Looking Back and Moving Forward ….
It’s been almost a month since our last channel crossing from Kauai to Niihau, which by the way, I do not recommend to anyone unless you feel like experiencing hell…but I will tell you all about that in my next blog! I am back in Kona and after taking a week off from paddling, I got back into it. I have a busy summer ahead with races and traveling so I didn’t have much time to rest and relax. I was back in the gym the day I returned, which felt GREAT at the time but left me aching for the next few days. After taking time of from paddling, it felt good to get back into it. It’s different training for sprint races after having done so much endurance paddling in the past few months but I’m enjoying not having to worry about going on 20+ mile paddles.
Next week is the Battle of the Paddle Hawaii. I’m excited to see everyone in the community and check out the race course. It’s going to be another great event and if you live nearby you should really come check it out! After that, I’m planning on competing in a couple of local races this summer, including the Molokai to Oahu race and then traveling to Europe for a couple of races there.
Looking back on what we did in April, it still hasn’t fully sunk in. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I am so excited to have been a part of it. We worked hard for so many months to make it happen and the best part was seeing it through and successfully completing what we set out to do. It would not have been possible without the help of sponsors, friends, family and so many others who supported us throughout the adventure. I will never be able to express how grateful I am to every person who played a part in making our trip a success but I want to say THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Putting together a trip like this is not an overnight process and it took months of e-mails, phone calls, skype meetings, brainstorming etc to make it happen, but most of all it was largely due to the people who believed in us and our crazy idea and said yes. I have come away from this realizing that it does not matter how many times you hear the word “no”, you keep trying and if you believe in what you’re doing, someone will say yes.
Thank you to everyone who believed in us and said YES
Paul and Cassandra
Brazen Hazen Kona Coffee
Gordon and the team at Horny Toad Clothing Co. and MFA.
Curtis at Dakine
Hilton Hotels
Karen and Jeff at WetFeet
Michi at Naish
Joe Bark
Thank you to these great companies:
Pelican, Kaenon, Sweet Waterwear, Tiem, Watermans, 2xu, Vertra, Surf Stronger, ACR Electronics
Pure Paddles, QuickBlade, Del Mar, Infinit, OnIt, H20 Audio, Rite in the Rain
Our Wonderful Captains:
Mike, Nue & Earl – Big Island to Maui
Layne – Maui to Lanai, Maui to Molokai
Mickey & Kawika – Molokai sea cliffs
Jeff & Matt – Molokai to Oahu
Scott, Matt and all of the crew from Maggie Joe Charters – Oahu to Kauai
Steve G. – Na Pali Coast
Peter, Scott and Linda from Bubbles Below – Kauai to Niihau and Lehua Rock
Thank you to the Koppes and Garfinkle families for generously loaning us your boats!
Thank You To:
Pat Caldwell, Wayne Schaut, Jack Gillen, Reid Inouye, Jerry Bess, Barrett Tester, Odie Sumi, Pete Stirling, Chris Wyman, Katie Beers, Mary Edmonds, The Trout Family, Danny Haserot, John Immel, Jared Vargas, Nichole Madosik, Jeff Dietrichson, Stacy Spilman and Sanja Du Plessis.
To my family for showing me the beauty of following your dreams – Fortuna Favet Fortibus.
To Our Support Crew:
Ryan – worlds best boyfriend (biased? no way), board caddy, EMS, cook
Gregg – photographer, board caddy, joker, fisherman
Anders – board caddy, Swedish meatball maker, chauffeur
And a Final Thanks To:
Morgan – For dreaming up this crazy adventure
Jen – For the creative writing, proof reading, support
Chris – For filming and editing throughout and working hard before, during and after and most of all, for putting up with 4 girls.
Shannon – For the beautiful photographs
And of course thank you to all of our fans who followed us, whose comments motivated us throughout the journey and those who donated to our cause, Algalita Marine Reseach Foundation.
Thank you for being a part of our adventure!
Jenny K.
Treehugger.com: Women Stand Up Paddle Hawaiian Islands for Oceanic Research
Treehugger.com is THE site for green news on the Web and we are so excited they’ve taken a shine to us. It’s not every day you get the “green CNN” talking about you (in a good way)!
Nikki Gregg Tried to Kill Me.
This morning I woke up with a pain in my ass. Literally. As today has progressed, the pain has slowly made it’s way both down through my thighs and into my calves as well as crept itself outward from my chest to my arms. Soreness is actually radiating out from the middle of my body, and I have one person to thank for it….Nikki Gregg.
If you have ever met Nikki Gregg, you know that she is a really positive person, fun to be around, and always has a smile on her face. Under that sunny exterior lies an evil fitness genius. She administered to me her version of the cross fit filthy 50, and with a smile on her face refused to let me quit when I was on the verge of purging the Jamba Juice smoothie that I stupidly drank just before the workout.
Nikki Gregg breezing through the filthy 50
As bad as it sounds, I really did enjoy working out with Nikki. She coached me through it, and made me smile even when I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish. Having worked out with her, I now know why she has been called the “First Lady of Standup Paddle Fitness.” The soreness I feel today is a good kind of sore, the kind that only comes from doing a really effective workout. So, thank you Nikki, both for helping me become a better athlete, and for causing me to need to use the handicapped stall while in the public bathroom (those bars on the walls seem sent straight from heaven when your legs are sore).
This is the one that got me. Pull your knees to your elbows? Right...
"Nikki, stop making me laugh, I am trying to be mad at you..."
It takes a Village.
-posted by Morgan
It may take a village to raise a child, but the past three weeks have shown me that it definitely takes a community to get me to work out. Don’t get me wrong, I really like training (once I am off the couch), but I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t enjoy a good Real Housewives of Orange County marathon from time to time. I thought that I would take this opportunity to introduce a few of the people that I have around me who have been willing to help me make this thing happen…
Anders Jonsson. Poor Guy. Not only is he stuck married to me and having to listen to every complaint that comes along, he also gets dragged along on the 4 hour paddles, but he does it with a smile!
he is never not smiling.
Nicole Madosik. Nicole is the motivator, and the one who is up for anything. During our gnarly interval workout this morning, we had just finished one round when she started in with the “let’s go, let’s go’s,” to which I had to remind her not to be a hero, we still have 2 minutes of rest. Crazy lady. She loves paddling though, and will be doing Molokai solo this year, race or not.
Nicole's early morning TRX training.
Jared Vargas. Don’t let the mustache fool you, he doesn’t have to ride the special bus to school. And he is a pretty good athlete if you like people who paddle 40 miles at a time upwind. Lucky for him (and us) we do, and we are stoked to have him as part of the training family.
no, it's not Tom Selleck, it's just jared.
Katie Seall. Katie was my first friend in Hawaii, and my first roommate. I often think that no one on the planet gets me quite the way that she does which is probably why we have been friends for so long. Katie is also a talented yoga person (yogi? bear?) and dryland buddy.
oooh, flexy.
Jennifer Buffin. Jen is the assistant swim coach at UH Manoa. She is also up for a good adventure from time to time. I almost got her killed in Kona while hiking for 16 hours to toast marshmallows over molten lava, but she handled, and went back for more the next day. I like her persistence.
ohmmmmm....
Sonya Weiser. Sonya is a stud. Period. She is currently training for the half ironman, and not only is she a good workout buddy, but she is also a good Starbucks companion, and fully understands the benefits to being caffeinated before you do a kettle bell workout at 6am.
mountain biking
Jeff Chang and Herbie Titcomb. These two have been helping me from the beginning. Jeff has basically been the guy who has made the channel crossings possible for me, and Herbie has been a motivator along the way as well. Herbie refuses to admit that Barks are better than Naishes, but I know in his heart he knows that I am right.
Jeff
Herbie