Team Ohana Rows for a Cure and for Veterans

By Mike Lednovich

Fernandina Beach-based Team Ohana began its 2,800-mile journey Monday to row from Monterey, California, to Kauai, Hawaii to raise funds for K9s for Warriors and the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

The four-person crew consists of Paul Lore of Fernandina Beach, Matt Steinlin of Jacksonville, Iris Noordzij of the Netherlands and Marina Hunziker of Switzerland.

The group had been training in Fernandina Beach before departing for California earlier this month.

Thus far, the Ohana team has raised $62,000 for their causes.

The Ohana team departed Monterey at 10:15 a.m. EST Monday in their 24-foot boat Courageous. The inaugural Pacific Challenge includes 14 teams participating from around the world.

“Four rowers, three countries, hundreds of communities and thousands of supporters working together for others …” Team Ohana said on its Facebook page. “Our goal is to raise $500,000 for each nonprofit to help ‘Find a Cure’ and to ‘Help End Veteran Suicide.'”

Lore had previously participated in the team FOAR from Home row that included three other Fernandina Beach veterans across the Atlantic that raised $912,000.

Of his new Ohana team, Lore told the Jacksonville Times-Union, “All of us were immediately connected by each other’s passion and leadership toward one another’s charity and our connection with the extreme sport of ocean rowing. Once we all completed the Atlantic crossing and all of us were back in our hometowns, we all stayed connected in conversation and started again to talk about the possibilities of crossing another ocean but this time with one another.”

Lore was recently profiled in People magazine.

“The Pacific is significantly more challenging because of the multiple currents, the cold water, big waves and fog that reduces visibility to zero at times,” he told People in this week’s issue of the 48-day row. “The sleep deprivation is also really hard and so is the seasickness because if you’re not eating, your body breaks down from being depleted of nutrients. It’s a totally unsupported race. If things go haywire, nobody is coming to your rescue.”

Donations can be made at the Team Ohana website https://ohana2023.com/donate/