1996

I was a sea kayak enthusiast looking for a new challenge. So on a hot summer day I heard an ad on the radio for a kayak race in north-eastern Québec, 7 hours away from my home. The race was La Grande Traversée, a 55km crossing of the St-Lawrence River. I never had raced before, so that was a great way to start. I registered, sent my money, got ready for the longest paddle of my life.

On the day before the race, I drove to Forestville. The organisers made me fill a medical declaration. After I checked the « yes » box beside the « Do you have diabetes?” question, I was told that I could not enter the race. Followed a long discussion with the race director about why I did not drive 7 hours for nothing and that I would be crossing the river weather I was registered for the race or not. After much negotiation, he let me enter. The initial goal for me was just to enjoy the view and have a safe crossing with fellow paddlers. But now I felt like I had something to prove to myself and to the organisers; that diabetes should no be considered an obstacle to long distance paddling.

Not knowing what to expect, I started with a slow pace but I went faster as the finish got closer. The sky, the wind, the water and the crowd were perfect. The race was an amazing experience. To my great surprise, I got 5th place in sea kayak class. Not bad for a first race. I was also glad to demonstrate that diabetes was not a handicap. But more important, I was totally hooked on kayak racing!

There was another revelation on that day. There were people, some with exotic sounding accents for this small French-Quebecois village, who showed up with some torpedo looking kayaks. It was the first time I saw surfskis. I had to try one of those one day. I also heard a gentleman, Mr Joe Glickman, who was asked what he thought of this race and who answered:”It’s the Molokai of the north…” In my new quest for more races, I had to look this up! After I did, I new It was not for me, at least not in the near future

1998

I was still enjoying the very few local races until I got a kayak/bicycle shoulder injury. I had an appointment with the doctor who treated the Montréal Expos baseball players. After examining me briefly, he told me that I should seriously consider retiring from racing, and perhaps from paddling all together. This was really not the answer I was looking for. I took a very long break away from paddling during witch I tried different kinds of treatment, some of those treatments sounding like a real joke to anyone interested in hard science like me.

Mucho dinero later, I found a shoulder specialist and a sports therapist who designed an exercise program specific for my type of injury. Progress was very slow and painful, but still there was progress.

2001

I could finally start paddling again. Just to remove some stress on my right side, I switched my paddling from right control to left. I was not strong enough for racing, but it felt so good to be back in the water. I was grateful to Life for every paddle stroke!

I celebrated my recovery by ordering my first surfski; a nice Current Designs Speedster. (Note that at that time, it was the only model easily available in Québec and that even today getting a ski can be a challenge.) I was convinced that with my sea kayaking experience, my mastery of my new surfski was a question of hours. On my first 30 minute session, I must have swum 20 times. I was surprised how unstable this boat was and thought that all the surfskis were like this. For those who never had the privilege of trying one, the Speedster was given the nickname “Tipster” by many. So I spent my summer mastering that beast and by fall I could go out in almost any conditions and almost have a good time.

2002

My shoulder kept on improving so I started to take part in some local races. My times went from awful to OK, but almost every time, I found what I was looking for in kayak racing; FUN!

2006

One day, I got stuck in a meeting at work about how the Ministry of Education wanted to destroy a perfectly good science program with its reform. In order to get to know the other people around the table and to lighten up the mood, specially mine, the host asked us to introduce ourselves and tell the others about one of our life dreams, realistic or not. So here I go: “Bonjour! My name is Richard Germain and I dream of doing the Molokai Challenge…” A few explanations followed about the nature of this event…

Although the meeting was a total waste of tax payers’ money, this little game was the first time I said this out loud and it made me realize how much I would love to do it. The timing was perfect. I had just finished paying my house, and although I was still a mid-pack racer in big events like the Blackburn, my times were still improving, so was the fun I had at races. So I said to my wife:” In 2009, how would you like to spend the whole month of May in Hawaii so I can do the Molokai and we could celebrate your 40th birthday?” My wife, who lives to travel, took about 3 nanoseconds to accept.

2006-2009

I started training more seriously, doing more volume, more races.

The peak of my training came in the last year. It was not easy for me to get some good paddling done in the winter months leading up to Molokai. However, I was able to get very helpful and encouraging training advice from Joe Glickman and Guillaume Morin. From mid December to late March, my paddling territory is frozen except for a 700m patch on the Outaouais River with enough current to keep it open. So I must I made a zillion loops around that patch, sometimes at a temperature of minus 15 Celsius.

I relied a lot on my paddling machine, on running, but the most enjoyable part of my training was freeskate cross-country skiing. It has speed, great cardio workout, great arms and shoulders workout. Moreover, it allowed me not to go crazy by seeing friends on the trails; paddling in my basement or in an icy river does not create many social interactions.

It’s a paradox! You need to work to be able to afford the Molokai, but work always gets in the way of training. Things that make you go hmmm?

2009-05

Click to view Kurt's great video of Richard's adventure

Click to View Kurt's Great Video of Richard's Adventure


Oahu!! So beautiful! My first mission was to find a vehicle to move around and with a roof rack to carry a surfski. I found a place which rented some very used cars but at a very reasonable price. We ended up with what was certainly the stinkiest mini van in Hawaii. So stinky, we had to drive with the windows open even if the AC was on…

I got a call from DeAnne Hemmens telling me my XT was available at Loren Lasher’s place, a friend of hers. Loren is a first class gentleman, taking time to fit the surfski perfectly to my taste, giving us the most useful local knowledge and going way beyond any expectation to help us have a great trip after the Molo.

On the first morning I had my ski, I drove to Hawaii Kai to have my first session. It was a good plan. It started in calm water, and as I paddled out of the bay, the surf got slightly bigger; perfect to get used to the new boat and the new water.

As I got closer to Chinaman Wall, I felt something was very wrong with my sun glasses. The colors were totally off! I took them off, and nothing changed. The water went from bright turquoise to very deep blue, as if someone had poured dye in the water. I was so concentrated on these beautiful colors that I came close to huli a couple of times as I was looking in the water beside me instead of at the waves coming at me.

When I got to Chinaman Wall, the conditions were intimidating; surf crashing everywhere on the wall, rebounding waves and irregular interference. I was not quite sure I was having fun, but I could paddle in that soup and I was staying upright.

On May 10th, there was the Makapu’u race, a 25 km downwind along Oahu’s coast. This was the most exciting Downwind I have ever done. The conditions were near perfect; blue sky, blue water, great waves with some 3 to 5 meter high sections and great surf riding as we finished in Waikiki. I finished in the back of the pack, but I had so much fun and that race gave me the confidence I needed for the Molokai the following week. Even Chinaman Wall was fun and almost easy now.

In the next few days, everything fell into place perfectly. My friend and race buddy, Kurt was there. I went to the finish of an OC-1 race and talked to someone who knew someone else that would be my escort Captain; Phil, who turned out to be a super guy and probably the most dependable captain I could have wished for. The chemistry within my team was perfect and I was in good hands.

Got to Molokai the day before the race. The plane was filled with big names.

Patrick Hemmens offered Kurt and me a ride Kaluakoi. The peace and quiet on this island was a welcome change from noisy Waikiki. Once at the west end, there was a screw up with our condo. I thought for a while that I was going to sleep on the beach, but things turned out alright. There was a meeting. I learned then that there was going to be fewer paddlers than normally expected. The wind and waves were going to be against us, and this kept some people away.

Molo-day!! I woke up early after a good night’s sleep, happy to have been spared by the hungry ant colony sharing our room. Breakfast, stretching, all is ready, time to go to the beach. Since the Makapu’u race, I felt confident and relaxed, but when I got to the beach, whoa! “ OK, now I’m nervous!” I told Kurt. The scene was impressive; surfskis everywhere, jet-skis buzzing around, paddlers looking for their escort, escorts looking for their paddler and a shore break getting bigger, looking to eat up a surfski during a badly timed attempt to launch to the ocean.

I got out OK. It felt great just to be on the water. As I got to my escort, a big sea turtle paid me a visit. It swam right under me and I was able to touch its shell. So cool! This was going to be a great day, no matter what wind we got.

8h59min57, start line…. Some jerks tried to jump the start, as if this mattered in a 52 km race! 9h00, that’s it! The top guys are moving so fast, it’s very impressive. I keep a pace which I know will allow me to finish, but clearly not with an impressive time. But that’s fine, that’s not the reason why I’m here.

As the escorts went to get their paddlers 20 minutes after the start, there was a mashing machine section. These were the hardest paddling condition of the whole race. The rest was quite calm compared to this.

The heat was stifling. Training in the snow did not really prepare me for this temperature. I felt sea sick for 15 minutes; I concentrated on my breathing and it passed. I was thankful for the cold water showers I got from my escort.

I had a great stable surfing boat, but I felt I could have been a bit faster with something a bit more nervous. But I was not at Chinaman yet… who knows?

On several occasions, I had the privilege of seeing flying fish. These guys really go fast and far!

I had my GPS on navigation mode, telling me the remaining distance to Koko Head Marina. To motivate myself, I associated these distances to paddles I knew well; at the start, “this is like la Grande Traversée”, 33km left, “this is a Blackburn”, 20km left, “this like going to Oka beach and back”….and so on.

I never shared this with anyone but my wife, but every race I do has a soundtrack. A song gets into my head and I keep singing it over and over; a new song for every race. My subconscious DJ did a very good job on this one. The song was very appropriately “ J’irai jusqu’au bout” by French punk rock band Les Shériff, literally translated “ I will go all the way”. So when I heard that many racers where quitting along the way because of the very tough condition, I kept singing…”J’irai jusqu’au bout!!”

Since the wind was coming from Oahu, I could smell the Island 20km away. I never thought I could recognize and island by its smell, but it’s certainly very different than Molokai’s.

Crossing the channel is a big challenge on its own. I think that paddling with type 1 diabetes adds some to the challenge. Last fall, a pharmaceutical company promised me they would lend me a wireless real-time glucose monitor for the race. When I contacted them in April, they announced me, without any other warning, that their policy had changed and that they would not lend me the monitor. So I had to come up with plan B. I took a regular monitor, made it almost water proof with a plastic shield, except for the electrode port, I stuck it on a wooden pole along with the lancing device. So twice along the way, I asked Kurt to hold the monitor out of the boat, pricked my finger, got the sample on the electrode and resumed paddling. 15 seconds later, Kurt would shout the result to me. It was a good system, but I’m not sure how long this would have taken me in a 5 meter swell…

When I got to Chinaman, it was bumpy, but not even close to what it was like the week before. I was tired but everything was OK. Some very welcome light rain made things a bit cooler. The wind had picked up and the surf was coming from a different direction than at the time of my practice run. My visual markers were somewhat useless now. Getting close to the bridge, I caught a nice wave but at the end of my run, when it broke, my angle was off so I went for a swim. 5 minutes left and I swim!!! It cooled me off but my foot hit the reef; quite painful! Quick remount, back to paddling…Under the bridge, towards the Marina. Time for a last flat water sprint. I felt so good when I heard my name on the PA and my wife cheering for me! I had made it! 5h55min40s, quite slow, but I made it! The first Québécois to do the Molokai Challenge. ( Perhaps the first guy with diabetes? Could someone invalidate or confirm that?)

The next morning at the Park Shore, I came across a very nice fellow paddler from Australia. He told me that I should not worry about the time it took me; because I had conquered the Everest of surfski!

I would like to thank some people without whom this quest would not have been this enjoyable:

-My wife Chantale, for understanding my love of surfski paddling and letting me invest all the time needed to train for something like this.

-Marc-André Renaud for agreeing to substitute for me.

-All my 2008-2009 students for their support and making that school year the best ever.

-Kurt Raihn for being a valuable race buddy, for the cool surf sessions and for making a great video of my Molokai experience.

-Joe Glickman for his advice, encouragement and inspiring writing.

-Patrick and DeAnne Hemmens, for all their help and first class service.

-Loren Lasher for his help and for being the best guide in Hawaii.

-Phil Castle for being the most dependable escort captain on the channel.

-Wesley Echols for is helpful advise and correcting my English in this text!!

Richard Germain

Terrasse-Vaudreuil, Québec