Don Macdonald of the USA and France blogs his aquatic journey swimming, hosting swims around the world, one body of water at a time.
Those who aspire to this life goal please join and share.
#onestrokeatatime
For those of you interested in watching live feed tracking the ALS team as we move across the Molokai Channel
July 25th - 30th is the swim window
Total time 16-18 hours
We will have the team on the escort safety boat (always very good practice), two kayakers with anti-shark devices and a whole bunch of sunscreen, food, and motivation.
First lets talk about health fueling when you swim -
Two great video shorts on the affects of fueling your body using sugar based diet or carb based diet in easy and simple to understand terms.
The affects of these fuels, the timing, and amounts can act as a arterial inflammation agent. Review and consider the fuels used for open water and marathon level athletic events. Consider using natural foods as an alternative such as juices, fruits, peanut butter rather than dextrose based gels and Gu pacs.
Keep up the great adventures and remember One Stroke at a Time.
Catch our next adventure kayaking for friend and training partner Doug McConnell and the A Long Swim (ALS) team as we attempt to cross the Channel of Bones from Molokai to Oahu over some 18 hours of truly open ocean swimming.
2016 is looking like an exciting year with swimmers from the US, Australia, Russia, Mexico, India among the swimmers to challenge Kaiwi this year.
To date Kaiwi has been conquered solo 37 times and 5 relay teams have successfully crossed the Ka'iwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu. If you are up to the challenge just send an email with your swim experience and an approximate date for your swim. We'll guide you from there.
1) What is the distance across the Kaiwi Channel?
The shortest distance is 26 miles. From where most swims start to where we try to finish is 28.5 statute miles. When starting this adventure have a conversation with crew and boat pilot about how you want distances measured - nautical mph, kph or statute mph.
2) Where do we stay?
In Waikiki or near there. Lots of options depending on your budget but the cheapest prices are about $100 per night. Check travel websites. A few recently have used Air B&B. One night max on Molokai and this can wait till you get here. Options for the swim are to either spend one day/night on Molokai or fly over and go right to swim start. That can be decided in advance or when you get here.
3)Can we go over to Molokai on the boat instead of flying?
You can but it is not recommended. Its really an awful boat ride. Most swimmers who tried regret it. Its exhausting and if you at all prone to seasickness, it really can adversely affect your swim.
4) Do we need Kayakers?
Yes, they are mandatory.The Kaiwi channel is usually so rough that the boat isn't really that close. And even when it is, it isn't going in a straight line. Here you steer off the kayak. The kayakers can steer very straight and get feedback from the boat when a course correction is necessary. For both safety and steering we use two so someone on a kayak is always at your side. (This is where I come in).
Like other big swims, dehydration, guidance, moral support, sharks, food, and of course some man-to-man humor will be involved, groveling on Doug's part is usually included.
Our Host, jeff kozlovich giving some tried and true advice for the big swim and sage advice to those intrepid swimmers trying the big one.
Open Water Marathon swimmers take on risks, face death, and climb mountains before the sun rises, in the deepest dark of night, and face conditions that make the best roll-over and go back to sleep.
Self motivated, driven and battle tested, open water swimmers get the job done.
