Rod and Barry are slowly but surely making progress towards becoming downwind surfski paddlers. We have been paddling ski almost 4 years now and it has become a true passion for us. We have learned so much from Dawid Mocke and Oscar Chalupsky’s videos, and we hope our humble videos (watch the video — we…
Barry made this video about a year into his surfski paddling journey, and characterized himself as a beginner / intermediate surfski paddler at that time. Though he had been paddling the surfski for only about a year, much of that time had been spent on the ocean (and much time in the ocean, too!). Barry…
We can go ahead and get these things out of the way. Yes, Rod has a giant cartoon thumb (more on that later), and yes, the audio is up and down a bit (the GoPro audio lost its mind). But now that you have those distractions out of the way…a couple of years ago, when…
The Vega Surfski by Kai Bartlett is at home in the ocean but is fast in the flat water too. Barry’s favorite ocean activity is down winding and my Ares OC1 and Vega Surfski are excellent for chasing and riding open ocean swells. In this video, Barry shares one of our favorite down wind runs…
We’ve been asked a number of times which craft we prefer, the outrigger canoe or the surfski? Join Barry and Rod for a chat over a Flaming Amy’s burrito as they discuss which is “better”. Disclaimer: This video was originally published December 28, 2020. If you ask us this question today, the answer might be…
Greg shares his top 3 tips for paddlers who are developing their downwind skills. Greg has paddled all over the world (the Gorge, South Africa, Tarifa and Hawaii, to name a few) and he offered these three tips: To listen to the Peak Performance Paddle podcast mentioned here, go to https://tcsurfski.com/2019/10/31/ppp-episode-33-starting-a-surfski-journey-in-middle-age-with-greg-greene/. It’s a worthwhile listen…
In 2017, Hurricane Maria pushed winds and swell onto the North Carolina coastline, and it was the perfect opportunity to get the Puakea Designs Ehukai and Kehe Kai outrigger canoes on some bumps! It turned out to be one of those magical days when ocean just gave us gift after gift. If you’ve been downwinding,…
In the summer, the Cape Fear region of North Carolina gets prevailing south southwest winds that make these waters the perfect downwind playground! Check out this summertime run in the Puakea Designs Ehukai OC1 (one man — or lady, of course — outrigger canoe). The Ehukai is a boat that was made to downwind, and…
If you downwind in your OC1, you know one of your most important pieces of gear is your leash. Unleashed canoes in windy conditions are some of the fastest creatures on earth (at least, if sure does seem like it if you’re trying to swim and catch up with it), so it is ESSENTIAL you…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaholBUyEu0&t=24s It seems like sooner or later everybody who paddles an outrigger canoe runs into the problem of finding the best way to carry hydration on those long, hot paddle sessions.Barry rigged up this hydration setup after seeing a number of Tahitian outrigger canoe paddlers using a similar setup.
We recently had a chance to tour (and paddle!) the Puakea Designs Unlimited outrigger canoe. Take a walk-through of the canoe’s features and see why some people are describing this OC6 with words like “ballistic missile” and “rocket cow” (goes like a rocket, kinda looks like a super fast carbon fiber cow?). This canoe is…
For the past six months, exercise physiologist and OC1 paddler Barry Blackburn has been using and testing our Online Training Platform. Barry shared with us five things he has learned using the training system. Welcome, fellow paddler! Here are five key lessons I have learned using The Paddle Channel’s highly individualized training program. 1. Take…
