The Molokai Hoe (Oct 10, I'm finally posting now) was great. It was windy the days leading up to the race and the prediction for race day was for 18-22 mph winds. That prediction was about right and made the toughest part of the race getting in and out of the escort boat. The Kioloa was a beautiful escort boat and the crew were great. With the winds and waves, though, the boat was getting bounced around pretty good and the ladder was narrow. I fell off the ladder at least a couple of times. Once we got into the lee of Oahu the seas calmed and we got in a race with, and passed, another boat. Definitely one of the great experiences of my life. Picture from James McKeague.

The Molokai Hoe was on October 10. We got there Thursday the 7th and stayed until race day (Sunday) in a real nice house Al rented for us. Our landlords the Davis's brought us breakfast and dinner every day we were there, and they let us use their truck. We shared the house with Aka Hemmings and members of his Pure Light crew. They were all really nice and fun people.

We rigged on Thursday. It took hours because we rerigged once because there was some mixup between the short and long cords, and then had to derig and rerig the entire ama and iakos because the front and rear iakos were mixed up. That stuff's gotta be right.

The night before the race we met with the escort boat crew and Mike Spalding.