An update on past news
Wednesday, July 31, 1996
Wednesday, July 31, 1996
ANSWER: The restored canoe may go on exhibit in a maritime museum there.
"The bottom line is we didn't have enough money to bring our canoe home," Perry said.
He and his crew went directly from the Paris airport to the west coast of France where the canoe was shipped, and put the canoe together. They took it to Brest, where 2,514 older yachts, boats and ships lay anchored, the largest, a Russian three-masted, square rigger of more than 330 feet.
"Most of the people there had never seen anything like a Hawaiian koa canoe."
They asked about the wood and where the paddlers were from. Two French newspapers featured them. One article is on Internet http://www.France-Ouest.com. "We were on French national TV," Perry added.
A "Grande Regatta" took place July 17. The flotilla sailed from Brest 35 miles southeast to Douarnenez.
"The sail that we used was a traditional Polynesian crab cloth sail," Perry said.
The wind died, and the crew paddled the last 15 miles. Perry thinks his is the first koa canoe ever to ply the Atlantic.
Other paddlers included Peter Greenwell of Kailua-Kona and Sam Rodrigues and daughter Nerissa, 16, of Kaimuki. Cindy Mahoney and Carol Greenwell also went along.