"Aloha means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. It is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. It's to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

It is this concept more than any other that distinguishes the Hawaiian culture. It also allows an outrigger canoe club and its members to grow and thrive."

Taken from the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club (KIOCC) guidebook.

This was my third paddle with the KIOCC. I initially joined their Sunday paddles as a way of cross-training for the surfski. I knew they were serious about racing so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a nice group of people who are serious athletes but who also like to have fun. They told me they like to win, but the club is more about team spirit than winning. It's a good group of people.



Sunday is novice day so there were a few other novices besides myself. Chip began the practice by demonstrating proper paddling technique and going over the commands. In an outrigger canoe each seat has a purpose. The person in seat 1 sets the pace while the person in seat 2 calls out the commands. The person in seat 6 (at the rear) steers the boat. Initially I was worried that my small size would be a drawback to participating, but Chip assured me that for the six person canoes it's all about rhythm.



Chip organized the boats and put me in seat two in the four person canoe. They also filled five spaces on the six person canoe. I hadn't been to practice for a few weeks so my canoe paddling skills were a little rusty. For one thing the paddle stroke for a wing paddle is entirely different from the paddle stroke for a canoe. The club likes to use nicknames (the only other one I remember is buttercup who set the pace in seat 1) and somehow I got the name surfski ... so surfski (me) was reprimanded more than once on the first leg of our paddle. That's ok. I needed to work out some bad strokes.



We took two breaks while we were out. At the first break, Chip went over paddling technique and he switched the boats around. I got switched to the six person canoe ... this time in seat three. I get the impression they like to keep the little people in the front. After the second break we headed back to the put-in and some people took out OC-1's ... one person outriggers. I went out for a paddle in the surfski but I didn't last very long. The wind had really kicked up and I was bracing every third to fifth stroke. I came back to shore and Neil encouraged me to go out again ... this time facing into the wind. I did. And I flipped. It took me three attempts to remount the surfski. And that was it for me for the day.

Aloha

Susanita