in his own bed, but some time in the night he snuck into ours. I looked around [...]