Paddle Articles

CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay 2 Monterey

CP Explorations - Half Moon Bay 2 Monterey
Cali Paddler Explores Half Moon Bay Pigeon Point, Ano Nuevo, Davenport, Santa Cruz and Montery Bay in its recent adventure paddler.

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CP Explorations - Monterey to Morro Bay

Monterey to Morro BayJoin us on a Cali Paddler Exploration journey along the Big Sur Coastline. 4 day, 120 miles from Monterey to Morro Bay. From socked in fog, to gorgeous sunny days. Hillsides, cliffs, dolphins and sea otters. Helpful tailwinds to horrible up-winds. And a finish for the ages!

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Nine keiki. One canoe. The race...Monterey Bay Crossing!

MBX Keiki Crew from He'e Nalu[ Cali Paddler is always impressed at the dedication and drive shown by our young paddlers. Not to mention their coaches and parents who support their paddle lifestyle. We are so proud at this upcoming endeavor, the MBX race from Santa Cruz to Monterey. If you haven't heard about this epic race check out some previous articles here. Thank you Jocelyn Wilson for this great intro of the dedicated paddlers! ]

Two years later and I’m back writing about my experience with MBX, except this time it’s about our keiki. Now, I’ve only been coaching these kids for about 2 years. By coaching, I mean I’m basically their den mom and assist Mike Smith, Head Keiki Coach for He’e Nalu. It’s pretty much it’s own insanely quirky family, including our amazing, supportive parents! So, when we had a crew of 9 keiki come up to us, explaining how they wanted to participate in MBX (Monterey Bay Crossing), there was no second guessing if these kids could accomplish it or not. They’ve proven enough times that if they set their minds to it, they can surpass any obstacles in their way. I’ve been privileged enough to be a part of this amazing adventure and now I share it
with you.

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In the Midst of Blue - OC1 Lessons Learned

An OC1 Story

Well, I'm not going to make it.

I didn't time it right. I should have waited. I should have paddled harder. The wall of water charging towards me keeps getting higher and higher. I am not going to make it over; there is nothing I can do but try. When you get to this point, you can't turn back.

The bow slices through the top of the wave, but the ama bounces up and arcs gracefully over my head. No brace can save this....

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Paddler Problems: 10 Signs of Post Paddle Withdrawal

10 Signs of Post Paddle Withdrawl - Paddy PaddlerCali Paddler is proud to once again welcome Paddy Paddler and her journal entries to our tribe. For anyone who has come to the end of their season, and now wonders, "'what next?" and finds themselves sitting at their desk watching GoPro footage from past races, rocking to the rhythm of their craft, this one is for you!

9/20/2016
Dear Diary…The Catalina championships have come and gone, and before I even knew it was happening, suddenly the sun has set on my racing season. To be honest, I have been fantasizing about this for months - trying to remember what an open schedule felt like, wondering what my other friends were doing on the weekend without me.  Every weekend I thought about how good it would be to sleep in on Saturday mornings again…

But now that the off season is here, I’m totally miserable.  I’ve been told this is quite normal “withdrawal” that follows any long cycle of extreme endorphins.  But I have a lot of weird symptoms…

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Cali Paddler Explorations - Del Monte Beach Monterey

Cali Paddler is stoked to continue its exploration and mapping of amazing places in our state to paddle. We welcome back Team Writer Bret Warner as he explores this gem in Monterey Bay...Del Monte Beach

Cali Paddler Explorations - Del Monte BeachThe first place I ever paddled was Del Monte Beach right in front of Monterey Bay Kayaks. OK, that’s actually not true, it was on the Rogue river in an inflatable kayak, but my dad and I loved it so much we signed up for an Intro to Sea Kayaking class the day we got home. At ten years old, I had no idea what a special place I was getting to paddle.  It is protected from surf so knowing how to launch and land in the surf is not a requisite for paddling there. I know that some of us salivate with desire at launching/landing/playing/cavorting in the surf, but sometimes you need the calm start as well.  It is also solidly in a Marine Sanctuary so seeing seals, sea lions and sea otters is a regularity and not an anomaly. Also, if the wind picks up it will almost assuredly be at your back once you turn around, and you can hug the coast enough on the way out that paddling upwind won’t affect you too adversely.

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Misfits in Monterey - SoCal Takes a Trip North

Monterey Bay Hoe Wa'a Outrigger Canoe RaceCali Paddler is thrilled to have Si Mendoza share with us some recent fun he and his crew had during a trip up north to explore the Memorial Day Hoe in Monterey Bay. If you haven't heard of this race, consider this a chance to learn more and be inspired for a trip to awesome-land.

How did I NOT know about this for all these years?!  An extended holiday weekend full of paddling in different divisions with different water crafts over two days in a beautiful city with delicious pubs?  Um, yea – I’ll take two of them please!

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With Honor

It is with great privilege that we get to share the story of a stoked paddler 'who gets it'. Hard work, appreciation of our sport, and an understanding of how lucky we are to be paddlers. Ruthie was a part of the junior girls team from NorCal that raced the Catalina Crossing last summer. The future of our sport is bright. Please enjoy! ~CP

Having the honor to be on a Northern California paddling team was an experience I would have not believed myself doing in a million years. I've been paddling since I was seven years old, not knowing how much this sport would make me crave for it more and more. Growing up I fell in love with outrigger canoeing every time, every minute I was out on the water. Since then I had this determination, this dream to race in both Southern California and Hawai'i. So being asked to be on the first junior Norcal team was unbelievable. Knowing that outrigger paddling is growing and the next generation of keiki, are the next ones up for an exciting future, in long distance outrigger paddling competitions.

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California's Best Places to Paddle - The Bucket List of Top Paddles

Best places to paddle in CaliforniaThe 7 Wonders of the (Cali Paddler) World! We are big fans of paddling in our amazing state. And over time, we have found there to be certain paddles that are so amazing, that everyone should have them on their bucket list. So, with New Year's resolutions and inspiration always being shared, we decided to come up with this list.

The places listed are amazing, and something only paddlers can experience. For each one we reached out to a local expert in the region to get tips and insight so that when you launch to check it off your list, you have a positive experience. Enjoy, and be sure to thank each person below and visit their websites.

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MBX 2015 - OC1 Crossing Recap

Monterey Bay Crossing 2015
I decided to really challenge myself and compete in the OC1 category. Looking back, I think a bit of “crazy” came over me when wanting to do the crossing. Training for the race was difficult.  I often trained alone, putting in a lot of early mornings and late nights. Training for more than 2.5 hours was new to me and presented many new challenges that I had to overcome. A lot went in to being 100% ready for the race, from the millimeters of adjusting the ama, to the miles and hours put into training and getting ready. My goal had been set from previous training sessions. I wanted to complete the MBX in 4 hours. I felt ready.

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