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New product brings Stand Up Paddle Surfing to the streets.
From surfboards to boogey boards and everything in between, entertainment in Hawaii typically involves getting your feet wet in the water. But for one perplexed tourist named Jason, things are about to change with another sport that may become part of the mainstream Aloha experience.
Enter the Kahuna Big Stick. It looks like a standard paddle you would see used for a stand up paddle surfboard, except at its end there are two high performance rubber wheel-like contacts built to ‘grip’ the surface of the pavement. That’s right, the road!
Jason first saw it after waking from a nap on the bus. He said, “I opened my eyes… and all I saw was this girl standing up paddling… I mean, I thought the bus somehow got so close to the water that I could just reach out and tap the girls shoulder. Then when the bus stopped, I realized she was paddling on the road!”
Using the Big Stick, the would-be stand up paddler goes through the same motion one would when stand up paddling on the water, but with a bit of a twist: you get to stay dry. With the means of the paddle, you are able to cruise around without leaving your board. Eric Cabrera, a student in University of Hawaii, said “I get the same feeling I get when stand up paddling on water, except that I really think I go a lot faster on the road than on water.”
The Kahuna Big Stick is the brainchild of Steve McBride, President of Kahuna Creations which primarily deals with surf, pavement, road, snow and fresh water boards. According to their website, “Kahuna Creations has invented a unique product to compliment longboarding. Much like a stand-up paddle (SUP) used in the ocean, the Kahuna Big Stick is designed to enhance the longboard experience on pavement.”
The basic Kahuna Big Stick costs between $90 and $180 and does not include a longboard. It’s comparative in price to other board sports, but according to devotees of the new sport, like Matt Danials, a tourist from California, “You will be using your Kahuna Big Stick more, since you wouldn’t need to check for waves. The road is always ready to give you a ride.”
So far, the North Shore has seen only a few these ‘land-paddlers,’ but it is a trend that could soon invade the sports enthusiasts here. Whether it will rank high on a board enthusiast’s list of things to do still remains to be seen, but based on the casual onlooker’s expressions of excitement and wonder, the Kahuna Big Stick could very well become a part of the surfing Ohana.
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