Au Sable Canoe Marathon

Our boys Steve and Brandon had an incredible experience at the longest continuous canoe race in North America. You may remember these guys from a previous blog. They have been training for this event as a fundraiser to help their friend Josh with Cerebal Palsy pay for College. More information about their efforts can be found at their website Solstice Canoeing.

In their own words, "The canoe race was AMAZING! I can't come close to doing it justice, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. With the marathon beingthe longest continuous canoe race in North America, the only overnight canoe race in the world, and our team's first year competing in the marathon it was a powerfulexperience... I would even say a religious experience. Sounds deep, but at one point we charged toward Mio Dam at 3:30am racing in a pack of six canoes and the dam looked like the Northern Lights. They had set up 4-6 sets ofportable football stadium lights on the top of the dam and there were 5,000 people on the dam screaming as our pack of canoes approached the dam! This is at 3:30am!!! At the last portage our chase crew was screaming and spraying water before we attacked the last 1 hr and 30 minutes leg the race. Our chase crew was screaming "See you in Oscoda!!!"
Brandon and I finished the 120 mile marathon in 17hrs and 57 minutes!!!"

"Every time my right leg was numb or my glut was sore I would think, Josh has to sit in his wheelchair every day of his life... the leastI can do is shut up and keep paddling for 18 hrs!"

"Thank you for helping to make this adventure possible!"

Steve and Brandon

Using KIALOA's Keone full carbon paddle

Battle of the Paddle

The first Battle of the Paddle and the largest purse at an SUP event to date had an incredible turn out. Gerry Lopez and Rainbow Sandals headlined the race that had paddlers battling for a 10,000 dollar prize. KIALOA is proud to have had our paddles in the hands of the first and second place postitions. Overall there were 5 KIALOA SUP's in the first 11 places.

Chuck Patterson took first place and Thibert Lussiaa came in second, both using our Shaka Puu. The pictures above, clockwise, show Chuck receiving his check, Guy Pere in 8th place with his Kole, and Thiebert with KIALOA's Meg Chun, placed second. Not pictured are the brothers Saemon, both using Shaka Puu's. Bryce came in 6th and TJ 11th. Congratulations to all paddlers and to such a successful event!

Makapo at Queen Lili'uokalani

Here is a very proud moment for the Makapo team on their first experience in Kona. The group is from the Makapo Aquatic Program in California. The team is made up of mostly visually impaired atheletes and their dedicated coaches. KIALOA is so very proud of their accomplishment. Below is an excited e-mail we received from their program director, RJ De Rama:

"Hi! Just wanted to give you an update on how we did last month in Kona. The men's and women's team both beat boats! The women came in just over 3 hours - awesome considering their first paddle was a whole 1.5 miles 1 year ago :) They finished in 3:01. The men beat 3 boats and finished in 2:51 - besting their time by 3 minutes with a steersman who actually is rower and didn't pick up a paddle till lastt February. We also did a double hull race along with one of our youth. All of us wielding our Kialoa paddles, we finished in last, but only 12 seconds behind the next boat. It really was an exciting race. Tyler, who we're forming the youth team around, had a blast and just carries his paddle with a lot of pride.... We'll be adding the youth team for sure now that we've found some committed teens and parents.
So thanks again for your support. and we'll talk soon!"

RJ De Rama

Executive Director

OC Makapo Aquatics Project