Paddle Articles

Cali Paddler is stoked to have had a chance to hear from our friend Marie who recently went to Santa Cruz and did the Jay Race. Read our interview below about how this race is unlike most other races out there and what the scene was like.

CP: Hi Marie! We are stoked to hear about your recent trip to the Jay Race in Santa Cruz for a first time! What made you decide to go to this race?

I am fairly new to the OC1 racing scene so most local/mainland races i hear about through friends or good old Facebook. I had never heard of the Jay race till Charlie Banfield posted a link to the event page highlighting OC1’s and Surf skis were being included for the first time in the history of the event...

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Curious about the tuna crabs? What are they and why are they here? So were we! Please welcome Linsey Sala from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and fellow paddler to teach us more. ~CP.

If you have been paddling, swimming, surfing, or beach combing with your pup you have probably noticed the periodic presence of a beautiful bright red crustacean inhabiting our local waters these last two years – the pelagic red crab.  The scientific name of this crustacean is Pleuroncodes planipes.  This species is well known off the west coast of Baja California, in the Gulf of CA, and the CA Current with its center of distribution off central and southern Baja CA.  This red crab is unique because it can live its entire life cycle in the water column (surface to seafloor), from larvae to adulthood.  It starts off as a microscopic free drifting larva living close to the surface, feeding on microscopic single celled algae called phytoplankton.  As they get older and bigger, they will continue to graze on phytoplankton but can also eat small planktonic animals called zooplankton like krill and copepods.

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Are you curious about someday putting on a race? Interested in some tips from someone who is going through the process again after a successful but challenging first try? Please welcome Bret Warner from Stand Up to Alzheimer's as he shares with us some of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of putting on a race or event. Who knows, you might be inspired to create the next MUST-ATTEND RACE!

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On May 11th 2016 at the IVF VA’A WORLD SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS, 74 years old Barbara Leites representing POCA California, USA from the NCOCA (Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association) Pupu’O Hawaii Club and Outrigger Team 47-74, did the impossible: Won gold in the Masters 70+, V-1, 500 meters. The only gold for Team POCA USA at the 2016 World Sprints championship.

Why impossible? Well, Barbara has been Outrigger paddling for only 2 years, a Novice.  And as our sprint coach Linda Dresbach shared on Facebook: This was Barbara’s 3rd race ever on a V-1.

What? How? And who is she? Why did Barbara start Outrigger Paddling?

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We were pretty excited about the new Kahekai canoe, especially since the Ehukai has become such a popular choice for OC1 paddlers in California. How did this new canoe differ? How was it the same? Who would benefit from the changes? Why did he change some things? Ultimately our questions came down to:  Which is faster? Which will let me paddle farther. And which will help me have more fun on the water?

We did a little summary of some of what we have learned in how it is different from it's predecessor.

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Cali Paddler welcomes our friend Ellen Lee who this year decided to stray slightly from her dragon boat background and give this whole outrigger canoe thing a shot. So after she recently finished her first outrigger race, she shared with us the answer to an age-old question people have when they try a different craft.

Now that my first novice outrigger race is complete I can properly answer the question I get often “How’s this different from a dragon boat race?”

So many things come to mind, so instead of word vomiting like a teenage girl, I’ve categorized my experience thus far:

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During the South Florida summer of 1965, my boyfriend, Eddie, and I were on the waves every day. Summer waves in Hollywood, Florida were usually ankle-biters and mushy and we were too young to drive "up the coast" where the surf was better. Obsessed with surfing, we watched ENDLESS SUMMER, and every other surf movie that came to town. The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet played on our radio. Our mantra became a quest to see every spot in the famous tune. "Surfin' USA." IN 2001 we moved to Oregon and in 2016 Eddie retired. We packed our boards and trailer and headed to: Del mar, Ventura County Line, Santa Cruz and Trestle... and down Doheny Way. We also hit San Onofre and Sunset, Redondo Beach, LA - and The Wedge.

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