MAYBE you can go home again. Paddling is all about
sharing and caringBack to the water. Back to the paddling ohana.
It sounds a little like going to confession. "It's been six years since I last picked up a paddle."
It's been my loss. Losing touch with friends and acquaintances from 10 years of my life.
But Saturday it was like going home again. Hot black sand. Cooling Hilo rain.
And talking story with those who have given so much to the sport. And continue to give.
Hannie Anderson and Keanunue Rochlen have been paddling for more than 45 years. They competed for Waikiki Surf Club in the 1952 Territorial Championship Regatta in Kailua-Kona. Anderson was the stroke for the junior women's crew; Rochlen the was steersman for the senior women.
Saturday, both were on Hilo Bay paddling in the golden masters 1/2-mile race. Anderson competed for Kailua, Rochlen for Outrigger. Neither won, but both continue to be winners.
"It's hard to believe that 45 years have passed, hard to believe how the sport has grown," said the 62-year-old Anderson, the founder and race director of Na Wahine O Ke Kai, the women's Molokai race. "We had just six lanes and nine events then. Now, we're up to 14 lanes and 33 races.
"I'm still involved with the sport and I love it. And I still feel young."
Rochlen is an inspiration to us all. Her age is "the best-kept secret at Outrigger," said one OCC member. "We do know she was paddling in the '40s."
"Oh, yes, I was paddling before that first territorial championship," Rochlen said. "Back then, I never thought I'd still be paddling at this age. But it keeps you in shape. And I love being on the water."
So do the Puna girls 12-and-under crew, who won the first race of Saturday's regatta. They finished eighth at the state championship last year; four of them returned this season, determined to do better.
The crew won all of their races on the Big Island, although there was one blemish. They were disqualified when their boat holder inadvertently touched the lane flag during the race.
They cried a lot after that, said Lani Kaluhewa, wife of the crew's coach, Nate. It made them stronger, strong enough to win Saturday by three seconds.
PADDLING is about that. It's about sharing. It's a small club like Anuenue, which qualified just six crews but saw its koa canoe compete in every race. Seven other clubs used Anuenue's canoe, some winning, others having the privilege of competing because of unquestioned generosity.
Paddling is about people like Bobby Puakea, who is following in his father's handprints of canoe building. He's shaping racing canoes for Big Island clubs Keauhou O Kona and Kamehameha.
Puakea is also commuting weekly from Kaneohe to Hilo to teach canoe building at Hilo Community College. A federal grant is allowing him to perpetuate the art. And he's gone against an old kapu by allowing women in his class.
It's about Joanie Kaaua, who has twice "retired" from paddling only to become a permanent fixture with OHCRA board of directors. People like Joan Malama and all the officials whose Saturday did not start and end with the races but with piles of paperwork.
It's about people like Phil Foti and Mary Green, whose visions for the sport go beyond Hilo Bay. There is a strong push to make paddling an Olympic sport. And, for the first time, the Liliuokalani Race, the largest long-distance race in the world, will be offering to the top crews a trip to Hawai'iki Nui Wa'a, the long-distance championships in Tahiti.
It's an exciting time to be involved with the sport.
Maybe it's time to paddle again. Maybe it's time to go home.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.