Ninety miles from Dubai, is the capital city of the UAE. Its name is Abu Dhabi, and a $3 billion hotel is just the beginning of the story.   http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune

The hotel I am referring to is the Emirates Palace it cost $3 billion to build, boasts 1,002 Swarovski crystal chandeliers and a gold-leaf dome larger than the one atop St. Paul's Cathedral in London. In the distance, glittering in the aqua-blue Persian Gulf, are dozens of islands that will one day sprout skyscrapers, hotels, museums, hospitals, and factories financed in part by the $200 billion to be spent here over the next ten years.

How many places in the world can say, 'I'm going to establish an airline,' and boom, two years later you have 21 planes and 37 destinations? How many places in the world can say, 'I need 15,000 hotel rooms,' and boom, you have 100 new hotels in the works? How many places can say, 'I want world-class hospitals, universities, and museums,' and boom, the Sorbonne, Cleveland Clinic, Guggenheim, and Louvre are on the way?"

Welcome to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the richest city in the world. The emirate's 420,000 citizens, who sit on one-tenth of the planet's oil and have almost $1 trillion invested abroad, are worth about $17 million apiece. (A million foreign workers don't share in the wealth.) Yet most people couldn't find Abu Dhabi on a map, but not for much longer.

It’s ‘coming out’ is about the biggest thing happening in the region & paddler’s will be pleased to know that they are not getting left behind.

The Abu Dhabi Ocean Warriors

Led by the dedicated president of the club Damien Pennefather the Ocean Warriors,  have been up and running for about 3 years and  have around 40 members that range from daily paddlers, to the less frequent weekly paddlers. With boat storage facilities at the Abu Dhabi International marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) near the Marina Mall.

The home of the Warriors

Damien 1st started to paddle in Dubai when he met Rob Klok at Dubai Offshore Sailing club, and soon was dedicated to mastering the sport. He moved away from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and was determined to establish the “Abu Dhabi Ocean Warriors (ADOW)” (Please visit the website www.adow.ae) – Plenty of hard work, blood, sweat and a few beers and some three years later the club is steadily gaining in numbers.

The club has a social core & a few ‘speed merchants’ who compete in the DSKC events in Dubai and a record 7 members took on the 2008 Shamaal. The warriors have also held their own races in the city, with very encouraging feedback from the Dubai boys who visit, for good water & excellent organization.

So, the sport is growing in the city & it was decided to bring out the big ‘O’ to do a clinic, making sure, the guys were actually paddling properly.
So with the big guy coming to town the word got out that you could learn to paddle from a ‘basic’ perspective in the morning, ride downwind with him in the afternoon & try to drink him under the table that night.

January  is chilly early in the morning in the Desert (hard to believe, but true) and there were a few long faces when Oscar had the guys waste deep in the water at 7.30am, learning the science of a ‘wing’ paddle, but soon the fleet was off out to sea to practice what was said on the beach.

A solid breakfast was required & Oscar was thanked for coming, given a club shirt, paddling

vest & most importantly a beer mug, by the members.  Every paddler received a poster.

PIC ADOW PRESIDENT GIVES OC SHIRT, RACING TOP & BEER MUG

25 km wind blew in the afternoon & we had huge swell – the most perfect conditions for a class from the downwind master. The conditions were a little extreme & cold for us desert people, but the guys loved it.

The beer drinking competition was on from 8pm & all I will say is that we had 1 warrior standing at 3am in a Fillipino ‘sing along’ club. Oscar was there, but was not standing if you know what I mean. The warriors said all along ‘we might be small, but count us!”