OCC ON THE WATER
“My experience of the Kapua Channel is like being home. When I arrive in the chan- nel from a downhill Hawai‘i Kai run on an OC-2, I feel safe and welcomed home. Whether I’m using Kapua to paddle out for a surf session at Old Man’s, or rerning from an OC-6 pracce (when I used to paddle), or heading out to canoe surf with Kisi and Marc Haine, I experience a sense of comfort, beau and peace. Kapua has brought me joy, knowing that I have made another successful run; exhilaration, in man- aging it while the surf is cranking; and true delight in a simple swim out to the windsock. I am very grateful for Kapua’s protection and I appreciate her splendor as she shares her calming waters with all who are able to feel her embrace. Kapua is a special channel that has allowed us historical access to Moananuiākea, the vast Pacific Ocean, over thousands of years. This channel specifically has always been an important ancestral resource to Hawaiians as it opens to the nearshore fisheries of Kapua, Kaluahole, and Kaneloa. We con- tinue to be blessed by the oerings Kapua shares with us and it is my hope that all who use this channel, will honor and respect the precious gift of Kapua.” —Kaili Chun “Kapua Channel, the lifeline to the sea, to the reef, to the surf—it’s my happy place. I take it to go surf, swim, snorkel, kickboard with my girlfriends, and when I’m feeling a bit of island fever, I swim out to the flag to just get out in nare and look back at the shoreline, Diamond Head in all her grand- ness, and the majesc mountains in the distance. I love just floang in the waters there, knowing I’m safe from waves break- ing and shallow reefs (for the most part!). The Kapua Channel is an extension of my life force and like so many who came before me, where I will one day lay to rest. It can act as a conveyor belt on the way out and a treadmill on the way in. A good rule of thumb for
that, we encourage you to watch Ka‘ahele Ma Waikīkī , Hawaiian historian John Clark’s first presentation in the Kai Piha series of films, where he takes you on a tour of Waikīkī and shares more about its surf history.) Moreover, in an oral history conducted in 1987 for OCC, the late Cline Mann—a registered land surveyor in Hawai‘i by trade and someone many consider to be the father of modern paddleboard racing—explains how the ancient natural watercourse opened up the reef and the lagoon which was once known as the Sans Souci lagoon (the waters in front of Kaimana Beach Hotel) and form the Kapua Channel, which on ancient maps is called the Kapua Entrance. He goes on to talk about the visible remains of two cables that went midway and west to East Asia, originally installed by Pacific Commercial Cable. “When I was a kid, it was always interesting to me to see that cable that ran along the bottom when I would go snorkeling or swimming,” said Todd Bradley, as he recalled Cline explaining why they were there. From top: Members paddling out during the 2022 Surf Jam; During the 1987 Cline Mann 5K Paddleboard race, paddlers head toward Waikīkī to round the first buoy, then around another buoy toward Diamond Head, and finish on the Kapua Channel buoy toward the OCC Beach; Kisi Haine with mom Marilyn and dad Tom Haine at the 1992 Na Wahine O Ke Kai.
JULY / AUGUST 2022 | AMA 21 July / august 2022 | AMA 21
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