Huli!

In Hula, Huli means to turn...if you are doing a kaholo, you turn a quarter turn and continue your kaholo.

So, what do you think HULI means in paddling???

That's right...to turn...OVER...

No, I don't have any pictures. I know, you are very sad about that.

On Thursday last week, Elizabeth and I went to Huli drills on Sand Island. We did not do huli drills in Pearl Harbor because you can't see the bottom. The water on Sand Island is clear blue...really pretty.

When we got there, Joe (our coach) was just putting the boat in and the first crew was getting in the boat. I asked Tanya (a veteran paddler) to talk through what we were about to witness.

The first thing she stressed ( a little over stressed...after a while I tuned her out) was that you shouldn't panic if the boat flips over. Just go with it. Don't jump out. Hold on. It's just water. CHECK.

Then we went over everyone's job:

Seat 6: counts heads (though, no one ever said what happens if seat 6 drowns)
Seat 5: collects paddles
Seat 1: holds nose of boat into on coming waves so the boat doesn't flip over again.
Seats 2&4: climb on top of the boat to flip it back over
Seat 3: pushes a'ma over (but not too hard...that point comes up again) and is the first to climb in to the boat to start bailing...but only on the side of the boat with the a'ma (comes up again)

It looks easy from shore.

The first boat flipped over, the ladies got it righted, bailed and back to shore. Easy. CHECK!

Then it was our turn. Elizabeth was in seat 1. I was in seat 3...push over a'ma...check...climb in to boat to bail...check.

We paddled out a little way, turned around, then (harder to make yourself do it than you think) we flipped the boat over. I swam down a little ways to make sure I didn't hit my head on the way back up. The water was a really pretty shade of blue with lots of little bubbles. It was a nice couple seconds. I came up, got counted, grabbed my paddle and handed it back to seat 5. (Helen) Then, Joe told me to go to the a'ma to help push it over. CHECK. The boat was back over. I swam over to the side, threw my leg over...and got yelled at. I was on the wrong side of the boat. Ok, so I ducked under the boat to the correct side.

By the time I got to the other side, Joe had given my job away to someone else. My job was now to hang on the a'ma so we didn't flip over again. CHECK. All my body weight...don't worry...we were not going to flip over again with THAT MUCH WEIGHT...haha...

When it was my turn, I climbed in to the boat no problem and started bailing until I was told to get out. I'm a really good listener. Then, we were told to get back in the boat and start rowing. CHECK. We started going back to shore when Joe said to flip over again. GREAT.

Again, I swam down a little so I wouldn't bump my head. Seat 4 (Karen Z.) did. I passed my paddle back and then swam to the a'ma to help push it over again. CHECK! And I got yelled at...apparently, I pushed too hard and the a'ma slapped the water. The good news was that I didn't damage it.

This experience reaffirms that I don't want to EVER race. I'm very content on being a RECREATIONAL PADDLER in Pearl Harbor. But, at least I do know what to do if we ever flip...

And, I asked if I could buy a team shirt even if I don't race and they said yes! Woohoo!

The next day, Elizabeth asked me if I had any bruises like hers...nope. The one benefit from being super flexible. I'm able to throw my leg over the side of a capsized boat without any trouble. (sorry, Elizabeth...I HAD to write that!)