There's still time for apply for the second round of the Heal Grant. Deadline is March 17th.
Article below republished from Kīkaha O Ke Kai Newsletter March 4.
March Talk Story: The Newsletter of Kīkaha O Ke Kai
By Mike Gordon / March 4, 2025
Kīkaha adds two of the lightest canoes available to its fleet
Kīkaha O Ke Kai is expecting twins, with a due date hopefully this summer.
The club purchased two Kai Wa‘a Hydra Pro OC6 canoes, dubbed “the twins,” after receiving a $25,000 grant from the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. The grant also allowed the club to refurbish three of its older canoes.
The Hydra Pro is the newest and lightest design available. Kai Wa‘a says the hull weight for the pro model is 99 pounds. Fully rigged, it weighs just over 127 pounds.
Club officials call them the twins because they will have similar black and yellow color schemes. Kaimana (Power of the Sea) will have a black bow and a yellow ama, and Kai Koa (Sea Warrior) will have a yellow bow and a black ama.
Kīkaha learned about the grant when Nellie Bell, club vice president, received an email in November from Hannah Tol, the community environmental justice manager at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. Tol said Kīkaha was a perfect applicant because the Tacoma canoe club actively promoted Hawaiian culture. The two organizations were in sync, Bell said.
“I had to read the email twice,” Bell said. “This was amazing.”
What happened next was faster than a downwind run in the Gorge: Kīkaha applied and two weeks later, Tol was handing Bell a check.
Kīkaha and the cultural center have enjoyed a long relationship, primarily through the efforts of club member Boy Chun Fook, who for years has set up cultural displays and canoes at the center’s annual Asia Pacific New Year Celebration, said Kanai Hyke, Kīkaha president.
New canoes are vital to the continued growth of the club, Hyke said.
“The reason we wanted another canoe is because we simply need one,” he said. “People have been turned away at practice because we don’t have enough seats.”
There is no firm timetable yet for the arrival of the canoes but the club is hoping before this summer, Hyke said.
Hyke said Kīkaha was able to arrange for a demo pricing, which created savings to purchase a second canoe. Under the arrangement, Kīkaha will allow other canoe clubs to try one of the Hydras, he said.
Bell had praise for the Kīkaha board, which had to approve use of club funds in the arrangement.
“We were so close to a second canoe, we said let’s do it,” she said. “Our board of amazing people rallied to quickly to get this done. I was blown away at their efficiency. The board allocated funds available for capital improvements to reward members.”
John Richardson, a long-time club member, said obtaining the new canoes represent the “dedication and sacrifice of our members” to bring the newest designs to Kīkaha.
“It highlights our commitment to continuous innovation and modernization, as well as our ability to dream, plan, work together, and execute on meaningful projects,” he said.
“Beyond just being a piece of equipment, it supports our long-term vision of perpetuating outrigger paddling and expanding our mission to be inclusive, reaching beyond the borders of our city.”
Richardson said past club members will be invited to the blessing to make the event “a real homecoming.”
Refurbishing work on three of the club’s oldest spec canoes – Nai‘a O Ke Kai, Kalenakai and Manu – began Feb. 1 in Spanaway. For nearly three weeks, club members got down and dusty scraping decals and sanding canoes in preparation for a new gel coat for each one. Nordlund Boat Builders, a club sponsor, is helping with the gel coat work in Tacoma.
Kīkaha members also gathered to sand and refinish the iakos for each canoe. Kupuna 70s paddler Lon Kincannon sprayed the amas. The canoes should be ready for rigging – and the appropriate oohs and ahhs – when club members rig canoes on March 9.
Registration for 2025 season now open
For some people, March means spring, but in Tacoma it means the start of another season of outrigger canoe paddling with Kīkaha O Ke Kai.
From new canoes to new practice times, the 2025 PNWORCA season is full of exciting change, said Gordon Martinez, Kīkaha head coach.
“We added a few new coaches to our coaching staff,” he said. “We refurbished and painted three of our traditional canoes. And best news, we purchased two brand new ultralight unlimited Kai Wa‘a Hydra Pro canoes. Hopefully, they will be coming as early as May or June.”
Membership registration is now open for the 2025 season and can be done entirely online.
Clean-up of the Foss Waterway practice site and canoe rigging is set for March 9. The first weekday practices will be on Tuesday March 11 and Thursday March 13 (5 p.m. show, 5:30 p.m. go). The first Saturday practice will be on March 15 (8:30 a.m. show, 9 a.m. go).
Also, starting March 11, Tuesday and Thursday practices will have a second start time – 5:30 p.m. – for members who have trouble getting to Foss Waterway because of work or traffic.
The first OC6 race is the Rusty Iron on April 26 at Frenchman’s Bar Park in Vancouver.
“We will be starting off the season mostly in Zone 2, building a strong base to condition our bodies for both sprints and distance racing,” Martinez said. “The goal is to focus on our technical skills and understanding and perfecting the stroke. We’ll be doing land and water drills to help build new, positive habits and break old ones.”
Kīkaha paddlers race hard for IVF World Distance spots
Kīkaha was well represented at the U.S. qualifying races for the IVF World Distance Championships later this year in Brazil.
Two paddlers, Brent Campbell (Masters 40) and Shaun Koos (70s), qualified for spots in the V-1 race and Kīkaha’s kupuna 70s crew raced hard in the V-6 event. Both races were held at Marina Del Rey, California the weekend of Feb. 1-2.
Campbell finished the 15-mile course in 2:03:37. Koos finished the 10-mile course in 1:44:18.
“I was much slower than usual but I’ve only been paddling two times a week with three times a week gym and sauna,” Campbell said “But I was good enough to qualify so that’s all that matters.”
Koos, 71, said he had only paddled a V-1 a handful of times on the Columbia River near his home in Wenatchee. Most of his training this winter has been on cross-country skis, he said.
“It was my first time on a V-1 in the ocean,” he said.
Koos, a longtime marathon canoe racer, joined the Kīkaha kupuna 70s crew to race the next day.
“I really appreciate the camaraderie of the over 70s guys on the Kīkaha team,” Koos said. “They welcomed me and accepted me.”
The kupuna 70s crew included Craig Holt (Seat 1), Lon Kincannon (Seat 2) Doug Close (Seat 4), Koos (Seat 5) and Dave Oreiro (Seat 6). They finished their 10-mile course in 1:21:12 but did not qualify for the Brazil race.
“It was fun to dream big and try to rise to the challenge of the highest level of outrigger canoe competition,” Kincannon said.
“It certainly was a reality check going up against Dana Point and California Gold 70s men teams, who have proved to be among the world’s best teams.”
The distance championships will be from Aug. 13-20 in Niteroi, Brazil.
Da Kīkaha Korner
Who dat?
Paddler: Joe Wall
Paddling division: Kupuna 70s
Years paddling: 25 years
Years with Kīkaha and position with club: 24 years as Kīkaha member, nine years as a director, nine years as vice-president, two years coaching Wounded Warrior crews
Favorite race: Queen Lili’uokalani Canoe Race in Kona
Favorite paddling experience: Competing in the 2024 IVF World Sprint Championships in Hilo
Why paddle: Restores balance in your life with your mind, body and spirit, and it maintains a connection with Hawaiian culture.
Best paddling advice you ever received: Shut up and paddle
Aw’ryte!
Kīkaha members joined the annual Asia Pacific New Year Celebration, which was sponsored by the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, a longtime Kīkaha supporter. The Feb. 15 event at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Center was a success, said Joe Villegas, a Kīkaha board member. The club’s booth allowed Kīkaha members to recruit new paddlers and share their love of paddling. “We had many questions about the club and quite a few that wanted to join up,” Villegas said. “Members also got to visit other cultural displays and the many foods that were served there. It was great for Kīkaha to represent Hawaiian culture in this event that had cultures from all over the Pacific Rim and Asia.”…
No one wants to huli, but in case you do, your Kīkaha coaches got your back. Join them for huli drill training from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 5 at the Mount Tahoma High School pool 4634 S 74th St. in Tacoma. Instructions and procedures will be published at Kikaha.com under coaching. Be sure to bring a towel, ’cause you gonna get wet…
Save da date! E Komo Mai, the club’s community cultural event, is scheduled for Aug. 10…
Mahalo to Papa Ola Lōkahi and Sheri-Ann Daniels, its chief executive officer, for the $2,000 donation to help promote Hawaiian culture through canoe paddling…
Stroke mechanics with Brent Campbell
Instead of a workout this month, we have advice on stroke mechanics from elite paddler Brent Campbell. He’ll show you the importance of drawing a D during your stroke as a way to help eliminate any pause at the front of the stroke.
Talk Story seeks to cultivate a strong, unified identity for Kīkaha O Ke Kai, reflecting the spirit of Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling. It is dedicated to sharing club news and managing information promptly. It aims to provide members and supporters with a newsletter that enhances their connection to the club and represents our shared values on and off the water.