Have Paddle, Will Trave by Barbara Del Piano
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Have Paddle, Will Trave By Barbara Del Piano s she watched the small, consisting in large part of a variety of fi h prepared with decorated paper boat float lime juice and coconut milk called po ion cru, which down the Chao Phraya might be compared to a Tahitian version of lomi River, Li a Living·ton felt a ense of salmon. harmony with the place, the people Whi le in the Society I lands, Mary and her travel and the wmcr a he stood among ing mates had the opportuni ty ro visit Raiatea, the crowds on the river's edge. Huahinc, Bora Bora, and Moorea. Her fondest memo This fe rival of Loy Krathong is a ries arc of the warm and friendl y people, and the tribute to the river who e waters are unspoiled beauty she encountered. Mary ee a lor of uch ;m integral part of the live of similarity between Papeete and Hilo. the people ofThailand. In it they These arc ju t a few of the memories these and bathe, fi h, travel from place to other young OCC women cheri h and many of them place, irrigate their crop , and build look forward to future trip to exotic place in the years their home a nd markers along its to come. banks. They ventured to the South Pac ific not as tourists, The c tiny ymbolic boats are but as paddlers in a series of international canoe racing Pculdlina around !he Island of Taluta tl'o?Te Mary a gift to the water and arc intended to rake away the events which are attracting ever larger numbers of pad Smole~~i (srroking), Lisa Litingsron (sear 5) mistakes and misfortunes of the pa t year, leaving only a dlers, both men and women, from all over the world. and Nicole \Vikox (s reering). good and a peaceful life ahead. Lisa found it a haunting Five events presently comprise the list of major ly spiritual experience to witness thi oldest of international canoe racing competitions, including the Thailand's festivals, established Molokai Hoe and Na Wahine iKe Ka i and the Catalina more than 700 years ago. Races. The others are the World Championship Canoe Nicole Wilcox remembers Sprints, commonly called the World Sprints, which is nights spent in a leeping bag in a considered the Olympics of outrigger canoe racing. huge, open falc in Apia, Western This biennial event is held in a different locale Samoa. Every morning three men each time. The 1996 races, the seventh in the history of and three women would come and the event, were held in New Caledonia. hang great stalk of bananas from Tahiti hosts the annual Hawaiki Nui Va'a, first the rafters. She has never seen such attended by OCC wahine paddlers in The Hamilton a variety. She remini ce about the Cup, which takes place on the re orr i land of Samoan luau, and the many types of Hami lton, off the coast of Australia, consists of a rigor fi h, mo t cooked in coconut milk, ous series of races and the abundance of fresh fruit The mo t unique of all tl1e canoe race , however, growing wild in the area. is the annual Swan Boat Races held each year in Tricia Nagatani's memories Bangkok, Thailand, where Hawai'i is usually well repre incluue climbing to the rop of the sented. hill behind Anse Vata bay at Two organizations, the 20 year old International Paddling mTahiri in 1995 twre Mary Nournea, New Caledonia, to view a spectacular scene of Polynesian Canoe Federation (IPCF), which sponsors Smolen.iki, Nicole \Vikox, Srarr Dawson and water and a coastline crenelated with small the World Sprints, and the International Hawai'i Usa Utingscon. pristine bay and inlets; strolling along beautiful un poil ed Canoe Association (I HCA), which helps to end bcachc , rife with hells and eat's Hawai'i paddlers to the competition, have been instru eye ... like Hawai'i of long ago. mental in promoting outrigger canoe paddling world Cathy Ho Whitford especially wide. enjoyed renewing friendship on More than a dozen countries are represented in Hamilton I lanu with the many the IPCF, in addition to France and Italy, which recent Au tralian · he had met in Hawai'i. ly joined, and who will be ending crews to panicipare he was amazed at the tides, reach in the coming cason. One of the federation' major ing heights of 10 to 12 feet during goals is to have outrigger canoe paddling recognized as normal condition . an Olympic port. Mary molen ki was The IHCA was founded in 1965 by Outrigger leg impressed with the genuine hospital end, A. E. "Toots" Minneville. "Toots" was one of the ity cxtcnueu to her when she trav first to suggest the 41 mile Moloka'i to Oahu Race, long eled to Tahiti with 15 other wahine before it became a reality. - The first World Dragon Boars (lxu:kgraund) ar~ larger rhnn who stayed in a private home during their visit. Champion hip Canoe Sprints were held in 1984 in Swan Boots. Although their hosts were obviously not well-to-do, Long Beach, California. they overwhelmed their guests with enormou meals, Outrigger members Trac i Phillips, of Olympic P AGE-2 OUTR I GGER kayak fame, Tlare Finney and Jeanne Jenkin p articipated in rhc women's races. Ten years !me r, Nicole Wilcox and Tricia Nagarani cnrcrcd the competition in Apia, Western Samoa. La t year, when the World Sprints were held in Noumca, New carved in the form of myth ical creatures, have no ama. ace women U'L'T~ pan of the Stmn Boat Rru:cs Caledonia , Tricia and Lisa Livingston were among The crew con ists of 22 paddlers, including a "whistler" in Chao Phraya Rit•er in Thailand in approx imately 600 top paddlers, both men and women, and steer man. 1994. Ga~lord \Vilcox is the tl'hisiler and Bill~ from around the world · Philpou.s stccuJ. who made up nearly 200 crews, Paddler- sir side hy side, and because of the including cvcral from Hawai' i. The Hawai'i women cramped space, their movements arc c\·erely rc trictcd. brought home both a silver a nd bronze medal. Used to alrcrnflting sides, the outrigger paddlers found it The IHCA, sponsor of the Hawai'i reams, solicits difficult to adju t rheir bodie to the both individual and corporatue financial pport to make srrc of paddling only on one side, it po ible for the e crews to compete. Outrigger mem but by altering their body move ber Gaylord Wilcox ha been involved with this organi ment, they were able to adjust to zation for many years. the stress. In addition to Outrigger members, wahine paddlers Swan boat competition has from o ther Hawaii canoe clubs participate as well. Li a existed in Thailand for at least 700 Livin gston expressed her feeling that getting to know year . Like outrigger canoes, the these w omen, and to be paddling with, rather than craft were used in ancient ti mes to against them, has been one of the many rewards of transport armies in times of war and internati onal competition. also to provide ba ic water tran • The crews from Tahiti, who are well known for porration. their relentless power and stamina, are always formida Women were first invited to ble o pponents but extremely gracious hosts at their participate in the September races annual H awaiki Nui Va'a, which takes place each in 1992, in honor of Queen Sirik ir's ovember in Papeete. 60th birthday. The following yea r, In 1995, the first year Hawai'i wahine participated, Outrigger members Kristen Kenney, Outrigger's Starr Dawson, Kelly Fey, Mary Smolenski, Tla Payes, Lisa Livingston, Missy Mowat, Tracy Selling, Li a Living ton, Nicole Wilcox and Tricia Nagatani Competition is keen in ~ Ham~l ~ ~~~P Iron Darcy Wilcox, Tricia Nagatani and Cathy Ho Whitford Race, uilh Pam CUfford, gnmg u her all. paddled their way into fifth place. accepted the invitation. Cathy has gone every year The following yea r, Mary, Nicole, Lisa, Jackie since and has become one of the organizers of the Muller, Darcie Wilcox and Ceecee Sheehan paddled Hawai'i contingent. with a crew that came in third. In 1993, Nicole, Cathy and Lisa placed third. The Au rralia's Hamilton Cup, held each year in June, following year, Cathy, Li a and Tricia Nagatani were is particularly challenging. The competition, in addition part of an all-Hawai'i ream that paddled an incredible to a series of sprints, consists of an iron race around race to beat the national Thai team, the fi rst time they Hamilton Island in which n o changes are allowed, and had ever lost. The winning time was the fastest ever a long disrance race, with changes, around Hamilton recorded for a women's crew. and several maller island as well. Paddling condition Two men arc allowed to crew on the women's boat are particularly difficult bec ause of unusually high tides and Gaylord Wilcox and Billy Philpotts have served as and powerful currents wh ich are normal for the area. "whistler" and steersman respec M ary Smolen ki, Sara Ackerman, Nicole Wilcox, tively. In 1997, Outrigger wahine Diana Clifford, Malia Kamisugi, Katy McCrary Graf, again plan to ply their oars in the Cathy Ho Whitford, Kisi Haine, Kaili Chun and Donna waters of the South Pacific. Kahakui traveled Down Under in 1993 to take parr in The World Sprints, which tl1esc race , and in 1995, Mary, Nicole, Katy, and Sara will rake place in Fiji, are sure to were j oined by Li a Living-ron, Pam Clifford, Jennifer attract many of our Club paddlers Thayer, Jackie Muller, Vanessa Lowe, Jennifer Lowe who will not only enjoy the thrill MeTi gue, Robin Nonaka and Shannon Dudgeon.