June 2009 - Pacific Paddler

Dale Hope
How did the Kahala
challenge come about
We were inspired by the Kukio
Challenge and what Mike Field,
Thibert Lussiaa and Sam Ainslie had
created on the Big Island. They started
a triathlon race that substituted a water
craft for the bike, bringing paddler’s
into the racing mix. Triathlete and
paddler Krishna Chatterjee met with
world class athlete Raul Boca and
really put their heads together and
visualized how the Kahala event would
be organized. Hui Nalu Paddler and
Kahala sales manager, Katie Scott,
ran the permits and provided supreme
overall organization. We had tremendous
support form our sponsors whose
products we sell in our Ala Moana
Kahala store. Kalapawai Cafe outdid
themselves with a spread of food
rarely seen at a paddling event.
Tell us about the winners
trophies
We felt that everyone has enough
mock koa bowls at home from years of
events, so we gave all of our winners
in each division, (first, second, and
third) a sprouting coconut. The 100
coconuts were all stenciled with
Kahala Challenge. We shared the
thought that each recipient take responsibility
for their coconut, planting and
nurturing it with their families, to eventually
raise an attractive tree for their
yard, providing shade and food. A
small contribution towards Reducing,
Reusing, Recycle and Replant!
Who participated
The event brought some of the best
Triathletes together with some of the
ocean’s finest paddlers and surfers
to compete together. Elite racers and
weekend athletes came to Kailua and
did their best, both proud of their
accomplishments. The middle to back
of the pack weekend racers were probably
even more jubilant being able to
compete with likes of John Flanagan,
Mark Cunningham and Bonga Perkins.
Tell us about your store
With Kahala, we have developed a
Talk Story Series at our Kahala Store.
Joining us so far has been Author and
former Hokulea sailor, Marion Lyman-
Mereserau who wrote the book "Eddie
Wen Go!" She and 3 former Crew
men of Hokulea came and did an
afternoon reading from her book. Dick
Brewer followed and talked about his
life as a pioneer surfboard shaper, and
Gerry Lopez followed with a memorable
talk and book signing with his
book, 'Surf Is Where You Find It'. We
are continuing this series and are days
away from announcing our next guest.
What were some of the
most exciting experiences
Left, Dale Hope makes the final
dash to the finish line. Below, Dale
Hope (center) with his relay teammates,
Jaco Van Delden who did
the running portion of the Kahala
Challenge (red shirt) and Mike
Field, who handled the swimming
leg. Dale completed the relay on a
paddleboard.
you've had in a canoe
The Avalanche Project with Aka
and Tommy Holmes. Tommy wanted to
get pictures for his yet to be published
Hawaiian Canoe book, so being
young and eager to be a part of any
thing to do with a Hawaiian Canoe,
we joined Tommy on a day where the
North Shore was pretty well closed
out from Pipeline to Hale’iwa. We
attempted towing the canoe in with Jeff
Johnson driving the 'Kaku', a nearly
30 foot fishing boat. The line broke,
and we went back to paddling in
to the large swells at Avalanche out
side the Harbor at Hale’iwa. I can
remember thinking, as Tommy would
go for waves, that Aka should have
been our steersman.
The ocean is a repeating
theme in your shirts, what
is your inspiration
The ocean for me is where I yearn
to go from the moment I wake up. Will
it be a day to surf, paddle, swim — it
really does not matter to me there is so
much to enjoy. Without the ocean in
my day, I can get pretty grumpy.
I pretty much surf small waves when
we have them in town, swimming,
finding shells occasionally, and paddle
boarding.
I have worked on thousands of
shirts, usually with very talented artists,
textile artists or fine artists. We pick
a theme and collaborate together to
put all the definitive elements into the
design to make it true to its own story.
We recently collaborated with Dick
Brewer. He drew out all the Surfboards
that he did that were significant
starting from 1961. It was a beautiful
design and it noted some of the pivotal
boards of that time from some of the
best riders of that era as well. I enjoy
researching a design to ensure that
what we are doing is authentic, so that
when the guy 'in the know' sees that
particular shirt, he acknowledges that
'hey, that’s a pretty cool design and
shirt'. We have done several canoe
designs over the years that we did lots
of research on — so as to be correct
and aesthetically pleasing.
How did you start
designing shirts
My dad got into the industry right
after the war, and I spent a lot of my
childhood in his factory with my mom
who also worked there. As a teenager,
I used to shop the thrift shops for older
shirts, really hunting down fun ones. I
always wore aloha shirts from kindergarten
through high school. When
my father asked me to join him, I said
'yes', but only if I could make men’s
shirts, as he was concentrating then on
women’s resort apparel.
We started slow and eventually the
men’s side took over and we closed
the women’s line down.
What inspired you to write
your book
Tommy Holmes really wanted to do
a book on the Aloha Shirt. He asked
me if I could jot down what should be
in the book, and who he should talk to.
I spent some time with a list of topics
and people and companies for him to
meet. He saw it and said, 'get ready,
this is going to be a Hope and Holmes
book'. In the middle of trying to find a
donor and publisher, we unfortunately
lost Tommy. He was paddling with
Nappy Napoleon and had a heart
problem during an evening training
session, and they were unable to
revive him… so I really had a deep
desire to fulfill Tommy’s dream and my
own interest to push ahead and make
the book a reality. I had to sell a house
on Lanai and take a year off from work
to pull it all together. I would paddle
my one-man in the early morning with
a dedicated group of paddlers, with
no nonsense work outs put together
by Walter Guild, then spend the
rest of the day doing interviews,
researching and learning how books
come together. Walter’s routine got me
through it. I was grateful to be a part
of his group which mentally got me
ready for the rest of the day, to concentrate
on the project.
When did you go retail
Our store started with Valdimer
Ossipoff who designed a North Shore
Beach House. It evolved from there
with Architects Wendy Tsugi and Frank
Frost. With the small space, we had
to be efficient as to how we would be
able to showcase our clothes; our shirts
and shorts. We incorporated fine art,
paintings by artist Michael Cassidy,
boards from renown shapers Gerry
Lopez, Renny Yater, Tom Parrish, Greg
Noll, and unusually long racing paddle
boards by Joe Bark.
Now they have expanded to their
location to Ala Moana Shopping
Center.
16 June ‘09, Pacific Paddler pacificpaddler.com June ‘09 17