Gratitude

It has a scary name: The Kaiwi Channel. Translated it means the “Channel of Bones,” and along with its intimidating name comes a fearsome reputation. Many people have challenged this particular body of water and have been humbled by it—myself included. Despite all of this, the Molokai Channel has come to be one of my favorite places on earth, and no matter how many times I find myself in the middle of it; it never fails to teach me something new.

July 31 marked my fourth year as a competitor in the Molokai to Oahu paddleboard race, the unofficial world championships of paddleboarding. Years past have seen me doing this race solo on a standup paddleboard, but this year, it seemed like a good time to try something new. This time, I had the opportunity to cross my favorite stretch of water as a member of a two-person prone paddleboard team.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how the crossing would go. I had never paddled as a team before and had never met my partner in person. Tom Hinds, my partner, is a talented paddleboarder from San Diego, who, together with his usual partner Shannon Delaney, wins the mixed division of this race every year, which made the race more, well, interesting. I worried about letting him down, despite his repeated attempts to convince me that he was just out to have fun and that winning didn’t matter. What he didn’t know is that I hadn’t put in as much training as I had anticipated, and overall I was just nervous to take on a new challenge.

Almost immediately after the race had started however, all the nerves went away. Tom had started the race and was catching swell after open-ocean swell and seemed to be having a great time. Each wave that Tom caught, and the smile on his face reiterated the fact that simply being in this channel is enough. Winning this race absolutely doesn’t matter. In the overall scheme of things, it is a privilege just to be here.

We had decided to switch off paddling every twenty minutes, and during one of my turns in the water about half way through the channel I had a moment. I had just caught a bump and was gliding along when I had the chance to look around for a minute. In that minute I thought about how incredibly lucky I was to be able to know what it looks and feels like to be in the middle of one of the “most treacherous bodies of water in the world” and feel completely at home. It made me appreciate all of the people who helped me get here, and made me grateful that life has allowed me to be here in this moment.

Everyone who crosses this channel has a story, and each one of those stories is different. I am still not exactly sure about what my story is, but I know that it gets a little better each time I get to paddle from Molokai to Oahu. If I’m lucky, I will get to add another chapter soon, but for now, I’m just going to keep paddling and to remember what it feels like to learn from and to appreciate the ocean.

For more information about the Molokai Channel and the Molokai2Oahu Paddleboard Race, including results, visit www.Molokai2Oahu.com.