Hawaii adventure — Above

When we designed the RuckRaft we envisaged a range of adventures - from 2 hours to 2 days. But we never envisaged something like this….

In May Dennis in Seattle bought three RuckRafts for him and his buddies to do a trip in Hawaii. Our head was full of crystal waters, Magnum Pi, white sandy beaches and cocktails at the end of the day.

We’ve read Dennis’ account below a few times now. And every time we feel a mix of fear and admiration. But mostly fear. Like Magnum PI, they really could have needed TJ in the chopper to bail them out.

Here is the trip of Dennis Buckingham, Mike Webber and Walter Beaver in Dennis’ own words.

Our trip was a 4-day traverse of the northern Molokai sea-cliffs. These are the tallest cliffs in the Pacific and one of the most remote shores in Hawaii. We had a handheld EPIRB to notify the Coast Guard if need be, and we also had an Iridium sat phone that I was using to report our position each night.

Conditions were less than ideal with 20-25 knot winds and 5 foot seas. The smart thing would have been to call the whole thing off, but at 20-25 we felt we could handle it so we went.

We made surf entries and exits several times a day, often in exposed/dangerous spots through wave-washed rocks, and the Ruckrafts proved very durable.

THEN, once we were already off the edge of the map, the forecast was upgraded for our crux , final swim day and there wasn't much we could do but quit and call the helicopter or carry on.

The wind increased to 30 knots with gusts to 41 and we swam 7 miles through 7-8 foot seas. Through churning whitewater gaps and along stomach-dropping rebound walls.

I can’t say it was fun; I vomited 13 times that day, often clutching my Ruckraft in the middle of hellish convergence zones, but with a few things in our favor (your Ruckrafts being a major one) we stuck to it, made it through, and even arrived at our designated pickup site right on time!

The whole thing turned out to be far more challenging than any of us expected. It was pretty much all we could do to survive and complete the trek.

The Ruckrafts pulled smoothly and floated lightly despite our 35-40 pound packs. I don’t know if we could have done it without them. We were all impressed with it in every way, and can think of no improvements. Awesome product, thank you Above Below.

No problem at all Dennis, Mike and Walter - hope they have something a little less daunting for their next trip!