Standup Paddleboarding With the Naish Crew in Maui, Hawaii

Article and photos by Jeoffrey Nathan

After a long seventeen hour plane ride I woke up ready to grab some loaner SUP boards from the Naish Worldwide Headquarters in Haiku, Hawaii.

To reach Haiku you have to drive along a very scenic highway that runs right along the Pacific Ocean along with some of the best surfing, windsurfing, swell chasing, and kiting destinations in Hawaii. I completely understood why Robby decided to put his headquarters in a location that some people might call in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t imagine a better commute to work and having your staff completely inspired to design kiteboarding equipment, windsurfing equipment, surfboards, and SUPs after a drive like that.

I showed up at headquarters and took a tour of the whole facility, from R&D teams for each division, to the graphics and marketing department. I met up with the development team and discussed where SUP is going in the US market. I wasn’t able to get too much out of them on what’s next from Naish in 2011, everything in the R&D warehouse was buttoned up tight and if I did see anything I wouldn’t be able to tell you because they might put hit out on me!

After my tour and meet and greets, Dave, who is in-charge of the Naish pro-team, asked if I wanted to go for a downwinder. Within an hour we were at the Naish house in Paia, loading up the pickup with Glides and some new shapes. We headed up the North Shore along the Hana Highway to put in at Maliko Bay which is just down the road from Jaws. The Naish crew was telling me along the drive that the conditions today were the best they had seen in a very long time with good size swells and a steady 25-knot plus breeze.

Michi, Robby Naish, and Jeoffrey

When we pulled into Maliko Bay, Robby Naish was standing there with a big smile on his face pacing in excitement to get out on the water. Robby’s crew were almost out of sight after the first two miles. Robby is a machine and after only a mile was easily two hundred yards ahead of the second Naish team member. My office legs quickly got back to being sea legs in the huge swells and the glides were long with some seeming like they went on forever. Sea turtles the size of bath tubs were constantly right out in front of us, and at times it seemed like I needed to steer to avoid them. Turtles might have a reputation of being slow but once you get a few feet away from them they move quickly and dive. About a mile offshore we were passing famous surfing locations like Ho’okipa and there were at least a dozen windsurfers and kiters out there enjoying big swells and gusty winds. After mile number four I had wished I had taken the Red Bull I was offered, and by mile six I was very happy to reach the beach and was greeted by the rest of the crew.

After the paddle I threw down some fish and chips in the sleepy surf town of Paia. On my return drive to Lahaina I stopped at the Naish Maui Pro Center, which was bricked out from floor to ceiling with kites, boards, bags, bars, windsurfing boards, sails, paddles, SUPs, and clothing. Looking through a catalog you have no idea how large Naish’s line is until you get it all into one building, very impressive. I was greeted by two really nice ladies that run the Naish Pro Center who taught me more about boards, paddles, and board construction in two hours than I had learned over the past couple of years!

Thank you to the entire Naish crew and we hope to see you all out on the East Coast soon.