Apr 04, 2026

FIELD NOTES: UNFINISHED LIMITS

There are ideas that sound ambitious.

And then there are ideas that immediately feel uncertain.

When Test Pilot Jack Bark approached us with the idea of a continuous prone circumnavigation of Oʻahu, we knew it was exactly the kind of challenge we’d expect from him. Known for out-of-the-box adventure paddles in California, Jack does this kind of thing for fun on his days off as an Los Angeles County firefighter.

Unlike California, an island has four sides, each exposing you to new conditions. Currents and unforeseen ocean activity around every corner. Not to mention the logistics of a 30+ hour continuous paddle. He was determined. No one was touching land until it was done. Jack leaned into the obsession and started assembling a crew.

Jack knew who to call first. Someone with fifteen years of shared miles and a long history of joining him on these kinds of missions.

“Lachie Lansdown is someone I knew I would call up right away. Someone who I knew could handle those long miles and all-nighter paddles.”

From there, the circle widened. Oʻahu friends, local watermen, logistics, boat captains, and support. Schedules layered on top of each other—fire shifts, container ships, travel windows, weather patterns.

It was Lachie, Davy (Thomas), and I paddling, with Toa (Pere) joining us for the first stretch. Sean Monahan running the boat, and Mark Rochelau, Keoni Watson, my brother (Sam Bark) and cousin Slader (Bark) helping on the boat and getting it all lined up.”

“Jack calls me and tells me that he’s got a plan to paddle around the island of Oʻahu. I instantly wanted to be a part of it because it’s my home island.”
— Toa Pere, Florence Test Pilot & 2025 Molokai2Oahu Runner-Up

It almost never does perfectly. But eventually, it lined up just enough. Flights were booked. Boards packed. Boat secured. Spam musubis stacked. And somewhere in that process, they committed.

“We kind of stopped looking at the forecast. We were already in go mode.”

The route looked simple on paper:

Start at Hawaiʻi Kai.
Push past China Walls.
Turn the corner at Makapuʻu.
Climb the east side.
Downwind the North Shore.
Night run on the west side.
Final push back into the trades.

120 miles.
30 to 36 hours.

“This paddle gives you the full spectrum—big ocean, downwind, upwind, four sides. Even if you get good weather, there’s always going to be a side that’s against you.”

Oʻahu gave them anything but a clean lap.

The following is the breakdown of the attempt, as told by Jack Bark, Toa Pere, and Lachie Lansdown. Photos by Slader Bark.

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Lachie Lansdown:
“We sort of thought we had a good window in the forecast, and then getting out there, we realized it was basically double any of the charts we looked at. We all kind of stopped looking at the forecast two or three days out because we had already committed to going.”

Jack Bark:
“The route started at Hawaiʻi Kai, and we timed it to ride the tide out, pulling us along China Walls and around Makapuʻu. We got through the reefs, hit China Walls, and it was a little bumpy as expected. Once we hit the bulk of the wall, it was heavy water. The sun was coming up and it was white-capping in our faces.

The buoys were 11 feet at 9 seconds—super tight interval, super steep swells.

When you’re on a 15-foot paddleboard, you’re never getting a good glide because you’re going against it. You’re just punching up, coming down, smashing the board. It felt like we were in a kickboxing match.”

Toa Pere:
“As soon as we turned that corner at China Walls, it was exactly what I thought it was going to be. But for the other guys, they hadn’t really been in water like that—they’re mostly from a flat-water environment. We pushed all the way up to Makapuʻu thinking it would turn into a good downwind to Turtle Bay, but the wind switched from in our faces to our sides.”

Jack Bark:
“After eight miles of just getting completely beat up, we turned Makapuʻu and there was no relief. We were still punching into it. We went another 12 or 13 miles from there and it was just a beating.”

Toa Pere:
“There were some cool moments too. Lachie spotted a whale and we saw it right in front of us—that was insane. We’re all just hanging out three miles outside the nearest beach, eating Uncrustables in deep blue water with giant swells around us.”

Jack Bark:
“I’ve never been seasick before paddleboarding, and...

I was seasick—throwing up, full-body cramps...

That ‘fuck you’ moment came after eight months of planning, five days boots on the ground… just getting punched in the face for five hours.”

Toa Pere:
“I ended up going in at Kailua—18 miles in four hours for me. As soon as I got in, I was sore. I kind of knew it wasn’t going to be very likely that they’d make it. If the east side kept looking like that, it was going to destroy them.”

Jack Bark:
“Lachie and Davy were the glue holding us together, but at a certain point we all knew—‘Hey, we’re pulling the plug.’ If we’re not making it to the North Shore, the further we go, the gnarlier it gets to come back.”

Lachie Lansdown:
“If you’re only paddling 50Ks, that’s fine. But when you’re looking at 30+ hours on the water, if you’re getting beat up in the first 10% of it, it’s not really looking good for the second half. You’ve got to make the call and accept defeat. It’s kind of like flying to Indo and getting skunked on a surf trip—still a really cool experience, getting those boys together in the middle of the Pacific for a good reason.”

Jack Bark:
“My biggest takeaway is to keep pursuing those big challenges, whether you’re confident you’ll complete them or not.