A New Direction for Paddle All the Things

When I created this website back in 2018, the intent was to use it to document my conversion of a Honda Element into a micro-camper and my adventures traveling the country paddling. It was also the launch pad for a podcast of the same name that chronicled my trip from Raleigh, NC, to Hood River, Oregon, for a summer of downwind racing.

Then life happened.

I got busy with other projects and work. And then Covid hit. Like many, I cloistered myself in my townhome, not going out much, developing bad habits, and not having many adventures.

The pandemic was a catalyst for change. I decided that should something like Covid happen again – and I have no doubt it will – I did not want to be in North Carolina. I wanted to go home. To Hawaii, the state of my birth, where my family was happiest, and the place that holds my heart. So I did.

It’s 2023, and I live in Waikapu, no more than 20 minutes from my favorite places to paddle. Despite everything aligning to bring me home, my knee made a fuss, and I had two surgeries in the last two years. I am back on the water, though, doing the things I love the most: Sup surfing, outrigger paddling, body boarding, and snorkeling.

Maui is good for the creative soul.

Being back home, my creative spirit has been rekindled, and I am finally following in the footsteps of my mother and favorite aunt – two amazing and accomplished artists. I am finding my way in the visual arts, painting, printing, and computer design. One of my pieces, migrating spotted eagle rays painted on a recycled surfboard fin, was accepted into the “Below the Surface: Marine Life of Hawaii” art exhibit at the Hui No’eau Art Center this spring.  The fin was the first piece in the show to sell, too!

Lahaina

As I settled into my post-surgery Maui life, disaster struck our beautiful island. The former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Lahaina, was destroyed by wildfire on August 8,2023. For two days, I watched fires in Kula and just north of Kihei scorch the Central Valley of Maui from my front room while Lahaina burned to the ground.

My reason for being here is even more apparent than when I decided to come home. It is to help my community, my home, this island that has been so dear to me for so long. Through the freelance work I’m now doing, including writing for The New York Times, I have an opportunity to tell Maui’s story in a way that is Pono and gives voice to those who desperately need to be heard.

So, in the coming days, I will keep track of my thoughts as Maui recovers on these pages in a section called Dispatches from Maui. There will be a mix of everything, from paddling to recovery efforts and events to personal thoughts.

Mahalo for reading and I hope you’ll stay along for the journey.