Week 2 in Hawaii was just as fun as the first!! I stayed most of the week with the Huf family, and there's no end to the fun stuff they think of!! I went on a training run with Cody Huf near their home in Kapolei. It was soo beautiful! There were tons of turtles and it was cool to see the west side of the island. Definitely not as fun to paddle flat water after a week of downwinding and surfing!
But I definitely had no shortage of time surfing!! We went out to Waikiki several times to surf Queens, Canoes, and Pops. But my favorite was White Plains! We happened to go out on a day where 5-0's, an adjacent break from White Plains, was firing. Definitely double overhead sets coming through!! Brett Huf helped me get into position on the best waves of my life. I definitely chickened out on a couple because they were so big, but I pushed myself to overcome any fear I had and took off on some huge and amazing waves. It was unforgettable!
I also got to head up to the North Shore again, this time for some rock running! This time Sasha Ka'uhane joined us. I met Sasha at Battle of the Paddle last year. She's 11 years old, but she's an awesome surfer and so fun to spend time with! We drove over to Waimea Bay and got some awesome shots of me, Sasha, plus Cody and Brady Huf running underwater with the rocks! Later was Shave Ice, jumping off some rocks, and more fun on the North Shore. Definitely hope to have some footage coming soon!
The Hufs were awesome hosts. Cody was always up for a Hawaii Kai training run and morning Insanity videos--if I was awake!! They also asked Waikiki Beach Boy Alika Willis to take me out on the 6 man canoe!! I got to ride in the 6 man OC with a bunch of friends and surf some Wakiki waves at the Canoes beach break. It was so fun!! I've never canoe paddled before so it was an excellent change of pace and overall such a great experience.
I happened to be on Oahu for the China Uemera's surf comp on Saturday. Just for fun I decided to compete!! It was cool to surf Queens with only a couple other girls out!! I accidentally missed my heat on Sunday (whoops) so obviously I didn't advance!! Honestly, I wasn't really going to advance anyways. The Hawaii girls are sooo much better than me hahaha!! But I understand that it's different when you can surf every day. I just went out to have fun and it was really cool to be at a Waikiki comp!
The Sunday before I left one of the biggest races in SUP took place -- the Molokai2Oahu Paddleboard Championships!! A lot of my friends and paddling superstars were competing, and I was lucky enough to be there in time to watch them finish! I waited with the Huf family over near China Walls, where the last leg of the race takes place. We got a front row seat to watch all of the paddlers come in!! When the first finishers started coming, we drove over to the finish line to see them paddle into the beach. It was incredible. These are some amazing athletes and it's a huge deal just to finish the Molokai! So lucky I got to see the finish. Definitely hoping to race it next year!
I got to spend my last night with the lovely Rivera family!! They are incredibly sweet and such a joy to be around. I picked up some last minute souvenirs for my family and it was time to leave. Way too soon, I was not ready to go, even though I definitely missed home and my fam. I'm already trying to think of ways to get back!! I learned so much and met a ton of cool people, but I have to admit it was great to get back home!
Next adventure-- SUP'nKids!!
xoxo Bailey
Friday, August 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
HAWAII!! Part 1
So back in April, I won a free round-trip ticket to Hawaii at the Siesta Key Classic. It expired within a year, but honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to cash it in at all! Travelling from Florida to Hawaii is crazy expensive, so it would be too pricey to take my whole family, and my mom (who I usually travel with) can't leave my siblings at home for a couple weeks. But my mom finally found a way!! I flew over with my friends Brett and Cody Huf (the surf shop I work at carries their KM Boards) and stayed with a couple friends. It was the trip of a lifetime, absolutely incredible!! Here's how my first week went...
As soon as I arrived at baggage claim from a long day of travel, the Huf family as well as my friends the Rivera family were already there with leis in hand to welcome me to the Aloha state!! After saying a goodbye to the Hufs, I went back to the Rivera's house, where I would spend my first week. Mr. Dalbert Rivera has the coolest job as a diver for the Navy on the base in Honolulu. He and his super sweet wife Sully have 2 kids, Dalbert and Seachelle (coolest name). They all surf, which was super lucky for me!! Every day we got to check out a new spot and Dalbert(s) and Seachelle are really fun to go surf with :)
Because of the time change, It was only about 3 in the afternoon once I was settled in at the Riveras. I was super tired, but so stoked to finally be in Hawaii!! It only took a little bit of begging to convince them to take me surfing ;) I couldn't believe it, I was in the water at Waikiki fresh off the plane surfing Queens!! It was amazing to visit such a famous and iconic spot and surf a beautiful right hand break. At first I was really nervous. There are a TON of people in Waikiki, and I was afraid of dropping in on someone accidentally. But I met some really nice people and eventually got the hang of it. I was very careful to take off, but I still got the best waves of my life!!
Every day with the Riveras I woke up early and went surfing. We hit up spots like Queens, Pops, Old Mans, some breaks in Ala Moana, and Canoes. Because the Molokai to Oahu race was coming up, a lot of paddlers were in town training and preparing for the big race. It was awesome to see them as well as local Oahu friends like the Sweets!! Sean and Judy Sweet invited me and the Riveras to their house for dinner one night. It has the most killer view on Oahu--and the yummiest food!!
I was mostly SUP Surfing, but I did get some training in!! On a Wednesday night I went with the Riveras, the Hufs, and my grommie friend Sasha Kau'hane to a mini race in Hawaii Kai. It started in flat water where the Canoe clubs practice and went out into the surf at Hawaii Kai. Of course it was really not a big deal race, but what was truly notable about it was how comfortable I felt surfing the race board. Living on the flat Gulf coast of Florida, I don't get nearly as much surfing in as I would like to, so waves have always been a weak point for me. Being able to surf a 12'6 race board in the sloppy Hawaii Kai waves was amazing!! I felt so much more control in the waves after just a few days of surfing in powerful Hawaii waters.
One of my favorite activities with the Riveras was our trip up to the North Shore!! We drove past all of the famous, huge surf spots--super flat in the winter, of course. The North Shore is beautiful, and much more country than the south shore of the island. We paddled from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay with the Alexiou family. It was a nice short paddle with crystal clear water and a couple of sea turtles! Once we got to Waimea, we hung out for a little while and jumped off the iconic Waimea Rock!
Next up I got to hang out with Hawaii paddler Morgan Hoesterey! I went on a Hawaii Kai Downwind run with 2 of her friends and it was pretty amazing. Even though the bumps weren't as good as usual, it was way more powerful and different than anything I had encountered in Florida (or anywhere else for that matter), which meant that it was way more fun-and more difficult. It took a little bit of coaching for me to get the hang of catching and gliding on bumps, but once I got the hang of it, it was so fun!! But even without riding bumps, I was pulling my fastest mile times ever because the currents are so strong through that area. It only took me about an hour and a half going easy to pull off 8-9 miles!
Morgan also took me and Seachelle on an amazing hike at Manoa Falls. It was quite a climb to get up there, first through mud, then up tree roots, until it turned into a basically vertical climb up rocks and trees. I LOVED it!!! I'm nuts for rock climbing as well as climbing trees!! Seachelle (being quite younger than me) had a bit of a harder time, but Morgan and I were able to walk her thorough with motivating words like "waterfall". Once Seachelle learned there was a waterfall at the top, she pulled it together enough to make it all the way up. What a trooper!
The next day was another great hike, this time to some really cool sea cliffs. It was incredible to watch the water smash against the rocks again and again, so strong and crazy powerful. It makes you realize just how endless and amazing the ocean really is, and make surfing and paddling all the more special because for a couple shining moments, you can work in conjunction with the biggest and strongest force on earth.
...And that was just week #1!!
Part 2 coming soon! Thanks for reading(:
xx Bailey
As soon as I arrived at baggage claim from a long day of travel, the Huf family as well as my friends the Rivera family were already there with leis in hand to welcome me to the Aloha state!! After saying a goodbye to the Hufs, I went back to the Rivera's house, where I would spend my first week. Mr. Dalbert Rivera has the coolest job as a diver for the Navy on the base in Honolulu. He and his super sweet wife Sully have 2 kids, Dalbert and Seachelle (coolest name). They all surf, which was super lucky for me!! Every day we got to check out a new spot and Dalbert(s) and Seachelle are really fun to go surf with :)
Because of the time change, It was only about 3 in the afternoon once I was settled in at the Riveras. I was super tired, but so stoked to finally be in Hawaii!! It only took a little bit of begging to convince them to take me surfing ;) I couldn't believe it, I was in the water at Waikiki fresh off the plane surfing Queens!! It was amazing to visit such a famous and iconic spot and surf a beautiful right hand break. At first I was really nervous. There are a TON of people in Waikiki, and I was afraid of dropping in on someone accidentally. But I met some really nice people and eventually got the hang of it. I was very careful to take off, but I still got the best waves of my life!!
I was mostly SUP Surfing, but I did get some training in!! On a Wednesday night I went with the Riveras, the Hufs, and my grommie friend Sasha Kau'hane to a mini race in Hawaii Kai. It started in flat water where the Canoe clubs practice and went out into the surf at Hawaii Kai. Of course it was really not a big deal race, but what was truly notable about it was how comfortable I felt surfing the race board. Living on the flat Gulf coast of Florida, I don't get nearly as much surfing in as I would like to, so waves have always been a weak point for me. Being able to surf a 12'6 race board in the sloppy Hawaii Kai waves was amazing!! I felt so much more control in the waves after just a few days of surfing in powerful Hawaii waters.
One of my favorite activities with the Riveras was our trip up to the North Shore!! We drove past all of the famous, huge surf spots--super flat in the winter, of course. The North Shore is beautiful, and much more country than the south shore of the island. We paddled from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay with the Alexiou family. It was a nice short paddle with crystal clear water and a couple of sea turtles! Once we got to Waimea, we hung out for a little while and jumped off the iconic Waimea Rock!
Next up I got to hang out with Hawaii paddler Morgan Hoesterey! I went on a Hawaii Kai Downwind run with 2 of her friends and it was pretty amazing. Even though the bumps weren't as good as usual, it was way more powerful and different than anything I had encountered in Florida (or anywhere else for that matter), which meant that it was way more fun-and more difficult. It took a little bit of coaching for me to get the hang of catching and gliding on bumps, but once I got the hang of it, it was so fun!! But even without riding bumps, I was pulling my fastest mile times ever because the currents are so strong through that area. It only took me about an hour and a half going easy to pull off 8-9 miles!
The next day was another great hike, this time to some really cool sea cliffs. It was incredible to watch the water smash against the rocks again and again, so strong and crazy powerful. It makes you realize just how endless and amazing the ocean really is, and make surfing and paddling all the more special because for a couple shining moments, you can work in conjunction with the biggest and strongest force on earth.
...And that was just week #1!!
Part 2 coming soon! Thanks for reading(:
xx Bailey
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
East Coast Championships
This summer I was fortunate enough to score a trip to Hawaii!! I won a round-trip ticket back in April at the Siesta Key Classic, but I wasn't sure if I was going to get to use it because my mom didn't want me to go alone, and sending my whole family would have been very expensive. But luckily, my mom found a way to where she could send me alone!! But before I talk about Hawaii, I have to go into the East Coast Championships...
The week before the East Coast Championships, Brett and Cody Huf from KM Stand Up Paddleboards came visit and demo their boards. They came to Monday Night Paddle with their SUPs and spent the next couple days touring around Florida and taking care of their containers. On Friday, my family, the Hufs, and the Shens (Marc and his 6 y/o son Gabe) all caravaned to the East Coast Championships in Daytona Beach!! I decided to race it on a traditional paddleboard because I've been having tendinitis problems in my elbows and shoulders. Friday night I paddled out with Marc Shen and the Hufs for some practice on the little waves! My friends Dalton and Chris were already out on the water, and it was a fun mini session on my paddleboard.
The next day was the East Coast Championships race!! It was the most low-stress race ever for me, because there were no other paddleboard girls competing, only stand up paddlers. I cruised my way through the race at my own pace and spent the rest of the day playing on the water with friends. My brother raced, and my sister as well. I am so proud of them!
Then it was time for me to go home and get packed for my big trip!!! So exciting!!!
Lake Tahoe
If Santa Cruz was fun, than Lake Tahoe was incredible!! I made some great friends and had an awesome time. But before we headed over to Lake Tahoe, my family and I stopped for a night in San Francisco! It was rainy and COLD, but the city is super cool. We took a bus tour and got to see the major tourist sites like Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate. It was a lot of fun and a nice change in scenery.
The next day we were headed to Tahoe! On the way there we had to pick up my Grandma at the Sacramento airport. She was coming to vacation with us in Tahoe :) before we went to pick her up we had some time to kill, so my family and I made a pit stop--at the Jelly Belly Factory!! Hahaha, it was actually really fun and we got to pick up some candy to give to friends in Tahoe. We picked up my grandma (with another stop for In n Out Burger) and started our drive to South Lake Tahoe!
The very first thing we did when we arrived at the lake was go visit South Lake Tahoe SUP--the stand up paddle shop owned by the Brackett family. The Bracketts are awesome!! There's 10 kids, and they are all beyond nice and so fun to hang out with!! The best part--their shop was only 2 blocks from the house we were staying in, and from there a 3 minute walk to the beach! It's always sooo good to see the Brackett fam and their extended family. They were incredibly hospitable. The next day I went for an early morning paddle with Jenna and Janessa Brackett!! We detoured through a cool little creek and paddled over to a pine tree with an eagle nesting in it!! We saw the eagle fly away as a rainbow stretched ahead. It was truly beautiful and a little bit perfect :)
I spent the rest of the week paddling and hanging out with Jenna, Janessa, Josiah, and Joshua, as well as the Calvert family, Jay Wild, and more of the paddlers both local and from out of town coming in for the race. The lake is so beautiful!! It's crystal clear and really cold from the snowmelt. But the scenery is amazing and the people are so friendly. I spent my days paddling, trail running, and hanging out at El Dorado Beach. Every Wednesday, South Lake Tahoe SUP hosts a fun race! I decided to race it as a warmup for the big races that weekend. I scored first, stoked!! It was an awesome race, very exciting, and cool to compete with my friends.
By Friday a lot of the paddlers had come in for the race! After a warmup paddle with Candice Appleby and Anthony Vela (as well as Ka'lia Alexiou and her dad), we had a Performance Paddling team practice with all the kids in town for the race! Even though all the kids are younger than me and I feel kind of out of place, it's really nice to see all of the kids having fun. They are really fast and you can always count on them for friendly competition! Right after, there was something of a little sibling practice with the younger kids. But just as they were paddling out, it started to hail!! Some of the kids freaked out, but they still went on with the practice. It was pretty cool :)
Saturday was the Elite Race! It was a little over 5 mile, and a lot like the Wednesday night race course. I felt really good despite my asthma diagnosis, plus I was acclimated to the altitude, so I ended up in second!! After that, SUP Cross heats ran for the rest of the day! SUP Cross is like motocross, only everyone's on standup boards! It was really fun to watch! I competed, but unfortunately I fell off my board and couldn't catch back up, so I ended up in fourth. You never know what's going to happen in little races like that, so it's really exciting!
Sunday was the Distance Race, 14 miles from El Dorado Beach to Emerald Bay and back. It was so beautiful!! I got first, it was really awesome!! Next up was the relay races. I was on a team with 3 other Performance Paddling boys who are a little younger than me--Josiah, Nick, and Ian. We did all 3 relay races hahaha!! We won the kids, 4th in the amateur, and 3rd in pro!! It was a ton of fun. There was also an art contest for the kids, which my little sister won!! Riviera Paddlesurf is sending her a board with her custom artwork! She's stoked!!
Later that night, my mom and I went out to dinner with the Riviera team, Candice and Anthony, the Bracketts, the Calverts, the whole crew. It was one of the highlights of my trip. We all had a great time eating and laughing and celebrating an incredible weekend.
The next day it was time to fly home--nooo!! I was so sad to leave. Tahoe was one of the most fun trips of my year because of all the people I got to spend time with. I want to go baaack!!!!
The first week of July was restful before another week of volunteering before my biggest adventure yet--HAWAII!!
The next day we were headed to Tahoe! On the way there we had to pick up my Grandma at the Sacramento airport. She was coming to vacation with us in Tahoe :) before we went to pick her up we had some time to kill, so my family and I made a pit stop--at the Jelly Belly Factory!! Hahaha, it was actually really fun and we got to pick up some candy to give to friends in Tahoe. We picked up my grandma (with another stop for In n Out Burger) and started our drive to South Lake Tahoe!
The very first thing we did when we arrived at the lake was go visit South Lake Tahoe SUP--the stand up paddle shop owned by the Brackett family. The Bracketts are awesome!! There's 10 kids, and they are all beyond nice and so fun to hang out with!! The best part--their shop was only 2 blocks from the house we were staying in, and from there a 3 minute walk to the beach! It's always sooo good to see the Brackett fam and their extended family. They were incredibly hospitable. The next day I went for an early morning paddle with Jenna and Janessa Brackett!! We detoured through a cool little creek and paddled over to a pine tree with an eagle nesting in it!! We saw the eagle fly away as a rainbow stretched ahead. It was truly beautiful and a little bit perfect :)
I spent the rest of the week paddling and hanging out with Jenna, Janessa, Josiah, and Joshua, as well as the Calvert family, Jay Wild, and more of the paddlers both local and from out of town coming in for the race. The lake is so beautiful!! It's crystal clear and really cold from the snowmelt. But the scenery is amazing and the people are so friendly. I spent my days paddling, trail running, and hanging out at El Dorado Beach. Every Wednesday, South Lake Tahoe SUP hosts a fun race! I decided to race it as a warmup for the big races that weekend. I scored first, stoked!! It was an awesome race, very exciting, and cool to compete with my friends.
By Friday a lot of the paddlers had come in for the race! After a warmup paddle with Candice Appleby and Anthony Vela (as well as Ka'lia Alexiou and her dad), we had a Performance Paddling team practice with all the kids in town for the race! Even though all the kids are younger than me and I feel kind of out of place, it's really nice to see all of the kids having fun. They are really fast and you can always count on them for friendly competition! Right after, there was something of a little sibling practice with the younger kids. But just as they were paddling out, it started to hail!! Some of the kids freaked out, but they still went on with the practice. It was pretty cool :)
Saturday was the Elite Race! It was a little over 5 mile, and a lot like the Wednesday night race course. I felt really good despite my asthma diagnosis, plus I was acclimated to the altitude, so I ended up in second!! After that, SUP Cross heats ran for the rest of the day! SUP Cross is like motocross, only everyone's on standup boards! It was really fun to watch! I competed, but unfortunately I fell off my board and couldn't catch back up, so I ended up in fourth. You never know what's going to happen in little races like that, so it's really exciting!
Sunday was the Distance Race, 14 miles from El Dorado Beach to Emerald Bay and back. It was so beautiful!! I got first, it was really awesome!! Next up was the relay races. I was on a team with 3 other Performance Paddling boys who are a little younger than me--Josiah, Nick, and Ian. We did all 3 relay races hahaha!! We won the kids, 4th in the amateur, and 3rd in pro!! It was a ton of fun. There was also an art contest for the kids, which my little sister won!! Riviera Paddlesurf is sending her a board with her custom artwork! She's stoked!!
Later that night, my mom and I went out to dinner with the Riviera team, Candice and Anthony, the Bracketts, the Calverts, the whole crew. It was one of the highlights of my trip. We all had a great time eating and laughing and celebrating an incredible weekend.
The next day it was time to fly home--nooo!! I was so sad to leave. Tahoe was one of the most fun trips of my year because of all the people I got to spend time with. I want to go baaack!!!!
The first week of July was restful before another week of volunteering before my biggest adventure yet--HAWAII!!
The Jay
Man, this summer has been crazy!! I only have one more week until school begins, and I realize that I've pretty much neglected my blog this summer because I have been super busy traveling and volunteering. But I'm back home, doing homework and now, updating my blog with my adventures from this summer!! I left off at the Naples Beach Paddle Fest in mid June. A couple days later, it was time to leave Florida and go back to California. But this time I wasn't going to SoCal, but instead Santa Cruz for the Jay Race!!
We got in to Sacramento super late on Wednesday night and from there drove to Santa Cruz. We rented a super little house and went around and explored Santa Cruz. It was really cold, even in the middle of June!! First stop was Surftech HQ. It was awesome to see their headquarters and how everything worked there. It was really busy because everyone was getting ready for the big race that weekend! My little sister's favorite part was Murdock, the potbelly pig that lives in Surftech's backyard!!! Duke, the team manager, let me, my brother, and my Maui friend Brit Oliphant borrow boards and we headed over to Pleasure Point for a surf sesh! Unfortunately the waves were so small they were practically unridable :( but it was cool to check out the break!!
We had some time to kill on Friday, so my family and I headed over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!! The drive down was sooo beautiful. It's always cool to check out other ecosystems, like the dry mountains and dunes of central Cali. And the aquarium was fun of course!! It had a lot of really excellent attractions like otters, penguins, sea dragons, kelp forests, etc. Definitely a great way to spend the day, especially with my family along with me!
The next day was race day!! It's a long race, and I was really nervous. But it made me feel a little better to see some of my favorite Bark/Surftech riders like Candice Appleby, Matt Becker, Chris Aguilar, Anthony Vela, and the Bark family. Plus some of my favorite SUP kids like the Carters, Staples, and Springers!! The race had a bit of a delay because the fog was so thick we couldn't even see out. Finally it was time to start the race!!
I had a really strong start in this race. For the first three miles I was leading all of the SUP girls. Brit Oliphant and Jen Fuller caught up to me around then and we kept up a draft train for a little while. But suddenly I was having some trouble breathing. I started to cough and couldn't get a full breath. I dropped off of the other girls to rest, which usually makes me feel better. But for some reason I still couldn't breathe! It was a little scary because I didn't know what was happening to me. I knew something was wrong, but there was NO WAY I was going to quit on a race I came all the way across the country for. I coughed and gasped my way through the next 8 or 9 miles to end up in almost dead last.
Once I made it to the beach I told the lifeguard and a couple racers what kind of problem I was having. They diagnosed me with exercise induced asthma (which I later got validated by a doctor). I borrowed a friend's inhaler and sat down with Sean and Judy Sweet to rest. It was pretty upsetting that I wasn't able to race like I wanted to, but everyone was so nice and made me feel much better!! Alison Riddle offered to let me draft her during the race, Jack Bark let me borrow his inhaler, and Brit Oliphant (who ended up winning!) came up and gave me a hug after because she knew something was wrong with me when I dropped off of her and Jen. It's hard to be sad when you have so many people stepping up to help you!
I spent the rest of the day watching my friends compete in the Waterman's Challenge and spending some time with some of my favorite kids in SUP! Later that night I watched part of a showing of Chasing Mavericks--and watched my brother get an award!! He won his division in the 2 mile course!!
What was really special about the Jay Race was the spirit behind it. It's named after Jay Moriarty, an incredible surfer who began surfing Mavericks at 16 and loved paddleboarding. Jay died in his early twenties in a tragic diving accident. The Jay Race celebrates Jay's spirit and encourages everyone to Live Like Jay, living life to the fullest and just being an all around decent human being. Videographer Chris Aguilar really captures the spirit of the Jay in his videos--and I'm in it too!! Check out here http://vimeo.com/70421346
Next stop--Lake Tahoe!!
We had some time to kill on Friday, so my family and I headed over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!! The drive down was sooo beautiful. It's always cool to check out other ecosystems, like the dry mountains and dunes of central Cali. And the aquarium was fun of course!! It had a lot of really excellent attractions like otters, penguins, sea dragons, kelp forests, etc. Definitely a great way to spend the day, especially with my family along with me!
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| My little sister Georgia in Monterey |
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| Photobomb by Matix |
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| Writing "Jay Race" on Trent's Stomach-Zoe and Sarin in the Background! |
I spent the rest of the day watching my friends compete in the Waterman's Challenge and spending some time with some of my favorite kids in SUP! Later that night I watched part of a showing of Chasing Mavericks--and watched my brother get an award!! He won his division in the 2 mile course!!
What was really special about the Jay Race was the spirit behind it. It's named after Jay Moriarty, an incredible surfer who began surfing Mavericks at 16 and loved paddleboarding. Jay died in his early twenties in a tragic diving accident. The Jay Race celebrates Jay's spirit and encourages everyone to Live Like Jay, living life to the fullest and just being an all around decent human being. Videographer Chris Aguilar really captures the spirit of the Jay in his videos--and I'm in it too!! Check out here http://vimeo.com/70421346
Next stop--Lake Tahoe!!
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