From Shadowed Isles: A Chronicle of Lōkahi's Striving

Upon a day draped in the sun’s oppressive glare, Saturday, the twenty-sixth of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, a contest of mortal endurance did unfold – the Island to Island Long Distance Race, an aqueous gauntlet thrown down by the entity known as Team Olelo. From the shores of Sand Island, the crafts, like specters upon the deep, did embark upon their grim sojourns.

The crews of Lōkahi, souls bound to the oar and the caprice of the waves, ventured into this watery abyss, their endeavors etched into the mournful annals of the race.

The Long Expanse – A Dirge of Effort

Over the Long Course, a wearying trek from the ocean's maw to Magic Island, then veering round the desolate needle buoy and back, did the Lōkahi crafts etch their passage:

• In the somber category of Traditional Men Novice, the canoe christened "Mauna Lani Kai" (47a), bearing its Lōkahi burden, did achieve the tenth station overall, a fleeting marker in the relentless flow of time, completing its toil in 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 17.37 seconds. Within their specific division, they found themselves in the third position – a hollow echo of victory.
• The "Randy" (27), another vessel of Lōkahi, navigating the Traditional Men Open division, arrived at the thirteenth overall reckoning, its journey measured at 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 35.21 seconds. Their divisional fate was sealed at the sixth place.

The Shorter Torment – Fleeting Phantoms on the Brine

Even the Short Course, a passage from the ocean's embrace to Kewalo and the sorrowful return, offered no true respite, only a more concentrated form of despair:

• Here again, the "Mauna Lani Kai" (47), now contending in the Traditional Mixed Novice division, found its place amongst the spectral fleet. It was decreed the twentieth overall finisher, with a time of 40 minutes and 52.77 seconds. Within the narrow confines of their division, this earned them the third rank, a pale shadow on the waters.

Thus, from the shadowed isles and the brooding ocean, did the Lōkahi crews contend, their struggles a fleeting narrative whispered by the sighing waves. Each stroke a testament to human frailty against the vast, indifferent expanse, their moments of placement but faint glimmers in the overarching gloom of the ceaseless, unforgiving sea.