For millennia, the vast Pacific expanse drew explorers from Asia
and the Malay Archipelago. With only stars and the tides to guide them, the
ancient South Pacific people made the myriad islands their home, and wherever
their boats took them, they brought tradition, family, and a reverence for the
land and sea. Even today, Pacific Islander values and skills are alive at the
Kilohana Outrigger Canoe Club (KOCC) in Redwood City and Fremont.
Austronesian peoples began to fan out across the South
Pacific about 3000 B.C. Traveling through through Indonesia, New Guinea, the Philippines,
and Melanesia, by about 900 BC they had settled as much as 3600 miles further
east in places like Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Melanesians arrived in Hawaii around 300 CE bringing outrigger
technologies that by then were millennia old and highly evolved.
Experimentation had produced specific lashing and rigging techniques to fit the
spars (iako) to the float (ama). Learning the necessary skills took years.
Today, the Hawaiian outrigger (wa’a), may be fiberglass or carbon fiber, and
the outrigger connected by metal hardware, but the tradition and lore
surrounding the ancient maritime practice remains, setting outrigger canoeing
apart from other modern water sports.
The KOCC is modeled on the canoe racing traditions of Hawai’i,
where racing has long been an important part of island life. Occupying Europeans
of the nineteenth century banned the sport in 1820, but in 1876 King David
Kalakaua reinstated it. By 1908 the first outrigger canoe clubs were founded
and the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association was founded in 1950. There are an estimated
25,000 outrigger canoe paddlers worldwide, and the number is growing rapidly.
The fundamental value of the sport of outrigger racing is
ohana, or family. The word ohana comes from 'oha, or root of the taro plant. For
Hawaiians, the taro plant was foundational to their origins in both a
mythological and physical sense. One ancient ancestor was Haloa, whose name
means long stem, like that of the taro plant. The root is a reminder of
connectedness and that no matter how distant the tips from the central core,
all are related. Moreover, taro was a multi-use plant that sustained life with
both food and medicine.
Ohana also implies that canoes and their crews are members
of a single family in equal standing. The spirit of the living Koa tree remained
in the canoe made from it and functioned as living relative. Not all trees were
canoe-worth, though. The 'elepaio bird (flycatcher) gained the status of a
canoe-goddess named Lea. If the 'elepaio pecked at the trunk of a tree, it had
worms and wasn’t canoe-worthy.
Today’s outriggers are mostly made from fiberglass or carbon
fiber; nonetheless, outrigger crews revere the boats as the ancients did;
moreover, because the canoe is entrusted to carry paddlers safely into the
ocean and home again, rules of proper respect are observed, including never
stepping over the body of the canoe and never swearing in the canoe. Kilohana
OCC preserves these traditions, and before every race, a ceremony reminds the
racers of their familial ties and mutual respect.
The Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association governs
nearly two dozen outrigger racing associations. The six-person outrigger canoe
season runs February through October and features two types of events. The
sprint regatta consists of a variety of short courses, which Kilohana Club
President Raul Aquino likens to a track meet: “You’ll have men’s and women’s
events and events by age group, in several distance categories.”
Long distance events start at two miles for the keiki
(children), but for the adults they range from 5 to 20 miles and more. The
annual world-class race between Molokai and Oahu (Moloka’i Hoe for the men and
the Na Wahine ‘O Ke Kai for the women) covers a 42 mile stretch of open ocean.
Every year both long distance and sprint races are held in
rotating venues around Northern California. Locations include Sausalito, Crissy
Field (San Francisco), Santa Cruz, Redwood City, Lake Tahoe, Monterey, Lake
Natoma (Sacramento), Benicia, San Leandro, Berkeley, Alameda, Lake Del Valle,
Shadow Cliffs, and Fremont.
In addition to the NCOCA-sanctioned canoe races, Kilohana
competes in races located in Southern California, including Santa Barbara, San
Luis Obispo, and the greater Los Angeles area. During the fall and winter, many
paddlers participate in the Wave Chaser Series races with V-1 and V-2 ( one and
two-person) outrigger canoes.
“People come because they’re interested in water sports,”
says Aquino, “but they see that there is much more; we honor the traditions
that have been perpetuated and handed down to us by the people that have come
before us. The driving force for the Club is really the culture that’s behind
it. We have a sport, but it’s the cultural foundation that lifts up the sport.”
Kilohana is happy to supply paddles and life vests to new paddlers
(annual dues are $225, $75 for kids, plus special family rates), but most crew
members eventually purchase their own equipment. Paddles come in a variety of
sizes and materials from wood to carbon fiber and range from about $150 to $350
and up; flotation vests range $25 to $55 and up.
The most popular spectator events are the sprint regattas,
but the last one for this season has already past. There are several long
distance races coming up through September, though. The next one is the Kilohana
Klassic on July 29 that starts at KOCC’s Redwood City location. For more
information, visit www.kilohanaocc.org/events.
If you are interested in visiting the Club and attending a
practice:
Adult practices
Tuesdays and Thursdays
5:30 p.m. meet
6:00 p.m. on the water
Saturdays
8:00 a.m. meet
8:30 a.m. on the water
Keike (kids and teens)
Wednesdays
5:30 p.m. meet
6:00 p.m. on the water
Sundays 8:30 a.m. meet
9:00 a.m. on the water
500 Discovery Parkway, Redwood City
For more information: contactkilohana@gmail.com
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