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C-TEC is BIC SUPs exclusive brushed UD Carbon or Carbon-lnnegra construction. This unique lay-up reduces weight and improves
durability while protecting the board from overheating in the sun. The Tracer series features updated shapes for added stability while maintaining excellent glide. Tracer WORLD SERIES shapes are new race-specific versions of the Tracer - narrower, lighter weight and with a shape focused on speed while maintaining stability in a wide range of conditions. Available in 12'6 and 14' lengths and widths 24.5" / 26.5" / 27"
Reinforced Standing Area & High Density Inserts Clear Epoxy Resin with UV filter
C-TEC Tracer: 100% Brushed Carbon-lnnegra Construction for improved durability C-TEC Tracer W S : 100% Brushed UD Carbon Construction for lightweight and performance
www.bicsport.com
SIC Sport North America
508-291-2770 - Fax: 508-291-2772- E-Mail: info@bicsportna.com
I
28" / 29".
SUP Surfing is all about Versatility - you want a board that makes small waves fun and still performs when it pumps. You want a board stable enough to make paddling enjoyable, but not so stable that you lose the performance you were after in the first place. The new Wave Pro series was developed with this in mind. With six sizes to choose from we're confident you'll find your perfect board right here, somewhere between 7'4 and 9'4.
100% brushed Carbon-I nnegra construction
www.bicsport.com
BIC Sport North America
508-291-2770 - Fax: 508-291-2772 - E-Mail: info@bicsportna.com
(BJC/Sport
BCTE----,
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STAND APART CHECK OUT THE 2016 BOARDS & ACCESSORIES AT BOTEBOARD.COM
uer ne Sa s: Sha Photo
A Board for Every Lifestyle
Whether you surf, practice yoga, fish, cruise or race we’ve got you covered. Visit us at yoloboard.com to learn more about our exciting 2016 lineup.
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2017 IJUEST ALANA
ALL-AROUND WAVE 9'6"
ALL-AROUND WIDEBODY 9'8"
ALL-AROUND CLASSIC 10'8"
ALL-AROUND/YOGA 11'2" Soft Top
TOURING 12'0"
Power through your paddle session with the all new Quest Alana Series. Built from the DNA of the most sought-after Naish shapes and customized for women, each board in the line delivers the stability needed for beginners to build their skills and progress quickly. The EPS closed cell core, glass matrix deck and bottom and thermoplastic shell make these boards both lightweight and durable, while refined shaping ensures lasting performance you'll never outgrow.
Expect more from your SUP. Discover the Naish difference.
Strength doesn’t come from what you CAN do.
Strength comes from overcoming the things you thought you couldn’t....
April Zilg Team Rider
April Zilg Dana Point, CA 12’6 Apex 4R
@hobiestanduppaddleboards #hobiesup #haveahobieday
H O B I E .CO M
Photo: Taylor Rambo
Alex Higginson Traversing the shallows in South Lake Tahoe, Ca.
RIVIERA ORIGINAL The ultimate All-Around SUP, the Riviera Original is great for touring waterways and enjoying in the surf. It is a
very stable cruiser perfect for ďŹ rst time paddlers with a durable construction and performance shape for higher
Learn more at: RivieraPaddlesurf.com
levels of paddling enjoyment. The shape has a slightly pulled in nose and pinched rails enabling better performance. To cut material waste all Riviera Original start their life as an Eco Molded Blank creating zero EPS foam waste.
PERFORMANCE. VERSATILITY. DURABILITY. 10’6” x 32” & 11’6” x 33”
AVAILABLE IN YOUR FAVORITE COLOR
CRAFTED WITH QUALITY & PERFORMANCE IN MIND. @rivierapaddlesurf /rivierapaddlesurf rivierapaddlesurf.com
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opening
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
You may have heard “from sea to shining sea” sung in America the Beautiful. But taking it beyond the song, and beyond America, water holds no boundaries. The same can be said of the enthusiasm of a 14-year-old. Regardless of where we come from it doesn’t matter. We are all united by water, comprised of water. Lexi Alston and her teammate Frenchman Martin Letourneur, in a pas de deux on French waters. Get beyond your boundaries from sea to shining sea, rivers or lakes with the enthusiasm of youth. PHOTO: ROMAIN FROGE
publisher
REID INOUYE editor
BEN MARCUS managing editor
LUC Y LUCILLE copy editor
S TONE PARKER art director
DAR A FOWLER contributing writers
MA SON THORPE PAIGE TURNER health & fitness advisors
SCOT T ES TR ADA ANNA LEVESQUE C A SI RYNKOWSKI photographers
PAUL ENSYDE ERIC HAK A ROMAIN FROGE PIERRE BOUR A S MIKE MUIR PETER SPAIN SIMON CROW THER KEVIN PRITCHARD JEFFRE Y FORTUNA ERIC NORDSKOG JIMMIE HEP FISH BOWL DIARIES DYL AN SMITH MAT T NEL SON Printed in Hong Kong ISSN 2372-2282
SAMATA MAG PO BOX 61525 HONOLULU HI 9 6839 © 2016
facebook.com/SamataSUPMag @Samata_Magazine pinterest.com/samatamag/ instagram.com/samatamag
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editorsnote
Whether you think you have the time or not, you’re right. Are you the woman who is working an 8 to 10-hour day, managing children, feeling perpetually exhausted, and having difficulty fully engaging with others in a genuine and connected way? Are you left feeling guilty and dissatisfied? Do you sleep poorly, making no time to exercise or connect with nature and seldom eat healthy meals because you’re always grabbing something on the fly? This experience is not uncommon. Look at how society encourages us to work harder and longer — throw into the mix the convenience of “fast food” with no nutritional value and is it any wonder there is burn out? Sadder still, we are raising children to follow in our footsteps with their activities linked to electronics and signed up for every activity under the sun. Do we truly know how to unplug? As humans, we need occasional breaks for renewal. We need to feel the sun or rain on our face, the feeling of water in an ocean or a lake. We need to feel the solitude of sitting outside with our bare feet touching the ground or the time to paddle that body of water you always intend to paddle. It is not the length of renewal that is important but rather the quality. Make it possible to start a ritual that allows you to disengage from it all and change channels. If you start small, the discovery will build acute awareness when you need to make time to decompress. When you manage your energy in a positive fashion life becomes copacetic. Cultivate positive energy by learning to change the stories you tell yourself about the events in your life. Teach your children this. Get on the water. Paddle. Play with Mother Nature and see what she has to teach you. Be sure to listen and feel with your senses. — LUCY
PHOTO: PAUL ENSYDE
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WE NEED OCCASIONAL BREAKS FOR RENEWAL. WE NEED TO FEEL THE SUN OR RAIN ON OUR FACE, THE FEELING OF WATER IN AN OCEAN OR A LAKE.
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contents
V3N3 ON THIS PAGE The Hidden Lagoons in the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. Unless you have the GPS references of this place it is pretty much impossible to find. We drove for an hour through the harshest desert you can imagine. In the far distance are the majestic Andes that border Bolivia. All of a sudden, these tiny crystal clear salt lakes pop up. For my daughter Lou and I they were the ultimate SUP yoga platforms. PHOTO Š PIERRE BOURAS
22 PUBLISHER’S NOTE 30 GOOD FORM • Casi Rynkowski on the Figure Eight Follow Through
32 GOOD HE ALTH • Scott Estrada Says Go with your GUT • Anna Levesque on the Science of Life
38 DIY • Five Minute Ding Repair
40 GOOD BIZ • Coola Suncare is Eco-Cool
features 50 A DOG AND HER GIRL
Marley & Breeze Find Their Lakeshore
56 BUT TERFLY EFFEC T Be The Change
62 DISCOVERING CHILE An E xploration
68 THE POWER OF A FINISH
Kerstin Ouellet, Crossing Molokai2Oahu
78 A GIRL ME A SURING UP
IN A WOMEN’S WORLD Hobie’s Lexi Alston
ON THE COVER
Hobie’s Lexi Alston focused on a practice run, navigating her raceboard through the surf. PHOTO: MIKE MUIR
HEALTHY SUNSCREENS PEOPLE LOVE TO WEAR! Our Plant Protection• rich formulas allow us to achieve high levels of protection with fewer potentially irritating actives. Additionally, all our products are sourced with a Farm to Face" philosophy, making them better for your skin and better for the environment. Look tor lhese seals o C O O L k p,od ts n s 1ng that they are made w,tl1 7mo ce,tified organic ingredients
LocaledIn sunny & Cool sanDiego, CA I (888) 682 6652 lo@cooasmcare.com I wi•r.v.coolasuncare.com
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goodform S TRENG TH
Swing Into Control With a
FIGURE EIGHT FOLLOW THROUGH BY C ASI RYNKOWSKI
THE KETTLEBELL FIGURE 8 with a follow-through is hands down, my favorite KB exercise for cross training. It combines range of motion, core stabilization, hip hinging power, and feet connectivity, all of which are important components to paddling performance. Not only does it develop power, strength and speed but it give your cardiovascular system the smack down it needs to build endurance for racing and paddling long distance. The movement of this exercise is about acceleration and declaration of a moving object, while you generate power with hips and stabilize with your core. Your arms are along for the ride for a good portion of the Figure 8 movement. This is the very opposite of what it looks like in the below pictures. In fact, if you are not familiar with any of any KB swing, it may look like you are using your arms to move the bell, when in fact it’s a hip snap that generates power to move the bell. It’s your poster chain - quads, glutes and hams that are driving the movement.
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You’re still using your arms, shoulders and grip strength to control where the bell goes just not lift it. Your feet play key roles as well as they stay rooted to the ground for connectivity and that allows you to call into play core stabilizer muscles. This is truly one big bad core building exercise. Sounds complicated huh? Don’t be overwhelmed. The movement is very intuitive once you get the passing sequence down so it’s important to start with light weight — 10 - 15 lbs. KB’s. In fact, the Figure 8 with a follow through makes a great dynamic warm up when using lighter weights and you should do so until it looks fluid. Switching to a heavier weight is important as lighter weights allow you to lift them with your arms, the very thing you don’t want to do. Heavier weight, forces you to use your hips for power, and learning to use your posterior chain are important for the swing.
step 1
Stand with your feet a bit wider then hip width; place the KB in your left hand. step 2
With the KB in your left hand, begin swinging it through your legs — front to back, while hinging at your hips to pass it to your right hand behind you. Remember, just like the two-handed swing, you are hinging at your hips not squatting to pass it through to the other side. step 3
Once you grasp the handle with your right hand, snap your hips forward to power the KB around your legs, up across your body to your chest or shoulder area and stopping the momentum with your left hand. step 4
Now reverse the pattern and swing your right hand through your legs front to back, while hinging at your hips to pass it to your left hand behind you. step 5
Once you grasp the handle with your left hand, snap your hips forward to power the KB around your legs, up across your body to your chest or shoulder area and stopping the momentum with your right hand.
Since 2007, Casi Rynkowski has been living her dream training athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and those who want to live a healthier lifestyle. Her passion for fitness outdoors exploded when she launched her outdoor fitness business, exposing clients to the idea of fitness outside the gym box. Surfing, standup paddling, climbing, ice climbing, winter mountaineering, hiking and riding became her new training ground in New England. Her clients not only found new ways to cross train outdoors, they found new passions for life. Casi is an ambassador for BIC Stand Up Paddleboards, Werner Team Paddler, Virus Action Sports Gear, MTI Adventurewear, Reflekt Polarized, Adventure Medical kits and Seattle Sports Co. casiperformancetraining.com
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goodhealth DIGES TION
GET CULTURED BY SCOTT ES TRADA
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GOOD BUGS really — and a few bad too ... bacteria that is! You know the biome that resides in our gut as control central of the body’s immune generator. Wrap your brain around the fact that only about 10% of ALL cells in the body are “human” cells — the other +/- 90% are micro bacteria living in their host body ... US! About four pounds of our body weight is `made up of billions of living organisms that hold specific functional duties to keep our whole system in balance. Ideally that balance is about 70-80% good armies and 20-30% bad guys like yeast, molds and fungus. When these antagonistic bacteria strains multiply in large numbers and the balance is upset our immunity drops, inflammation increases, stress hormones rise, digestion slows, brain fog comes in — and the list goes on. Never before has it been so valuable to build a strong “no host environment” within our entire body to become non-welcoming for rogue microbes to settle in and multiply. Building the good armies and nourishing the inner environment could be the most biologically responsible practice a human being could engage in. The first step in building the internal fortress of healthy bacteria is reducing what the bad bacteria feed and breed on: sugars in all forms. Moderation of starchy food intake is key when fostering a healthy bacteria balance for longevity, immunity, digestion and
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sound mental health. Cutting your sugar dependency might be the best thing you could do on several levels. Here are my Top Tips for nurturing a strong gut. 1. Eat cultured/fermented foods.
Living foods are magic. Eat and drink regularly. Freshly cultured foods hold high levels of probiotics and enzymes that literally fertilize the inner soil for good armies to colonize and build. • Sauerkraut • Fermented veggies/Kim Chee • Kefir (water/dairy/coconut water) • Teas/Kombucha • Kvass (fermented raw veggie juices) • Miso • Pickles • Raw milk/cheeses/butter • Tempeh • Yogurt coconut or dairy (plain, grass-fed, organic) 2. Drink Bone Broth.
The right combo of amino acids proline and glycine to help “seal’ a leaky gut and collagen to rebuild healthy cells. Always wise to seek grass-fed sources to lower risk of toxins or anti-nutrients.
For more info on this and other health/ nutrition topics email Scott Estrada at scott@risesup.com. Find him on Instagram @scott_estrada
3. Eat Sprouted Seeds.
Chia, hemp and buckwheat are great seeds to sprout to boost fiber, minerals, protein, and healthy fatty acids that all support microbiome balance. 4. Eat coconut foods.
Coconut is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. The healthy MCT oils are easy to break down, convert to energy and aid in digestion. Anti-microbial in nature and fiber rich. 5. Reduce stress.
Chill Out. Get into play mode: outside. Off the technology bubble and engaged in something you love to do. This is simple since you’re already drawn to water and paddling is a passion we share. Learn to breathe well, life will reward you. Don’t underestimate the power of a strong, balanced gut when it comes to your foundational health. Stay on top of maintaining a healthy bacteria balance from head to toe and your digestion will be sound, immunity strong as iron, performance/recovery will soar and mental sharpness your best new friend. Suffering is optional my friends!
Simple Coconut Milk Kefir • Blend the water of 2 young coconuts with the coconut flesh into simple milk. Or find an organic coconut milk you like from the store. 1 quart liquid. • Add 1 packet of kefir starter culture and stir gently until the culture is fully dissolved. • Cover the jar with a coffee filter or cloth, secured by a rubber band. • Culture at 72°-74°F for 12-18 hours. TIP: Here’s how to tell your kefir has finished culturing — Coconut milk will have a sour, less sweet aroma (but will not thicken)
Cover the finished kefir with a tight lid. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks. Save ¼ cup to re-culture. Enjoy this straight out of the glass or added as a smoothie base!
About four pounds of our body weight is `made up of billions of living organisms that hold specific functional duties to keep our whole system in balance.
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goodhealth DIGES TION
SCIENCE OF LIFE: AYURVEDA Five Steps to Better Digestion BY ANNE LEVESQUE
THERE WAS A TIME when I believed that as long as I was active I could eat anything I wanted and stay healthy. I told myself this even though my energy would tank in the afternoons, I often experienced gas and bloating after meals and I carried extra pounds that hindered my effectiveness and my energy levels for paddling. Then I found Ayurveda, a 5000-year-old health and wellness sister science to yoga, and my body, mind and life were so transformed that I decided to enroll in a year-long program to become an Ayurveda Wellness Counselor — just graduated August 2016! You can see the difference between my body before I started following Ayurveda (photo wearing orange shirt) and my body now (photo below Slipin Surfskin). I definitely feel stronger, have way more energy (all day), digest meals more effectively and have dropped weight that wasn’t serving me. My mental state is much clearer and I feel more content. In fact, I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in, and more confident than ever at the age of 42. Ayurveda translates as ‘science of life.’ Ayur (life) + Veda (science/ knowledge). It’s a mind-body health and wellness system based on the elements, rhythms and qualities of nature. As human beings, we are part of nature and carry the five elements of space (hollowness in the mouth, lungs), air (breath), fire (cellular intelligence, gastric juices), water (plasma) and earth (bones) within our bodies.
BEFORE
AFTER
Each element has certain qualities: Space is clear and subtle, air is light and dry, fire is hot and sharp, water is heavy and cool (in general) and earth is static and dense. Ayurveda organizes these elements in the human body into three doshas or constitutional types. Vata (Space and Air), Pitta (Fire and Water) and Kapha (Water and Earth). Each of us is born with a particular constitution that does not change over the course of our lives, but it can become disturbed or imbalanced due to poor food and lifestyle choices. According to Ayurveda, we are healthy when our dosha is in balance, and sickness and disease are caused when our dosha is out of balance (usually in excess). One way to bring dosha into balance (even if you don’t know what your dosha is yet) is to care for your digestive fire, known as agni. When you’re digestive fire is healthy, strong and steady it helps to process and eliminate excess dosha bringing our constitution back into balance. Healthy digestion also helps the tissues of the body receive the nutrients that they need for health and vitality. My teacher says we are not what we eat, we are what we digest. In this post I’m sharing with you five Ayurvedic tips that help to optimize digestion and boost energy so that you have more vitality out on the water. Drink Room Temperature or Warm Water
One of the best things you can do to help your digestive fire stay strong and steady is to drink a cup of warm water with lemon first thing in the morning. This kindles your digestion and one of my teachers calls it a yoga posture for your urinary tract. Avoid ice in your water/drinks, especially around mealtimes. Drinking ice water is like pouring water on a campfire. Heat is responsible for transformation so cold drinks hinder your digestive fire’s ability to break down food into nutrients that your body can use. Instead of drinking cold liquids or water with meals, instead sip on warm water. Don’t drink a lot of liquid 20 minutes to a half hour prior to eating and wait 20 minutes to a half hour after eating so that you don’t dilute the gastric juices in your stomach. A small amount of warm liquid — preferably water or herbal tea - is best for optimizing digestion. Chew your Food Really, Really, Really Well
The stomach and small intestines are the organs that come to mind for most people when they think about digestion, but
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One of the best things you can do to help your digestive fire ... drink a cup of warm water with lemon first thing in the morning.
digestion starts in the mouth. Our saliva contains enzymes that break down starches and some that start the process of breaking down fats and proteins. Saliva is released into the mouth when we chew and the more we chew our food the more easily it breaks down. The more our food is broken down in our mouths, the less work the digestive tract has to do to transform, assimilate and absorb nutrients from that food. When we swallow big pieces of food that haven’t been chewed it’s like throwing a huge log onto the campfire - it takes a lot more time and energy to burn a big log than it does a smaller piece of wood, and the big log may even cause the fire to diminish. According to Ayurveda we don’t want our food to stay in our digestive tract longer than it needs to because that undigested metabolic waste is toxic to our system. Chewing slowly and mindfully also gives us a different relationship to our food. Taking the time to taste and be grateful for the food we eat creates a more joyful experience at mealtime. Only Eat When You’re Hungry
Our bodies come equipped with a natural intelligence that lets us know what is going on at any given moment. When we tune into and listen to that intelligence we work with our bodies to create a state of health and balance. When we tune out and go against our body’s wisdom we create imbalance that can lead to illness. Listen to your body. Ask yourself: “Am I really hungry or am I eating because I feel bored, excited, sad or am seeking comfort?” This isn’t an easy task because when we ask this question we come face-to-face with our beliefs and feelings about food, and our attachments to food. It takes courage. Get to know what being hungry or having a good appetite feels like. Wait three hours
between meals or snacks. When we don’t give the digestive tract time to process the food from our previous meal before ingesting more food the system gets clogged, overworked and we feel heavy and lethargic. It’s important to eat only when we’re truly hungry for optimum digestion and optimum energy. Take a Walk after Meals
I know we love to paddle, but taking a short walk after a meal and before we get on our SUP stimulates digestion. Walking helps food move through the digestive system more quickly and regulates blood sugar. Take 15 minutes to sit and relax after a meal and then go for a walk. The walk should be active, but not too vigorous. Think ‘rest and digest’ instead of vigorous exercise. It doesn’t have to be a long walk — a couple hundred steps is better than no walking at all. If you can’t get outside because you work in an office then take a short walk around your building at work. Don’t Eat Past 7:30 p.m. or Less Than 2 Hours Before Bedtime
The word breakfast means to break a fast. Specifically, breaking the fast between dinner the day before and the first meal of the new day. If you eat at 10 p.m. and then eat breakfast between 7 - 8 a.m. (or earlier) that isn’t very much of a fast. Giving the digestive system time to process the previous meal before introducing new food is an important aspect of health and vitality according to Ayurveda. Allowing 12 hours between dinner and breakfast helps give the digestive tract a rest. Plus, allowing two hours between your last meal and bedtime will help you sleep better. If these changes seem challenging to you then take a few and try them 60% of the time for a few weeks. Once you feel the benefits it will be easier to incorporate them into your life. Happy digesting!
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Whale watching off Thousand Peaks, Maui PHOTO: Franck Berthuot
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diy DING REPAIR
SOL AREZ DING REPAIR BY PAUL ENS YDE
IF YOU NEED A QUICK FIX for a minor ding or shattered area on your board, it’s not hard to do it yourself with a good sunlight-cured UV resin known as Solarez. This affordable approach is easier than you think, though you might need to practice the application several times before you understand the concept of quick-drying repair. Once you figure it out, however, the process is simple.
1
Using the Solarez Ding Repair kit that comes with everything you will need. • ZEROVOC styrofoam-safe UV-Cure fiberfil putty • WAHOO 2-Part Epoxy Resin • Solarez FLEX wetsuit and deck pad repair • Fiberglass cloth and rope • Stainless steel scissors • Applicators • Sandpaper • Eco-friendly clean up solvent • Masking tape and razor blade • Everything you need for a professional repair. Work only in a shaded area and before starting dry and clean surfaces. Now you are ready to begin, (1) use the sandpaper square provided and move in a circular motion to roughen the surface of the damaged area. Do not extend sanding beyond the damaged area. (2) Using the masking tape, tape around the area you will be working on. Next cover the repair site with a piece of plastic or mylar tape and flatten the bottom and the sides, leaving the top open. (3) Apply enough of the ZEROVOC styrofoam-safe UV-Cure fiberfil putty into the mylar bubble (4) using the flat stick to smooth out bubbles and spread the resin. (5) You can then press down the opposite side of the tape so it maintains that smooth surface and it will keep your fingers clean and give the repair a gloss finish when done. Expose to direct sunlight for approximately five minutes. Carefully remove the plastic or mylar tape by peeling it away. If you need to sand the area, use 120 grit sandpaper, followed by 300 grit wet-sandpaper. (6) You can also use rubbing compound and car wax polish if you are looking for a sheen finish. You are now ready to paddle again. . 38 Samata I V3N3
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goodbiz
COOL A SUNCARE Be Eco-Cool, Not RED! BY LUCY LUCILLE
THREE YEARS AGO, when Samata came onto the magazine market as the only magazine for women in the lifestyle of standup paddling, we wanted to be sure to include health, nutrition, and skin care. One of the first articles I wrote was Love the Sun, Protect Your Skin. It spoke on choosing the right sunscreen - which may seem straightforward, but can be more complicated than you think. After moving forward with my research, product testing and investigating ratings according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), COOLA found its way onto our page and into our hearts. It seems only natural to hold up COOLA as one of our business features as they have been part of our journey from the beginning. Here is the background behind one of the fastest-growing and best suncare products out there. Eco-entrepreneur and founder of COOLA, Chris Birchby resides in the heart of sunny and cool San Diego. As a child and the oldest of four boys, Chris spent a lot of time at the beach, teaching surfing and windsurfing lessons over the summers. His family sunscreen drawer was full of SPF 4’s and 8’s, and
LEFT: Eco-entrepreneur and founder of COOLA, Chris Birchby resides in the heart of sunny and cool San Diego.
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It seems only natural to hold up COOL A as one of our business features as they have been part of our journey from the beginning.
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sunburn was a common occurrence. It was not until 2002 when both of Chris’ parents had melanoma scares that Chris started investigating proper sun protection and was inspired to create COOLA. He assembled an elite team of industry professionals, including several top FDA experts on sun protection. Together they created a broad collection of natural sunscreens: “We consider COOLA the most environmentallyfriendly sunscreen available,” Birchby said. As my skin has gotten older, I’ve become more concerned as well with what I’m putting on my skin. When my skin reacts to a product, I can usually guarantee that the reason lies in what is the chemical makeup of the product. I have always been pleased with COOLA’s “Farm to Face” belief. Similar to the Farm to Table food movement, COOLA believes in sourcing and formulating their products with up to 70%+ certified organic ingredients that promote local communities and jobs, cut down on the costs of long distance shipping, and reduce usage of pesticides which contaminate waterways, environment, and bodies. COOLA uses their platform to encourage and sustain local and organic farming. Their Plant Protection® formula allows them to use fewer actives than competitors with the same high SPF values. Fewer actives diminish the risk of irritation and increase the premium feel of their products. Birchby says, “The majority of our products are 70%+ organic, but all are formulated with Plant Protection® to boost our sunscreens naturally. Also, our Farm to Face®-sourced formulas mean significantly less pesticide use and are markedly better for the environment and your skin. COOLA contains scores of antioxidants, vitamins, and other beneficial ingredients, in addition to being high-performance sunscreens. We’re passionate about making healthy sunscreens people love to wear!” Not only are they Farm to Face®, but COOLA is also crueltyfree. They love animals! In fact, we’ve been told there are almost as many dogs as employees in the COOLA office.
“The majority of our products are 70%+ organic, but all are formulated with Plant Protection ® to boost our sunscreens naturally...”
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COOLA also makes it easy to travel with their TSA approved carry-on sizes. I’ve never had to worry about leaving it behind or trying to find a container to fill. You only have to look for their TSA logo with the plane to know you won’t have to be concerned with anything but catching that flight. With such standards, it isn’t surprising that people are taking notice. Over the last year, COOLA has won several buzzworthy awards: CEW Eco Beauty Award for their entire COOLA Collection, New Beauty Choice Award for their Makeup Setting Spray, SHAPE Sun Award for their Makeup Setting Spray, and most recently, the ISPA Innovate Award for their newly-launched Beauty Collection. For 2017, COOLA is looking to expand their COOLA Beauty Collection with more skin-loving formulas, colors, and products. They are also currently working on developing a collection of products to help their audience achieve that healthy glow without harmful UV rays. Stay tuned! JOIN the Community: coolasuncare.com #COOLASUNCARE
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Photos by Scott Martin
BRITTANY PARKER Skoop-fueled River Surfer
Get your super on with Healthy Skoop plant-based protein and superfood blends. Tag your best SUP pics with @HealthySkoop for a chance to win a free tub!
healthyskoop.com
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CAMP SAMATA: REJUVENTATION May 26-30, 2017 Oahu Hawaii CAMP SAMATA: ADVENTURE July 1-6, 2017 Oahu Hawaii
Samatamag.com Info@Samatamag.com
CAMP SAMATA: SHANTISI YOGA September 1-5, 2017 Oahu Hawaii
P H O T O M AT T N E L S O N
PHOTO: BREE ZE TURNER
Marley Finding & Their Breeze Lakeshore P H O T O P E T E R S PA I N
Rudyard Kipling said it best in one of his stories, “When the Man waked up he said, ‘What is Wild Dog doing here?’ And the Woman said, ‘His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.”
BY PA IGE T URNER
PHOTO: DY L AN SMITH
Breeze Turner can say that description of her dog Marley fits to a “t.” Marley is a best friend for always and always and always. Breeze grew up on an island called Anguilla in the British West Indies. Where most of her time was well-spent in and on the water, it’s no wonder that standup paddleboarding is a place where she feels at home. Her parents were hoteliers and owned a distribution business that sold Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen and other tourist vacation necessities. Even though she left to attend boarding school in North Carolina, college in New Mexico and lived briefly in Las Vegas and then upstate New York before settling in Reno where she has been for the last six and a half years, getting on the water is something she still enjoys doing. Breeze is beautiful with her sunny smile, and while she posts images of her adventures on her social media pages, it is her best friend Marley who steals the show and has become the media sensation.
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Marley will be nine in November and was born in New Mexico where Breeze went to college. Marley has been her companion since she was five weeks old and although Breeze admits that she probably had no business adopting a puppy, she is glad she did. Marley is intuitive, sweet, spunky, hilarious, and so so smart. They are a perfect team. Before the two started paddling, Marley used to float the Truckee River with Breeze around Reno, so she already was pretty comfortable with the idea of balancing on a floating object. The duo started stand-up paddling Memorial Day of 2014. Breeze had paddled out before she bought her first board but only a few times and without Marley on board: “She hopped on my first board the first time I put it in the water before I was on it and before I could even prompt her. She was made to be a SUP dog,” Breeze said.
P H O T O : P E T E R S PA I N
Marley seems to have gained growing popularity on your social media pages. How do you deal with Marley getting all the limelight? I have been invited to things because of Marley. I’m essentially Marley’s plus one at this point, and I’m ok with it. If she could just start paying for her pet insurance and buying her food, that would be great. Really, though, I’m just happy that people can tell how amazing she is. She deserves it. Where is Marley’s favorite place to paddle? The shallower, the better for Marley because she loves looking at crawdads and fish beneath the surface. Any clear water with lots of stuff to look at is her ideal. Even better is when we paddle somewhere where there are crawdads beneath chipmunks and us and squirrels on the shore. It’s a constant struggle for her deciding which creatures to focus on. It’s a “ruff” life she has. Probably the most memorable experience paddling was in La Jolla where we had a sea lion come up to us to check Marley out. I just about died-it was awesome. Marley and the sea lion reacted about the same way towards each other, like “What...are...you?”
... being on the water and our board is our
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Where is your favorite place to paddle? The east shore of Lake Tahoe is incredible. It’s pretty hard to beat the crystal clear water that I am lucky enough to have less than an hour away from where I live. My parents spend their summers in southwestern Colorado, and I’ve also really loved exploring some of the alpine lakes near their house. Any suggestions you can give to others who want to stand-up paddle with their dog? First off, don’t force it. If your dog isn’t into it, don’t push him/her. Each dog is different, and some might just not be interested or comfortable in that situation. Second, if your dog does seem interested, buy an extra traction pad to stick to the nose of your board. This will protect your investment and help your pup stand in front of you without sliding around. Favorite board to paddle? Why? My favorite board is Lakeshore’s Wet Woody. Not only is it gorgeous, but at 12’ 6” it is the perfect size for Marley and me. It is designed for flat water, and I couldn’t ask for a board better suited for Lake Tahoe and what we do. Tell us what getting on the water does for you and Marley. No matter what I have on my plate, I can feel a weight lifted after even just a few minutes of paddling. That’s an outlet I never had before I found this hobby/sport. It’s brought so many great people into my life and introduced me to a community that has welcomed me with open arms. I am lucky to have found paddle boarding!
PHOTO: BREE ZE TURNER
P H O T O : P E T E R S PA I N
For Marley, I can’t say the experience is much different. She is in her element when she’s on that board, whether hanging ten on the nose looking for crawdads or sitting between my feet watching the scenery. When she sees me put our board on my car she instantly gets excited; I think that in itself is a pretty solid sign. I think paddling has bonded us even more than we were before. It’s quite literally a balancing act, and we have learned to work together. I’ve learned even more
about her body language, and I know when she’s uncomfortable or tired or if she’s thinking about jumping off. She listens to me when I tell her to wait, and for the most part we paddle without too many mishaps. All in all, being on the water and our board is our happy place, and the benefits paddling has brought us have been unmeasurable. If you want to follow Marley and Breeze’s adventures you can find them on IG BreezeTurner. V3N3
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Butt erfly WHAT BEGAN ON MAUI IS NOW BEING FELT WORLDWIDE B Y TAT I A N A H O WA R D
Effect
BE THE CHANGE
I LOVE THE OCEAN AND TO BE OUT ON THE WATER in all kinds of conditions from windy to wavy, or riding the outer swells along coastlines with a stand-up paddle board. I love it all: windsurf, kitesurf, surf, SUP, and tow in surfing. Being in the water refreshes me daily, rinses away worries and stress, and makes me fall in love with life over and over again. Being on the ocean allows me to breathe, be in the moment, take in nature, think about my blessings, and it seems to always inspire me with new ideas! PHOTO: PETER SPAIN
PHOTO: KEVIN PRITCHARD
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PHOTO PETER SPAIN
PHOTO: JIMMIE HEP
The Butterfly Effect has become an international water woman movement. The goal is to inspire and empower women through water sports and to give back to local charities. It is now known as the Event of Aloha because we want to spread “aloha” (love and kindness) through a non-competitive, uplifting, inspiring event. We want to uplift the participants as well as all the sponsors and supporters, and even the communities we visit. Flowers, leis and Hula instruction always come with it!
PHOTO: SIMON CROWTHER
inspire and empower THE GOAL IS TO
WOMEN THROUGH WATER SPORTS AND TO GIVE BACK TO LOCAL CHARITIES
The Butterfly Effect began in 2007 on Maui, Hawaii. I was competing at a professional level and traveling the world doing different contests. I dreamed that it would be great to have an event happen without the contest pressure but with a challenge. The first event was mainly windsurfing and kitesurfing, since stand-up paddling wasn’t so popular at that time, and it was a non-competitive, downwind course of five miles. So, we started at one beach and rode the waves and the wind down the coastline landing at another lovely beach. This adventure and challenge of going five miles down the coast was exhilarating and fun to do as a group, encouraging one another to improve our skills as we sailed. The event repeated the second year, and expanded to Brazil, and then it kept growing and growing. Now the event has been in 18 countries and 45 events with thousands of participants! Each event sets a different course depending on what each location offers. Sometimes it is SUP, other times it is windsurf and kitesurf, and even surf sessions. At the time The Butterfly Effect was created, stand up paddling was just coming out as an actual sport. I remembering being out surfing and seeing Laird and his friends experiment with the sport at Ho’okipa. It was a rare sight and we didn’t see it too often and especially not a girl doing it, so when Maria Souza showed up for the first Butterfly Effect with a huge tandem board and paddle we didn’t know what to think. We thought if it went downwind, then it was perfect! We all just wanted to explore the coastline together in whatever paddle or sail vessel the women had available to them. It was an exciting time for stand up paddling and for women in water sports. More women were getting into kitesurfing at the time, windsurfing was growing, there were some OC1 paddlers attending the event, and stand up paddling grew popular quickly. Since then, everything grew together, more women are involved in watersports than ever, stand-up paddling has conquered the water sport world, and The Butterfly Effect grew to all corners of the world because of this successful combo. Now there are all kinds of water
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PHOTO: PETER SPAIN
PHOTO: FISH BOWL DIARIES
sport events for women and communities because stand-up paddling is accessible for so many people no matter where you live or level of water sport experience. I feel blessed to have been able to start The Butterfly Effect when the stand-up paddling started to grow. I can see results The Butterfly Effect has had on women worldwide from learning to stand-up paddle or trying the other water sports. It is also exciting to see where and what each “Butterfly” participant takes away from it and excited to see that they are inspired to follow their dreams and passions in whatever form they choose.
dreams and passions
THEY ARE INSPIRED TO FOLLOW THEIR
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This year we celebrate the 10th Annual Butterfly Effect Maui. We started it early this year with an island-wide fitness week. During this week women were able to work out and get in shape. Studios around the island came together and offered free classes for participants of the Butterfly Effect. We had other activities offered the week leading up to the event day like SUP introduction, waterfall adventures, dance classes, fresh juice tasting and evening get-togethers. The event took place on Saturday, April 16th, 2016. Women gathered under the palm trees at Paia Bay early in the morning for the three-mile non-competitive downwind paddle. We are striving for a “greener” event with less waste while promoting more local and organic companies. We had an exhibition area with organic sunscreens, locally designed bikini companies, made-onMaui power bars, and a hydration area with water, juice, and coffee provided by a local cafe.
PHOTO: FISH BOWL DIARIES
My Kumu (Hula teacher) lead out in a Hawaiian blessing bringing safety and protection to all involved. He took a moment for deep breathes to get everyone in the moment and give gratitude and respect for the ocean. I had fun teaching the Hula along with my Kumu playing his ukulele to our steps. Infusion Barre Maui led out in our warm up and yoga stretch, and we reminded everyone about the best paddle techniques and safety procedures to practice on the downwinder. When we were ready to launch, the waves were too big at Paia Bay so we had to pack up and move down the coast to a safer launching area without shore break waves. After the coast paddle participants arrived into Kanaha Beach Park where they found food, drinks, music, art, informational booths from local organizations, booths from sponsors with the latest gear and styles, windsurf lessons, music and dancing. This year we had more dancing than ever from Hula to other types of Polynesian dance to belly dance, capoeira, samba, and more! Working with and benefiting the Paia Youth and Cultural Center
this year was very special to me and they reminded me how The Butterfly Effect has influenced so many young girls to get involved with a sport and to inspire them to follow their passions and dreams. It is a truly rewarding passion project that started and I am forever grateful for the success and the inspiration it brings to people. It was an amazing day with smiles galore. Coming up next on September 17th, 2017, will be the Third Annual Lake Tahoe, California event. We will have a full day planned for our participants from SUP yoga, beach warm up, dance, windsurf introduction, and of course our annual non-competitive paddle from Kings Beach to the state line of Nevada and back. There will be a vendor village on the beach with local companies, food booths, music, and giveaways. We will also be raising funds and awareness for Boarding for Breast Cancer Foundation. Please be sure to join us in this worldwide movement and sign up online at www.betheeffect.com
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DISCOVERING
Chile AN E X PLOR AT ION OF T HE ATAC A M A DE SER T
BY C ARINE C AMBOULIVES
| PHOTOS PIERRE BOUR AS
AT H I G H A LT I T U D E S , T H E R E I S A W H O L E D I F F E R E N T AT M O S P H E R E F R O M T H E L O W E R A LT I T U D E L A G O O N S T H AT A R E WA R M I N A N D O U T O F T H E WAT E R . C A R I N E S AY S , “AT 15 , 0 0 0 F E E T O N O N E O F T H E ‘ L A G U N A S A LT I P L Á N I C A S ’ ( T H E H I G H L A N D S L A K E S) . A LT H O U G H T H I S I S I N T H E M I D D L E O F THE WINTER, WHERE THERE IS ICE ON THE SHORELINE AND S N O W C A P M O U N TA I N S , I T I S A D R E A M PA D D L E U N T I L T H E W I N D P I C K S U P, T H E N I T C A N B E S U R V I VA L .”
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T H E C A M B O U L I V E S FA M I LY WA L K T O T H E WAT E R SOME WHERE BY T HE BOLIV IAN FRON T IER .
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A LT H O U G H I T A P P E A R S C A R I N E I S WA L K I N G O N S N O W - I T S S A LT T H AT I S W H I T E A S S N O W. I T â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S N O T C O M F O R TA B L E , B U T O N C E I N T H E WAT E R T H E M A G I C O F T H E P L A C E TA K E S O V E R .
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Last year, together with Manu, our two daughters Lou (9) and Shadé (3), we had the opportunity to do a home exchange for seven months with a Chilean family. A rich experience for the whole family giving my daughters the chance to learn Spanish and for Manu and I to achieve the old dream of discovering Chile. After a few months spent in our new home in a coastal fishing village of Central Chile we took off to the high altitude lakes in the Cordillera of the Andes. Our destination was the picturesque adobe town of San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro appears like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. It is like driving on the moon. Approaching San Pedro, the landscape changed as we were going up the dangerous and winding road of La Cordillera de la Sal. Those Salt Mountains molded through time by the extreme climate of Atacama, the driest desert on Earth, look like natural sculptures with different types of stratifications and colorations. “Look at the sign!” cried Lou, pointing at the entrance of the Valle de la Muerte - the Chilean version of Death Valley. For two weeks we explored with our SUP this extraordinary scenery of salt flats, lagoons, and geysers between 7900’ and 16000’ altitude. Apart from a morning bloody nose, and a light headache, everyone was acclimating well. Drinking Coca tea helps. The endless Salar, filled with pink flamingos, offered numerous lagoons perfect for SUP-yoga. One day, I lost my balance and fell in the turquoise water. The density of salt was so high that my ears, nose and eyes started burning like hell! Once dry, my yoga pants stood up by themselves! It was almost winter and all the Lagunas Altiplanicas (high altitude lagoons) were partly frozen. I had to break the ice with my paddle to find a path. Lou was completely relaxed and made fun of me as I started to panic, screaming and crying: “I am gonna lose my fingers!” My llama’s wool gloves are not waterproof.
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Driving back each evening to town was an enchantment as the sun was setting down on the Volcanos and the Moon Valley. The light was changing each minute. The same half-blind wild fox stopped our car a few days in a row asking for food and water. To relax our sore muscles, we swam in the Puritama hot springs at 11,400 feet, sipping a Pisco Sour mixed with Rica-Rica, a medicinal herb endemic to the area, under an unpolluted sky.
LOU SHOWING MOM HOW IT’S DONE ON H E R T I N Y FAV O R I T E P O O L . T H AT O N E I S SHALLOW BUT SOME OTHERS NOT MUCH BIGGER ARE A THOUSAND FEE T DEEP!
Road book: Getting there : Daily flights with LAN Chile, from Santiago International Airport. www.lan.com Where to stay: Plenty of options from Youth Hostels to high-end resorts. We loved “Hostal Pueblo de Tierra,” small and affordable. www.pueblodetierra.cl/en/
Our favorite gourmet restaurants with amazing design, food and Pisco Sour. La Casona El Blanco La Estaka Adobe More info: www.chile.travel www.turismochile.travel
AF TER THE FIRS T R AIN OF THE WINTER, THE WHOLE L ANDSC APE GE TS COVERED I N T H AT Y E L L O W G R A S S , A S FA R A S Y O U C A N S E E . THE CONTR A S T WITH THE D A R K E R M O U N TA I N S A N D THE SNOW MAK ES FOR O U T S TA N D I N G S C E N E R Y. A S T R O N O M E R S H AV E N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; T Y E T FOUND TR ACE S OF WAT E R I N O U T E R S PA C E B U T T H I S I S H O W S TA N D - U P PA D D L I N G O N A N O T H E R PL ANE T WOULD LOOK .
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THE POWER Crossing Molokai2Oahu
K ER S T IN OUEL L E T, ONE WOM A N’S PA S S AG E B Y PAIGE T URNER
THE 32-MILE MOLOKAI 2 OAHU PADDLEBOARD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
is not a race for the faint of heart or mind. I have heard Travis Grant refer to it as the “Holy Grail of all paddling races, whether it’s stand-up, canoe paddling, prone paddling — all ocean paddling sports.” More commonly known today as the Molokai Channel, the Ka’iwi Channel (or “Channel of Bones”) separates the islands of Molokai and Oahu. Stretching 26 miles and plunging to a depth of 2,300 feet, the Ka’iwi Channel has the reputation as one of the world’s most treacherous bodies of water. That in itself will mentally affect those who choose to paddle across it. It’s a unique race and for most of the people it’s just a bucket list, and it’s humbling. To finish is an amazing feat; it doesn’t matter whether you come in first or last. This story is one woman’s passage. Growing up landlocked in Germany, Kerstin Ouellet was never much of a water person. As a child she wore glasses and never felt comfortable in the pool because she couldn’t see well. She laughs, “I’m the slowest swimmer on earth, but as long as my head is above water I can swim forever, just really slow.” She admits to being the type of person who used to go in the ocean just to cool off, only going to where she could stand. Naturally, we were curious to find out how she ended up being a threetime Molokai 2 Oahu (M2O) finisher, and one of only a couple of women from California who ever did the race solo on a Standup Paddleboard (SUP). It started in 2007, when a friend of hers took a surf lesson and told her she should try surfing. Kerstin said it wasn’t really her thing, but with enough prodding she gave it a try. “I was lucky to learn surfing from Linda Benson, who in my mind is the ‘first lady of surfing.’ Linda was the first woman to surf Waimea
K ER S T IN , S O ME W HER E MID - C H A NNEL M2O 2016 PHOTO: KERSTIN OUELLET
OF A FINISH
“ I F I C A N PAV E T H E WAY FOR PEOPLE TO SET OUT TO AC C O M P L I S H S O M E T H I N G T H E Y WEREN’T SURE THEY COULD, T H AT ’ S A N I C E T H I N G . ”
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“SOMETIMES THE SELF-DOUBT CREEPS IN WHEN I FEEL LIKE I’M NOT TRAINING ENOUGH ... FOR ME IT’S STILL A BIG D E A L — I ’ M O N LY A SOCCER MOM.”
Bay in 1959 (at age 15), and I credit her for igniting my love of the ocean.” Kerstin was hooked on surfing. Right around that time life had thrown a few hurdles her way, but surfing made her forget everything. “The ocean has an incredible therapeutic effect on me,” Kerstin explains. “When I’m out there surfing, I need to tune in to the ocean, and it makes me forget everything else. The ocean grounds me; it’s my zen. It’s empowering and humbling at the same time. It has taught me a lot about life because in both, you don’t know what it’s going to bring, and no matter what it brings, there’s no point in fighting it; you just have to go with it and make the best of it.” With Kerstin’s new-found love for the ocean, she still wanted to enjoy it when there wasn’t any surf, so she bought an 8’10” SUP just to paddle around. Through paddling she met other women paddlers, and one of them convinced her to enter a fun local race with them, the Del Mar Powerhouse Paddle in 2010. “It was really more about the hoodie and the lunch,” Kerstin laughs. Little did she know that it would be the start of SUP racing for her. She didn’t jump right into it, but after a couple more lowkey races, Dave Daum of King’s Paddlesports asked her to become a team rider for them. “I am grateful to Dave and Rhonda for giving me that opportunity,” Kerstin says.
PHOTO: PAUL ENSYDE
How does one evolve from small little fun regional races to something as big as Molokai2Oahu? Kerstin says it wasn’t necessarily something she decided, but in a way a friend decided for her. In 2012, she and two other King’s paddlers – Keith Meter and Scott Shoemaker – did the Island to Island Waterman Relay from Santa Barbara Island to Catalina. It was 32 miles, conditions were mellow, but it was a big adventure for her at the time that left her feeling euphoric. In post-race euphoria Kerstin asked Keith when their next relay would be, and Keith said, “Molokai.” “Yeah right! You’re nuts,” she said, “There is no way I can do Molokai.” “Sure you can,” was Keith’s answer. With that the seed was planted. Kerstin has always thrived on a challenge. Growing up with two older brothers, she was used to trying to keep up with them. “I didn’t grow up being told there’s things a girl can’t do. I grew up skiing, and I’d always ski where they went. That’s probably what made me a bit gutsy. So when Keith suggested we
do M2O, although at first I didn’t even believe it was something in my grasp, when I realized he was serious I started to think ‘maybe I can.’” Kerstin and Keith ended up entering M2O as two-person relay team in 2013 and started training together. What made her the most nervous? “It was never the distance that intimidated me; the distance I knew I could train for,” Kerstin explains. “It was the conditions that made me nervous. The conditions in the Molokai channel are unlike anything we have in Southern California, so no matter how many miles you paddle, you won’t be training in the same conditions. I was afraid of the big open ocean swells and rough seas that I had heard about. I’m not a SUP surfer, so while I have great endurance, catching and riding the swells has never been my forte – and still isn’t.” Kerstin and Keith trained together and planned to incorporate some downwind runs and SUP surf sessions to prepare a bit better for the conditions, but life got in the way, so those downwind runs never happened. Kerstin is a single mom of two teenage boys and owns her own business, so she couldn’t always find as much time to train as she would have liked to. “Trial by fire,” as Keith would call it when race day drew closer. Kerstin almost bowed out of her first Molokai crossing. She recalls: “We flew to Hawaii a few days early and participated in an M20 pre-race clinic put on by Blue Planet Surf. It’s a great clinic where they walk you through the last few miles of the race, give you great tips, and then take you paddling from Sandy Beach past Hanauma Bay, around the corner at China Walls to Portlock and the race finish. I was in for a rude awakening! I thought I was a strong paddler, but I struggled even to stay on my board because the water bouncing off the cliff created washing-machine conditions. I was devastated; I felt way in over my head! Morgan Hoesterey and Allison Riddle helped host the clinic, and they kept telling me this is the worst stretch - it’s not going to be this bad in the channel. I was at the back of the pack and Keith didn’t struggle nearly as much as I did. When I finally made it to the finish, I was in tears, which rarely happens. I told him to find a new relay partner. I would hold him back. Of course he wouldn’t have any of that and said I would be fine. In the end he was right and knew my limits better than I did. It wasn’t nearly as bad in the rest of the channel and I pulled my own weight in the race. It was an epic, elating experience.” Kerstin remembers thinking during the race ‘I cannot imagine doing this solo,’ but after a year or so the intrigue of a new and bigger challenge took hold of her. But could she actually do it solo? She didn’t know. So she reached out to Roch Frey - a coach, former pro triathlete, and author of Riding Bumps — SUP Race and Prone Paddle Racing. Roch is part
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S A L A D I TA , M E X I C O, J A N U A R Y 20 0 8 . K E R S T I N ’ S FIRS T SURF TRIP A S A NEWBIE SURFER.
<< K E R S T I N A N D H E R B O Y S L O V E T O T R AV E L , W H E T H E R T H E Y ’ R E PA D D L I N G L A K E TA H O E O R H I K I N G T H E AUS TRIAN ALP S.
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of Kerstin’s Cardiff paddle group and an accomplished M2O veteran. She wanted to get an honest opinion from someone who knew her paddling ability. Roch thought she was up for it, so Kerstin found herself paddling Molokai solo in 2015: “It was a bucket list item for me; once in a lifetime, I just wanted to do it. You have the pro-athletes out there - the best paddlers in the world - and then you have the people who do it as a personal challenge, like me.” Her goal first and foremost was to finish and ideally not be last. At the start of the race, she honestly didn’t know if she would finish or after 10 miles of paddling be a “crying heap of misery,” as she put it. “When you take on a big personal challenge like this, you have to leave the ego out of it and accept that you might not succeed,” Kerstin explains. “If we only do things that we know we can finish, then how would we ever find out what we’re truly capable of?” Conditions were tough in 2015, and Kerstin came very close to not finishing. There was even a point where she didn’t care if they pulled her out of the race, she was so exhausted by the conditions and the washing machine action in the final stretch. Pulling from deep within knowing that her boys were waiting at the finish line and that her paddling friends were watching back home - she couldn’t quit. Finally, when she approached the finish line and saw a little dot (her youngest son Devin) swimming out to meet her, she felt overwhelmingly happy. Her first solo finish took longer than expected: over eight hours because of tough conditions and a route that didn’t go as planned, but she had accomplished her two goals of finishing and not being dead last. At the finish line when Kerstin came in a lot of people had already left, the greeters with the leis were gone, lunch service was pretty much done, and gone were the finish line photographers. The few that remained were those waiting for the final participants to finish, the announcers and the timekeepers were there because they had to stay until the last people came in and were accounted for - but all the fanfare was gone. Kerstin remembers asking her sons if they were disappointed that it took her so long, “but Dylan, my older one, said with a smile ‘Well mom, technically you beat Connor Baxter.’
<< T H E R E L I E F A N D EU P H O R I A A R E W R I T T E N O N K E R S T I N ’ S FA C E AT T H E F I N I S H O F M2O 2016 . PHOTO: LUCY LUCILLE
D E V I N S W I M M I N G O U T T O G R E E T H I S M O M AT T H E F I N I S H O F A N E X H A U S T I N G M2O 2015 .
I still laugh over that.” (Connor Baxter retired out of the race due to a back injury; many of the elite paddlers pulled out of the race that year. It was considered one of the worst conditions in channel crossings in history.) So with one accomplishment of doing M2O as a relay plus the solo crossing off her bucket list, how did Kerstin find herself back in the channel again for the 2016 race? Not necessarily set on competing again, Kerstin found herself having a spot for the 2016 race. With 2015 said to be the toughest race conditions in history, she still had the desire to try it one more time in average conditions with hopes of a better finish. Finding herself on the prequalified list was a motivator. She believes it was more or less dumb luck as not many women do the race solo on a stock SUP, but regardless she was on the list, and if she waited longer, she would have to start all over again hoping to get in on the draw. It was another year of juggling work, kids and paddle training but she managed it following Roch Frey’s 16-week training plan and getting in the gym more thanks to her 13-year-old who wanted to start training in the gym, something she didn’t do as much of the previous year. She felt stronger and more prepared going into 2016. “Plus, I knew I had a great board this year that I was able to train on for a month prior — Brian Szymanski shaped me a custom 14’ Lahui Kai downwind board. I loved it.” Kerstin admits, “Sometimes the self-doubt creeps in when I feel like I’m not training enough, and I need a little hand-holding because for me it’s still a big deal - I’m only a soccer mom. Too bad they don’t have a soccer mom division,” she laughs. So aside from wanting to make better time for 2016 and race in better conditions, Kerstin paddled for two people affected by cancer as she crossed the channel this year. Her friend and 2013 M2O relay partner Keith Meter was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) last fall. It’s a form of bone marrow cancer. Kerstin took to wearing a bracelet that read “Hope for MDS” since the spring; she never took it off, in or out of the water. “I always said I’d wear it until Keith is back in the water or until M2O, whichever comes last. While Keith still can’t do too much in the water, he’s been able to do some light flatwater paddling, so I figured I’d be wearing it until
PHOTOS: KERSTIN OUELLET
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M2O. It’s a braided bracelet and the last month leading up to M2O it kept falling off, and I’d retie it as best as I could. Keith called me a few days before M2O to wish me good luck, and I told him about the bracelet falling off and that I thought that meant he doesn’t need it anymore. I said I’d wear it until after the race but said I might lose it, possibly during the race. He said something like ‘That’s right; leave it in the channel!’ On race morning, as I sat on my board lined up for the start of the race, with only a few minutes before the start, the bracelet fell off and landed on my board. With no time to retie it, and also taking this as somewhat of an “omen,” I left the bracelet on the deck pad as the race started. The horn goes off, race starts, and I start paddling with the bracelet on the board. It actually stayed for a bit; I think a mile or so. At some point I noticed that it was gone. So the bracelet is somewhere in the channel now. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about how all this panned out!” The other paddle friend who Kerstin dedicated her training and race to is Ray Noose, who unfortunately lost his cancer battle about a month before the race. “Cancer scares me more than anything,” Kerstin says. “Thinking of what my friends had to endure puts everything else in perspective.” She finished with a better time in 2016 of 7:16 and took home first place in the women’s solo SUP stock division. “First out of one, so I’m not sure if that counts,” as Kerstin is quick to add. More women had originally entered that division, but some switched board class, some switched to relay, and some pulled out before the race. Kerstin laughs as she recalls how one friend of hers put it: “being the only one in your division means no one else in the world wanted to compete against you.” Kerstin was pleased she finished strong. There are always a lot of things that go through your head as you’re racing this channel and there were times she thought about quitting but it was only a thought. “It’s like childbirth,” Kerstin said, “During both, you reach a point where you don’t think you can do it; don’t think you can finish. But somehow you do. You might say you’ll never do that again, but then you do. And during the second time you reach a point where you think ‘I don’t remember it being quite that bad.’ Funny thing is both my M2O crossings actually took longer than the labor for each of my kids: labor was eight hours the first time and six hours the second time where M2O was over eight and over seven.” Kerstin Ouellet is an inspiration while plenty of people tell her that she’s humble. “I think “inspire” is a big word. True, it’s semantics, but I don’t look at myself as so much of an inspiration. I’m looking at it more as encouraging people and “paving the way.” I don’t want people to think, ‘Wow, what Kerstin does is awesome,’ but rather ‘Hmmm, if Kerstin can do it, maybe I can do it.’ If I can pave the way for people to set out to accomplish something they weren’t sure they could, that’s a nice thing. As one of my favorite sayings goes ‘Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.’”
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PHOTO: KERSTIN OUELLET
“ . . . Y O U D O N ’ T K N O W W H AT I T ’ S G O I N G T O B R I N G , A N D N O M AT T E R W H AT I T B R I N G S , T H E R E ’ S N O P O I N T I N F I G H T I N G I T; Y O U J U S T H AV E T O G O W I T H I T A N D M A K E T H E B E S T O F I T. ” V3N3
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a Girl
MEASURING UP IN A WOMEN' S WORLD
A lter ing Boundar ie s: Hobie's L exi A ls ton BY LUC Y LUCIL L E
PHOTO: JULIE ALSTON
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2016 S U P F I E S TA - L E X I L E A D I N G T H E PA C K W H I C H I N C L U D E S A L E X A N D R A HIGGINSON AND JADE HOWSON PHOTO: MIKE MUIR
2016 S A N C L E M E N T E O C E A N F E S T I VA L S U P S U R F C O N T E S T
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L E X I A N D S E A N D O U G L A S @ 2014 H O B I E H E N N E S E Y WAT E R M A N ' S CHALLENGE PHOTO: JULIE ALSTON
PHOTO: JEFFREYFORTUNA.COM
PHOTO: JULIE ALSTON
Fourteen. We've all been there. Maybe you can remember it, and maybe you want to forget it but either way, being a teenager is something we've all endured, experienced, survived. Lexi Alston is in the thick of it right now. Born in January of 2002, Lexi still has enough kid in her not to forget the importance of being just that: a kid. But she is a kid with a promising future as a competitive stand-up paddler and at 14, Lexi has made impressive strides against more mature, experienced women, placing high in SUP races from Dana Point to Deutschland. From elementary to middle school, to high school we grow up trying to find our way. It's a path to discovering what your passion is and still have fun doing it. For Lexi, she found it on the water. The appeal of stand-up paddling for Lexi is that she can have a good time out on the water whether it's racing, training, surfing or going for a paddle by herself or with her friends. "Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great way to get out on the water," she says, "Doesn't matter how old or young. You can still paddle even when you're old." SUP has defined who she is and helped find her balance.
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PHOTO: JEFFREYFORTUNA.COM
Lexi first tried stand-up paddling during a vacation to Hawaii in 2011 - at Waikiki. As one can expect there was crowded surf, the board clunky, but that experience put the hook in her. While visiting her uncle in Nahant, Massachusetts, Lexi tried better equipment out on the open ocean, and that was that. Now Lexi finds herself living the Hobie tagline, "alter your boundaries" with Hobie as a team rider. She met Sean Douglas, Hobie's Marketing Director, during her first Carolina Cup in 2014. Hobie gave her a board to try. "It instantly became my favorite. It was the lightest, fastest and prettiest board I had ever ridden and it worked amazing in all conditions." Lexi exclaims. Race life is not always a bed of roses. Now a freshman at Dana Hills High, Lexi competes on the surf team with teenagers her age. But as an aspiring stand-up paddler, Lexi is a girl competing against women. While she has come out of the gate strong, Lexi has her good and bad days in racing. At the 2014 Carolina Cup, she placed second in the Groms Race. In 2015 Lexi's finish was first overall woman in the 6.5 Money Island Race (Carolina Cup) and in 2016 she finished 10th in the Pro Women's division but second in her age for the grueling 12 Mile Graveyard (Carolina Cup).
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( TOP) LE XI AND HER BELOVED H O B I E " T O RC H " R A C E B O A R D, S U P F I E S TA 2015 PHOTO: ERIK NORDSKOG
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"BEING ON T HE WAT ER
makes me feel at home
and happy...
It was a horrible start for Lexi as the Pro and Open racers both started simultaneously. Lexi found herself knocked down by an Open racer and was flipped over on her board for a good amount of time in the water. In spite of all that, it was still a good race for the distance and her age. It is this side of racing that is a perfect example of how SUP competition defines Lexi. How do you measure a girl in a woman's world of SUP racing? As the sport of SUP racing finds itself with young women rising the ranks into the pro and elite races the face of racing is changing. Girls are now racing and competing with older women. It is one of the points Lexi makes, "I really started competing against the larger field of Pro Women paddlers last year at the Gorge. Finishing seventh overall surprised me for the main reason that I paddled against women with a higher level of experience. I competed in four races on the Euro Tour this year. My biggest accomplishment and the one I am most proud of when it comes to results is the 2015 Pacific Paddle Games where I finished seventh overall against 25 of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest women paddlers. I was 13 years old.â&#x20AC;?
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H O B I E D R E A M T E A M AT T H E WRIGHT SVILLE BE ACH SUP SURF PRO AM PHOTO: HOBIE
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LE XI WITH HER DAD AND SIS TER
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On the water she is a competitor, off the water, she is just like every other goofy 14 years old. She likes crappy food, checking social media on her phone, and is generally goofy. You can count on seeing Lexi do a handspring or a back flip before or after she finishes a race, cheering on her friends’ even if they are her competition. Most important to her is the relationship she has with her peers that she SUP races with. "It makes me proud to watch the other young women that compete with me. We have been together since I first started paddling, and it’s crazy to see how far we all have come. Most of us didn’t know how to ride waves or do any ocean paddling when we first started. I admire all of my friends that I paddle with because they work so hard and even though we compete against each other, we still can laugh and have fun together." Lexi shares.
LE XI AND HER MOM, JULIE AL S TON PHOTO: MIKE MUIR
LE XI AND ALE X ANDR A HIGGINSON H E A D I N G I N T O T H E WAT E R F O R T H E I R H E AT AT T H E 2016 S A N C L E M E N T E O C E A N F E S T I VA L PHOTO: MIKE MUIR
PHOTO: MIKE MUIR PHOTO: JEFFREYFORTUNA.COM
She's like any athletic teen searching for her place going into high school. An Honors student balancing school and two sports, surfing on the school team and SUP racing, still having fun and being a kid are necessary. "Sometimes it 's hard to balance school and my paddling. I have found it a little harder since I started high school in August. I am a good student and have learned to communicate with my teachers, so that helps a lot when I travel but I learn so much better being in class than learning from a book. It can be difficult to practice, do homework and still go to bed at the time you want. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices because otherwise you'll get behind and it's never a comfortable situation to be in." While Lexi is still young herself she does encourage other girls to get out there and SUP. "My words of advice to younger SUP athletes is to keep working even if you think you're terrible because, in the beginning, we were all terrible at something that we are now better. You have to work from the bottom to get to the top, so keep trying and remember to have fun. Be the best you, that you can be."
L E X I H I T T I N G I T H A R D AT T H E S TA R T O F THE SPORT OF K INGS R ACE DURING THE 2016 S A N C L E M E N T E O C E A N F E S T I VA L .
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PHOTO: ROMAIN FROGE
LE XI AND BE S TIE JADE HOWSON PHOTO: JULIE ALSTON
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" YOU H AV E TO WORK FROM T HE BOT TOM TO
get to the top so keep tr y ing and remember to have f un."
PHOTO: AARON BLACK-SCHMIDT
Lexi's future aspirations in the sport are to simply become a better paddler and promote new ideas and techniques used for up and coming new paddlers. "I would love to get better at the downwinding side of paddling, but I know that just takes time on the water. I want to continue paddling throughout my whole life, whether it be competing or just doing it for fun." When I asked Lexi what her final thoughts were, she said, "I am looking forward to what the future has in store for me on the water. Being on the water makes me feel at home and happy. I would also like to thank my sponsors Hobie Cat Company, Hobie Stand Up Paddleboards, and my family at Hobie for all their love and support and always making the best boards I have ever ridden throughout my whole career. I would also like to thank Quickblade for my bomb paddles and Future Fins for the greatest fins. Lastly, I would love to have a pet rat and name him Louis." At the end of the day I was left with the knowledge that this fourteen-year-old may be goofy and may still be a kid at heart but she has some good advice to offer even us older women and we should take it to heart. "Have fun, be silly and free, get on the water." Personally, I am voting she gets a pet rat named Louis!
PHOTO: JEFFREYFORTUNA.COM
PHOTO: JEFFREYFORTUNA.COM
PHOTO:ERIK NORDSKOG
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