The Au’au Channel

(commonly referred to as the Maui Channel)

If you are reading the reports of our swims, you are probably contemplating swimming across a stretch of water somewhere. And since most of our swims are long distance, you may also be interested in the extra challenges that this entails. Races are fun, and give you the opportunity to test yourself against others.

But crossings (which you have to organize yourself) add a whole new level of challenges. You have to contact people for information. You have to organize a boat and other support equipment, crew and logistics. You will also have to do some research into the conditions you are likely to encounter, and must prevail against. And you must plan and structure your training accordingly.

These challenges and the pioneering aspects (there are stretches of water all around the world, which very few people have swum across) are what makes doing crossings, for us, so interesting and exciting.

An easy crossing to start with, is the Au’au Channel, between the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Lanai. Easy, because a fair bit is known about swimming this channel, due to the annual Maui Channel Swim. Held in August/September, this race caters mainly for relays, but also has a solo category. Heading from Lanai to Kaanapali beach (in the tourist area of West Maui), the swim is 8.8 statute miles (approx. 14.5 klm).

We chose the Au’au Channel as the second crossing for our visit to Maui. We had both completed crossings a few days prior. Penny swam the notorious Alenuihaha Channel (Big island to Maui – 43 statute miles) in punishing conditions, and I did the shorter, but still challenging Pailolo Channel from Maui to Molokai.

After these swims, we were trying to decide what other water based tourist activities we should try. Kayaking, snorkeling, diving and whale watching were all on offer. But we were both in good shape, and our boat skipper had no other commitments. So we thought “why not do another crossing?”. There were also large numbers of humpback whales in these waters (they come here each year from November to March, to give birth and nurture their young) and we were really hoping to swim with some.

We planned to swim from Kaanapali to Lanai (the opposite direction to the annual race) due to the forecast NE wind. This would give us some assistance as we would swim in a SW direction. Curiously, whilst hundreds of people have swum from Lanai to Maui, only three people (all males) have swum in the direction we were attempting, since the channel was first conquered in 1970. So there was still a pioneering aspect to this swim, and a little uncertainty as to how the currents would affect us.

Our swim day of Thursday, March 19^th, 2009 came with a forecast 10-12 knot NE breeze and overcast conditions. It was the day after the neap tide (= not much current). And water temperature was 72F (22C). All perfect for swimming.

We met up with our skipper, Jim Dickson at Mala Wharf (Lahaina) at 8.00am. With him was deckhand, and our feeder, Rob Knake. Jim has piloted many crossings (including our previous swims), but Rob was a first timer, so we briefed him of our requirements on the way to the starting point.

After applying sunscreen and some grease, and taking a final drink, we jumped in at 8.30am for the 200 metre swim into shore. Kaanapali beaches are lined with big hotels and we must have been a strange sight to those strolling along the beach, or enjoying breakfast in the beachside cafes.

We started the swim over fringing coral reef, with a group of people to our left taking a surfing lesson, and others to our right (beyond the small break) about to descend on a guided scuba dive. Swimming was easy at the start, as there was only a slight swell and virtually no breeze. The high rise hotels and Puukukui (west Maui mountain) would provide a wind break for the first couple of klms. And low tide was scheduled for 10.00am so any influence from the current would be minimal for the first part of the crossing.

Like all Hawaiian waters, the Au’au channel is crystal clear. Penny and I swam together (she did a mixture of freestyle, drills, breaststroke and backstroke to stay at my slower pace) and we could easily see each other through the water, from anything up to 50 metres away.

Looking down, apart from the fringing reef hugging each coast, there was nothing but a deep cobalt blue void. There were no fish (except in amongst the coral in the shallows), no sharks (encounters in deeper waters are not common) and unfortunately, no whales to be seen. Although the guys on the boat said later that they were everywhere, and some quite close. At one point, we both recall swimming through a strange patch of upwelling water, which we can only surmise was caused by a whale swimming close by.

Unlike our other two Hawaii channel swims, we did see a lot of jellyfish on this crossing. The resulting stings were very minor, leaving us with only a few itches (although bluebottles inhabit these waters at certain times of the year).

As we passed the half way point of the crossing, the now incoming tide started to push us sideways (from left to right) and added some distance to the crossing. This is evident by our course shown on the chart. But Jim had taken this into account and planned to land  us at Halepalaoa Landing, on the southern end of Lanai.

We read an interesting story about Lanai. It must be a beautiful place as Bill Gates (Microsoft) chose to get married there in 1994. The story goes, that to ensure privacy, he booked out every hotel on the island, and kept all rooms empty apart from invited guests. And then he chartered every helicopter on Maui, and paid them to stay on the ground. As we approached the beach and could clearly see the many coconut palms, it occurred to me that we had found a novel way to gate crash such a party.

The reef, as we approached the beach, was very shallow. So we slowed right down to avoid bumps and coral cuts. We completed the crossing together in 4 hours and 31 minutes, covering a straight line course of 9.98 statute miles (16 klms).

The breeze, not that there was much of it at any point in the swim, had died right out, which made for great whale watching on the trip back to Lahaina. Jim and Rob did a fine job in supporting us, and the crossing turned out to be like a very comfortable training swim (suiting us fine, as we had a few sore bits from the previous swims).

For the record, I was the fourth male and Penny, the first woman, to complete the swim from Maui to Lanai.

Hawaii is heaven for open water swimmers, and Maui is the best place to base yourself for a crossing in these waters. Even the small beach where we stayed in South Kihei, boasted clear water, coral, and turtles almost every time we went for a dip. And we thoroughly recommend Maui as a great swimming (and holiday) destination. Just be aware though, that you won’t have everything organized and laid on for you. You will have to organize the crossing to YOUR REQUIREMENTS. This includes discussing with your skipper, before the swim, how you want it run and what you expect of him, and vice versa.

As usual, feel free to email us if you would like further information or some contacts.

Having both completed our main crossings, we’ve been looking at the many other touristy things to do on Maui. We both like water based activities and were considering snorkelling/diving/whale watching cruises. And then we thought, why not do another crossing?

Our skipper from the previous trips, Jim Dickson, was happy to oblige, so yesterday we swam from Maui to Lanai across the Auau Channel. The swim we did saw us depart the main tourist area of Kaanapali beach at 8.30am. For a change, the weather was great, slightly overcast with a very light tailwind, and only a slight head current as we approached Lanai.

Lanai must be a beautiful place, because Bill Gates (microsoft) chose it to use for his wedding in 1994. The story goes that to ensure privacy, he booked every hotel room on the island, and then left all of them empty, except for invited guests. And then, he chartered every helicopter on Maui and paid them to stay on the ground, so as not to have any uninvited guests. The thought came to me as we were swimming across, that we have found a way to gatecrash any future celebrity weddings on Lanai.

Our swim was exactly the same as the Maui Channel Swim, except we headed in the opposite direction. Curiously, whilst lots of people go from Lanai to Maui, only three people before us have ever swum from Maui to Lanai.

With Penny and I in the water, our support crew consisted of Jim as skipper and Rob Knake as deckie/feeder. The start and finish took us over some nice fringing reef, which was good. On this swim, we saw lots of jellyfish and received lots of tiny stings. Nothing bad or painful, just a bit of an itch. Water temperature was 72F (22C) and swimming conditions were ideal. Hawaiin open water swimmers have it sooooo good.

We were hoping to encounter some humpback whales on the way across. Once again we didn’t see any, but at one point we swam through some disturbed water, which would indicate one must have just been out of visibility range. The guys on the boat told us after they were just everywhere, and sure enough on the boat ride back, they certainly were.

Our swim of 9.98 miles took us 4 hours 31 minutes. Penny and I swam together and we were the fourth and fifth people (first Australians) to swim from Maui to Lanai.

Likely shark bite ends channel swim

Kula man suffers chest, leg wounds

By BRIAN PERRY, City Editor

WAILUKU – Something, most likely a cookie-cutter shark, took a bite out of Mike Spalding’s left calf Monday night as he was attempting to swim the nearly 30-mile Alenuihaha Channel from the Big Island to Maui.

“I’m a glutton for water time,” said the 61-year-old Kula resident, a well-known open-ocean swimmer and a Maui Realtor. “I was in a zone. . . . I was in pig heaven. And then this thing happens.”

“This thing” was a 3-inch-diameter, 1-inch-deep wound on the back of his left leg, an injury most likely inflicted by a species of shark that grows about 20 inches long and takes melon-ball-sized chunks of flesh from its prey.

Spalding was about 4-1/2 hours and 11 miles into crossing the channel about 8 p.m. when, at first, he felt a sharp pain on his sternum, which turned out to be a superficial wound. Nevertheless, he immediately began moving to a kayak accompanying him.

About 15 seconds later, “I got hit in the calf,” he said. “It was such a disappointment because I knew the swim was over. I was bleeding profusely.”

In darkness, except for a light on a kayak paddled nearby by Bubba McLean, Spalding made his way to the boat to get away from whatever bit him.

“I didn’t see it,” he said of the shark. “All I felt was the bite, and I got the hell out of the water as quick as I could.”

McLean, also a Kula resident, said he heard Spalding yell in pain.

“It was pretty crazy. He got hit twice,” said McLean, who estimated he was about three feet away from Spalding when he was bitten.

McLean described the night as pitch black. “I couldn’t see anything in the water,” he said, adding that he knew Spalding was in serious trouble “because of the way he yelled.”

Spalding scrambled into the kayak, the bottom of which began to quickly fill with blood. McLean said he took off his gloves and fumbled with the zipper of his backpack to grab a VHF radio to call a nearby support boat for help.

The boat and its crew picked up the men and the kayak. Kihei resident Rob Phillips, coach of the Kihei Canoe Club, was on the boat and said everyone did what they could to make Spalding comfortable and to stop the bleeding.

Pressure was applied to the wound with a towel. Then, an antibiotic was put on the wound, which was covered with gauze and secured with duct tape, Phillips said.

The crew took Spalding to the Kihei Small Boat Ramp where his wife, Jill, was waiting to drive him to Maui Memorial Medical Center. Spalding said that the boat ride took 2-1/2 hours, but he was not in a lot of pain. Instead, he was upset that his attempt to cross the channel was cut short.

Spalding, who was inducted into the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008 for his seven successful channel swims between Hawaiian Islands, said he has only one remaining, “the hardest one,” the 30-mile Alenuihaha Channel between the northern tip of the Big Island and the southeast shore of Maui.

He said he knows of only two people to accomplish the feat – Harry Huffaker in April 1970 and Australian swimmer Penny Palfrey, who reportedly did it in 14 hours and 51 minutes earlier this month.

Spalding said he had been training for six months and waiting three months for perfect conditions to make the crossing – perfect weather, variable winds and favorable tides.

He left Upolu Point on the northern tip of the Big Island around 3:30 p.m. Monday.

“We got a nice push off the island with the currents,” he said. “We had a real good time. Everything was looking really good.”

Although Spalding never saw what bit him, he said he had no doubt, “It’s a cookie-cutter shark.” He said he’s certain because of the symmetrical shape of his calf wound as well as the shape of the bite mark on his sternum.

Spalding said the incident won’t end his quest to swim the Alenuihaha Channel.

He said he’s being well cared for at the hospital, particularly by Dr. Peter Galpin, who might do a skin graft on the calf injury. On Tuesday, the wound was being flushed out and cleaned, and Spalding was being given antibiotics.

Before long, “I’ll be dancing,” Spalding said. “I’ll be back in the hunt, back trying to train for the channel again. . . . I’m looking forward to the next time I get out there and finish this channel.”

Dr. Tim Tricas, a professor of zoology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a research lab at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, said he couldn’t be certain Spalding was bitten by a cookie-cutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis).

But, the description of Spalding’s wounds, is “consistent with a bite from a cookie-cutter shark,” he said.

Tricas said such sharks have very sharp teeth. They usually prey upon pelagic fish, such as tuna, or porpoises.

The animals spend much of their time during the day in deep water, but at night they come near the surface to feed, Tricas said. They wound, but don’t kill their prey.

A full-sized cookie-cutter shark would be about half a meter long, he said.

 

The Maui News / AMANDA COWAN photo

Registered nurse Lia Hannon waves goodbye to Kula resident Mike Spalding after paying him a visit in his room Tuesday afternoon at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Spalding was recuperating after being bitten Monday night, probably by a cookie-cutter shark, while attempting to swim from the Big Island to Maui in the Alenuihaha Channel.

Mike Spalding is an amazing character (one of many we have met through our swimming travels). Amongst other athletic endeavours, he has swum seven of the Hawaii channels, and has been inducted into the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame. He is also a successful businessman, and is 62 years of age.

Mike has been hoping to swim the Alenuihaha Channel (from the Big Island to Maui) for ages and has been waiting for the last two months for a perfect day. When Penny successfully completed this crossing last week (March 10th), Mike was very enthusiatic about her crossing and was itching to get in the water himself. He booked his crossing with Jim Dickson (the same pilot we used) and had an excellent crew, including Linda Kaiser from Oahu. He started from Upolu Point on the big island just after 3.00pm on Monday, March 16th. Figuring it would take him 20 hours, the plan was to swim through the night and finish around lunchtime on Tuesday.

After 5 hours of swimming, he had covered 10 of the 30 mile crossing and was feeling good, and he had great conditions. As it was dark now, he was swimming next to a kayaker. he had run into a few cuttlefish and was getting used to the occaisional “bump”. But at 8.03pm, he felt a bite on his chest. He stopped and said what the @#!&! was that? then he felt another bite on his lower leg. He ran his hand down the back of his calf and felt the divot from the bite mark, 3 inches wide and over an inch deep. He knew then his swim was over.

Mike said his support crew were brilliant. He was on the Kayak and then onto the support boat in a minute. And then a minute later, they had him lying on a bunk with his leg elevated and were controlling the bleeding (there was lots of it, so we were told). The culprit was a Cookie Cutter Shark. A cute name, and a smallish creature, but very nasty. And attacks on humans are rare. Mike just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We visited Mike in hospital and he was in great spirits and already looking at options for his next swim. Good on you mate! For more information on the Cookie Cutter Shark http://www.austmus.gov.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/ibrasil.htm

And just a final quick plug for one of our sponsors, “Shark Shield” (see links for contact details). Penny used the shark shield on her Alenuihaha crossing and we think Mike may now be buying one. Who knows, it may have kept the cookie cutter away.

After postponing my swim date twice (I was meant to go on Friday, then on Saturday) I/we were getting a little “toey”. The windguru website showed conditions for Sunday a bit blowy at first, but moderating during the course of the day. But Jim Dickson, our skipper, didn’t think it was suitable for my planned crossing and suggested we postpone until Wednesday (a local channel swimmer, Mike Spalding, has a swim booked for Monday/Tuesday). But that would only leave us a few days to do my swim before flying home, and would also restrict our tourist type activities. So we decided to go for my swim on Sunday March 15th.

After getting up at 4.00am (again!), we drove round to Lahaina to meet up with Jim for a 6.00am departure. The crew would be compact to say the least. Jim driving the boat, Penny handling/feeding and myself in the water. We motored along the West Maui coast in the pre dawn toward our starting point at Kapalua. At one point, we had a couple of humpback whales surface less than 50 metres from the boat (we have seen maybe a hundred of them this last week, as they come to these waters each year at this time to give birth and nurture their young). Man, it would be nice to swim with these creatures.

After gearing up, I hit the water at 7.01am, touched the rocks at Hawea Point and was away. The first leg on my swim was across the Pailolo Channel which seperates Maui from Molokai, a straight line distance of around 8.8 miles or 15 klm. My swim course was roughly WNW and we had a southerly breeze of around 15 knots at the start, so I received a small amount of assistance, not unlike swimming to Rottnest from Cottesloe, when you swim in a westerly direction and have a (normally) SE breeze. This was true open water and the swell was a good 6 foot/2 metres. I never saw anything going across except for the indigo void below me, although Penny said there were heaps of whales in the vicinity, the closest of which came to within a 100 metres of me.

After 3 hours 45 minutes of swimming, I could see the bottom and was only a klm or so from land. Now we changed course down along the Molokai coast, heading in a SW direction. Jim said there was normally a good current in close which would assist in pushing me along the coast. But today it never eventuated. We were heading 2 1/2 miles/4 klm along the coast to a harbour which provided a safe landing spot. Not sure of the name of the harbour, and without any assistance from the current, I was punching into the headwind. The breeze had now dropped to 10 knots (with a rain squall every so often) and had switched to SW, so I was going straight into it. After 1 hour 45 minutes of that, an old shoulder problem was starting to flare up so I decided to call it quits after touching dry land at Molokai. I had originally hoped to then swim across to Lanai, or as a plan b), to swim back to Maui. But whichever option I chose, I would still have at least another 6 to 8 hours of swimming into the wind.

I thought finishing in good shape was the smarter option, rather than causing major damage to my shoulder, when we have entered to swim the Manhattan Island Marathon in only 11 weeks from now. My final swim time was 5 hours 41 minutes and I had covered 11.3 statute miles/18 klms. Whilst the Pailolo Channel is one of the shorter ones on offer in Hawaii, it is still a challenging crossing. I would rate it equal to Rottnest, in Western Australia. Despite the magnificent conditions for open water swimming in Hawaii, it is amazing how few people have swum these waters (apart from the annual Maui Channel Swim which goes from Lanai to Kaanapali, on Maui). I was only the 19th person (and the first Australian) to swim the Pailolo Channel.

No more posts to the website for me for the next week. I’m going to party. All the best to our growing following of readers. And like any of our swims, if you want some more information to help plan a crossing in Hawaii, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Chris

Chris on hold until tomorrow……..

It was just too windy here today for Chris to do his swim. Since we were up at 3.45 am anyway to prepare for the swim (Captain Jim phoned to postpone at 4.50 just as we were about to walk out the door) we decide to take a drive up to the summit of Haleakala to watch the sunrise.

As we drove up the mountain the darkness gave way to daybreak, we watched the new day arive. By the time we reached the top we were shrouded in clowds, the car thermometer read 30 F. We parked our car and made our way gingerly to the visitor center and look out, the roads and foot paths were coverd in ice!

We enjoyed spectacular views as we decended down the mountain then found somewhere to eat our second breakfast for the day. We  are now resting in our room  hoping  the wind i can hear howling outside our window will die down by tomorrow morning.

Will keep you posted – Penny

Chris swims tomorrow – Saturday

Hey Hey, Penny here, we have spoken to captain Jim today and Chris is up for tomorrow.

Chris is hoping to swim from Maui to Molokai and then on to Lanai a distance of approximately 33 kilometers.

It’s still a little blowy here so we’re hoping it doesn’t pick up any further.

We’ll keep you all posted of any updates or let you know about his swim on Sunday.

Fingers crossed for fair weather

A few of my thoughts on my swim of Hawaii Big Island to Maui yesterday.

It was so rough I have never sum in water that rough ever before, I thought they were going to pull the swim for the first 3 hours, then when it became light i realised that they weren’t.
The waves came from every direction. They were huge, I counted ten strokes from the trough to the crest, and breaking. Many I had to duck under like when you go out in the surf at the beach, the paddler was picked up and washed 75 m away then spent ten minutes fighting his way back to me then washed off again, he is 23 years old and races canoes. Some waves just broke over the top of me and some caught my right shoulder when I breathed and sent me spinning onto my back with enough momentum to continue to roll me right back onto my front.
The current was strong, spring tides, some of which helped but when it didn’t it was really against me and i had huge trouble making headway especially towards then end. I think I probably could have done the swim a lot quicker the way the weather had been the day before.
I am incredible sore, my right lung felt like it was huge and filled my rib cage the left also sore. I have just woken up my nose is running like crazy with a pink blood stained mucus.

For those who follow their weight while doing marathon swims, my weight was 127lb the day before the swim and 127lb two hours after the swim.

Thanks everyone for all your kind comments and text messages, it realy makes us feel special.

Penny.

Penny completed her epic swim yesterday across the Alenuihaha Channel from the big island of Hawaii to Maui. Having met with our pilot and deciding that Penny should swim first (I, Chris, hope to do another crossing in a few days) due to favourable conditions, we hastily packed our things and caught a shuttle flight to Kona. From there, it was a taxi up to Kawaihae, where we met our boat which had motored across from Maui. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of the swim Penny was to undertake, it took the boat with Jim Dickson (skipper) and Cody Vares (kayaker) aboard, 10 hours to motor across from South Maui.

After a few hours trying to sleep, we upped anchor at 1.30am and motored up to Upolo Point (the northernmost tip of the big island) for the start. Whilst on our way, the breeze and seas steadily increased, a sign of things to come. there was wind and whitecaps aplenty when we started at 3.07am. I think everyone was a bit apprenhensive but we just got about our respective jobs. There was a 15 knot breeze at the start, but Jim was hoping it might ease off around sunrise.

Everything was challenging for those first 3 1/2 hours of darkness. Feeding every half hour was difficult, and a couple of times, Cody was hurled down big waves, anything up to 75 metres away from Penny, and then had to struggle to get back on station. We could see them both very clearly from the boat due to their light sticks, so safety wasn’t overly compromised. Cody got out after sunrise as it was too hard trying to stay alongside Penny.

The wind didn’t die off as anticipated. A “Small Craft Advisory” was issued on the 9.00am marine forecast for the waters we were swimming in, with winds of 25-34 knots throughout the day. and by that time, the wind was blowing true to forecast. But by this time, we were half way across, and Penny, although sore in the shoulders, was in good shape and holding close to her trademark 80 strokes per minute, so there was no thought of Pulling her out.

We were heading in a north westerly direction towards the eastern end of Maui, originally hoping to make landfall in the Kaupo area, which would make the swim 31 (statute) miles (52 klm). Two hours after leaving the big island, we picked up a good current which allowed Penny to average over 3 miles per hour, but the north easterly cross wind was pushing us sideways and progressively adding to the swim distance. The waves, going across the channel were huge. The average wave was around 12 feet (4 metres) and the were plenty around 20 feet (6 metres) high. There were many times when we lost sight of Penny for 10 seconds or so when we were in a different trough to her. And Penny was getting hurled around by the crests of the bigger waves, but to her great credit she kept powering along.

At the 11 hour mark, Jim made the decision that we would attempt to land at the Lighthouse at La Perouse Bay, some 17-18 miles east along the coast from our planned landing point. At that feeding, Penny (clearly suffering now in the conditions) said she was hoping to swim to Maui, and not around it. I was worried because we were being pushed so far and fast sideways, that we might miss land altogether. Penny was really sore now and cold. Water temperature was not bad, at 73 F (22.5 C), but the wind chill would have made it a lot colder for her.

Finally, as were got closer to our destination, the wind and waves started to subside. Penny finished her crossing at 5.58 pm, 100 metres east of the La Perouse light. total time for the crossing was 14 hours 51 minutes. The distance covered was a fraction under 43 statute miles (70-75 klms). The only other person to successfully complete this crossing was Harry Huffaker, back in April, 1970. We believe Harry took something like 21 hours to complete his amazing crossing.

We’ll put the full story on this site soon. Thanks for the good wishes from our friends and fellow swimmers. Many thanks to Jim and Cody (you guys did a great job on the boat), Forrest from LA for giving us lots of info about the Hawaii channel swims, Dan and Brooke from NYC (who although not directly involved in this swim, support us in so many ways), our sponsors Gu and Shark Shield (we used your respective products yesterday.

Chris & I only arrived in Hawaii yesterday afternoon after a very long journey from Queensland, Australia on arrival we spoke briefly to our pilot by phone which led to a meeting this morning.

My pilot believes the weather is looking OK for me to swim tomorrow starting at 3am.

Chris and i have to fly from Maui to the Hawaiian Big Island this afternoon while our pilot and paddler make the ten hour journey by boat. We will meet up with them when they arrive on the Big Island at 7pm. Then rest on the boat untill 1.30 am when we will motor to my starting point at Upolo Point, the northern tip of Hawaii, ready for a 3am jump. (Hawaii time, thats midnight on Tue going into Wed in Queensland and 9 am New York time for our American friends).

We had a short swim yesterday afternoon and another this morning, the sea is beautifully clear, fairly salty and cooler than at home in Townsville but not cold. It is Humpback Whale season here so we’re hoping to see some during our stay.

I have added the Hawaii swims website on the links page for those interested.

Talk to you on the other side (hopefully), happy swimming to all – Penny