Big Hawaii

By Mickey Sarraille

The true story of best friends who kayak around the Big Island of Hawaii in 16 days. The 300 mile adventure is the first attempt at kayaking for Mickey Sarraille the author and leg amputee. His best friend is Kelly Harrison a long-time waterman and son of surfing legend Lorrin "Whitey" Harrison. The grueling paddle of 6-9 hours a day in the adverse conditions of Hawaii. Wind and waves batter the two each day as they make their way to safe refuge at secluded beaches to camp and cook the fish they caught on the marathon paddle. They average close to 20 miles a day, encountering sharks, whales, dolphins, turtles, and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Surfing and diving along the way, it is the adventure of a lifetime. Turns out they are the first to make the nonstop voyage of nearly half a million strokes! The story inspires everyone and leaves you craving the beauty of the islands...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mickey Sarraille
• Release date: Nov 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301436873

Mickey Sarraille

Mickey Sarraille is a 53 year old residing in Wildomar California. An amputee, a 30 year hangglider pilot, big wave bodyboarder, skier, author, kayak adventurer, world traveler, retired welder. google him or follow on facebook

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Big Hawaii

First Kayak Circumnavigation of the Big Island

Mick Sarraille

Copyright © 2012 by Mick Sarraille

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

About the Author

Prologue

It was Wednesday morning, March 21st. I stood looking through the window of Sports Chalet in Temecula, California, seeing an ad on the front window for Kayaks 25 Percent Off. This was the place. I meandered in past the shoes and ski equipment to the kayaks in the corner of the room. Several models were there, small, big, sit inside, sit on top, red, blue, yellow, and green. I was looking for a sit on top, around 15 feet long. There it was, a yellow model, long and sleek with several bungees to hold equipment on the back, and a hatch to the inside up front. Five different notches were molded into the side of the sitting compartment for different size legs. This one didn’t have a rudder, but all I want to do is sit in it, to see if I will be able to balance the thing with one leg and mostly upper body weight. It’s got a slight point on the bottom, or molded keel to keep it from side slipping in wind, so it teeters side to side a little when I lean. I fit nicely in the farthest foot notch, as I’m six feet tall. I grab the paddle lying near the side and pretend to paddle into the sunset. It feels good, a little tippy, but with the paddle, seems easy and more balanced. I’m good to go!

My friend Kelly Harrison moved to the big island of Hawaii after his parents passed away, taking over the family home on the Kona side, about 2500 feet up the volcanic slope overlooking the Kawaihai harbor. Kelly and I have been best friends since 6th grade, and have taken on many adventures over the years. None safe, but all incredible. He got me started in hang gliding when I was 22, after seeing him soar the ridges of Dana Point in the early 1980s. Then into big wave surfing in Mexico, as well as sailing, and skiing. I owe a lot to Kelly for motivating me to push the envelope of what I can do.

I’m pretty athletic, with big arms from using crutches, since being a hit and run accident victim on a rainy night in August of 1977. When I was younger, I was a hardcore body boarder, eventually making it in surfer, and body boarding magazines. This was how I stayed in shape, aside from just walking around on crutches, which takes about three times the energy of just walking for a healthy person. Hang gliding a couple days a week keeps me healthy now. I’m six feet tall, and with my left leg being severed at the hip, a little top-heavy, with wide shoulders to a 31-inch waist. Blond hair, about shoulder length, with fair skin reddened by the sun, and weathered by the ocean. I’ve got incredible balance out of necessity, and can walk on my hands.

Being a welder keeps me afloat, bringing in enough money to take small vacations to Mexico, Vegas, or skiing. Kelly and I are non-stop. When we get off work on Friday, we’ve got the Mexico box loaded with all the stuff we need for a weekend trip for surfing. If it’s winter storm season and blizzarding, we load up the skis and head for the best snow. Watching the weather is key in deciding what adventure it will be for the weekend. Come summer time, it’s surf in the morning and hang gliding in the afternoon. We usually fly the coastal ridges if the wind permits, but if there is no wind we head out to Lake Elsinore for thermal flying. We are both advanced pilots, and Kelly holds an instructor and tandem rating. Thermaling up from 3,000 to 10,000 feet and above is the goal for the day, and a cross-country flight is probable. Thirty miles is a decent flight.

When we began hang gliding it was still a very dangerous sport, and many of the pioneers of the sport were killed. As the years went by it got safer, with the progress of glider design, testing, and parachutes. I flew seven years without a parachute. Back in those days, you would be glad to be back on the ground in one piece, and we would say We fooled God! But what a feeling, to fly on a kite like Superman, proned out and able to cover ground with no source of power, except warm rising air from the heating of the earth. So primal, yet so amazing! And to be able to do it with one leg, and leave those stinking crutches behind. Well, you can imagine the freedom… I owe this to Kelly for teaching me.

Kelly is a wiry 5 foot 8 blond, with bony features and a lip that never seems to heal from sunburn. A bushy mustache, shorts and sandals is all he wears, unless we’re going skiing. He always wears a hat to protect himself from the sun after decades of overexposure, like me. Kelly is very athletic, and has excelled at everything he’s tried. A ski instructor, black belt in karate, airplane pilot, hang gliding instructor, big wave surfer, sailor, whitewater guide, now the owner of P and P Kayaks in Kona and Kauai and an adventure guide in Hawaii. P and P stands for Plenty Pupule which means plenty crazy in Hawaiian, a fitting name for the business Kelly owns.

I was excited when Kelly called to tell me about a trip he said I should be part of. His plan was to completely circumnavigate the Big Island in kayaks, which had never been done before. This sounded like fun, and adventure. I’m in. I had never kayaked before so I thought it might be a good idea to at least sit in one. Sports Chalet was my first experience. Kelly knew my first -time experience would add to the challenge, and make for a good story.

Planning the Trip

I pack my fins and mask and snorkel, as well as my shorts and a pair of fingerless leather gloves, a windbreaker and windbreaker style pants, and a rubber water shoe, with several long and short sleeve shirts, and a head lamp: this is all I’m bringing. Oh, and my body board, with the backpack that carries it. This will carry my entire wardrobe for the trip, which will take three weeks. The kayaks only go three miles per hour with no headwind. It’s 300 miles around the Big Island.

I’ve surfed there with Kelly on several trips to Hawaii. I know of the large surf and lava rock shores. This leaves me wondering how this may affect our trip? I try not to over think it. With my upper body strength, the paddling should be no problem; it’s the land that will hurt you, and the wind that can blow you away!

Kelly has done some planning, mostly logistical, on where we might go ashore for each night, accounting for headwinds or rocky shorelines and possible surf. He’s done some small kayak tours to the northern valleys with tourists, so he’s got some idea about what we might encounter. In his list of items are a case of sport drinks, an anchor, a machete, a camp stove, and some extra gas bottles, as well as a tent, two lightweight flannel sleeping bags, silk liners, waterproof matches, waterproof bags, and an iodine water treatment kit if there is no fresh potable water. And we’ve both decided on some Lipton water soluble rice meals that pack small. Some water, utensils, salt, pepper, sugar and instant coffee for me.

We’ve also borrowed an E.P.I.R.B. electronic emergency beacon in case we get blown offshore, which happens every year to some clueless tourist, when the wind picks up, blowing them towards