Outrigger finished
193-mile island trip

Answer: Members of the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society paddled a six-man canoe the 193 miles from Nihoa Island to Mokumanamana (also known as Necker Island) in 32 1/2 hours on Aug. 16-17.

The 13-man, three-woman team paddled constantly from 3:30 p.m. Aug. 16 to midnight Aug. 17 to complete the leg of an ongoing quest to paddle between each island of the Hawaiian archipelago, said paddler Jamie Woodburn.

The periodic journey began two years ago on the Big Island. Last year, the group, which includes paddlers from Hawaii, California and New York, paddled from Kauai to Nihoa, which is where they picked up this time.

Though the group originally had hoped to paddle to French Frigate Shoals, they made a decision to turn back for reasons including a shortage of fuel for their escort boat, the Makani Olu, Woodburn said.

The sailboat owned by the Kaneohe Bay-based sailing education organization Marimed Foundation left Kauai on Aug. 15 and took the outrigger canoe to Nihoa, where the team began paddling in one-hour shifts.

"When we got to Mokumanamana, I'm sure the majority of the paddlers could have gone on (another 137 miles) to French Frigate Shoals," Woodburn said, but they did not have the time or resources.

"Each of those islands out there is amazing," Woodburn said. "You really get swept up into the cultural part of it all. Sitting in a canoe eight inches above the level of the water in 10-foot swells, you think what the ancients did to visit there and in some cases live there. It's remarkable."

Matt Claybaugh, president of the Marimed Foundation, said his crew was impressed by the paddlers and would consider returning with them on another leg of their journey.

Woodburn said it will probably take the group four to six more voyages to reach Kure, the westernmost island in the chain. The next trip probably will be in fall 2006, he said.