2012. A New Season Beckons…

The first Monday in April and it’s the first day of our new training schedule for 2012. We were on the water by 7am and it felt great to be up early to paddle with the girls.

We’ve been going out at least once a week for the last month under the tutelage of Franklin, who has been helping us find our timing and technique no end.

Now, we’ve got four days a week to get whipped into shape for the 2012 MCHCA season.

New adult practice times have been announced and they are as follows. Designated women’s practices are in bold.

Monday 7:00am

Tuesday 12:00pm and 5:30pm

Wednesday 7:00am

Thursday 12:00pm and 5:30pm

Saturday 7:45am

All times are times to be in the water. Can’t wait for the next one, see you there!!

Steering clinic tomorrow at Canoe Beach

Imagine boarding a cruise ship with no captain, getting on a train with no driver or a plane with no pilot. You wouldn’t like to do it and neither would I. Launching  an outrigger canoe without a steersperson is not much different.

The toughest role in a wa’a has to go to seat six – keeping the boat (and its inhabitants) in line is not an easy job. As well as reading the ocean, keeping the canoe on its course, dealing with tricky conditions, encouraging your crew and having a responsibility for their safety, you are trying to paddle, poke, make turns, not huli and so much more.

Not that I am speaking from any great wealth of experience. I tried steering once. Once. After huli-ing the boat and its crew onto the sand at Canoe Beach I threw in the towel. That was after a grand total of about twenty minutes in seat six. Hmph.

What do you mean I have to steer?

But really, like rigging, we should all know how to steer. Going back to the emergency situation scenario – you don’t want to be in one, without your steersperson  and not knowing what to do. Even if we all know just the basics, it may very well turn into the kind of knowledge that can save your life.

And that’s where Lahaina Canoe Club comes in! LCC are holding a steering clinic tomorrow at 9am sharp at Canoe Beach. The session will be open to all and everyone is also welcome to sign up for the coming 2012 season.

If you’d like a little more info about steering an outrigger canoe, visit this link.

See you at the beach, Ho‘omakakaukau!

Aloha for now, Laura.

Rigging Clinic This Saturday

Learning how to use your blade is often the first step when it comes to paddling. Getting acquainted with the boat, with a crew and with the ocean are all important steps – not to mention your timing, your stroke, your timing and your power. Did I mention timing…?

But paddling as part of a team doesn’t begin and end with the act of paddling itself – there is so much more to consider; how to transport the boat for faraway races, how to dismantle the wa’a and how to put it all back together so it’ll be seaworthy and safe.

It’s true that you may never have to rig a boat on your own and you may never imagine yourself doing it, but it’s an art – passed down through generations and enabling the perpetuation of Polynesian culture. Reason enough, to want to learn.

Wa'a rigging. Pic courtesy Kai Opua Canoe Club.

But imagine yourself in a emergency situation (they happen!) where you’re out in the ocean, your rigging has come loose and no-one, no-one in the boat knows how to fix it. Things would get scary, fast.

Well, Lahaina Canoe Club is offering you the chance to learn how to rig this Saturday (February 4) at 9am at Canoe Beach. (8am for those who wish to assist with setting up) and ALL are welcome.

Come down, learn the art of rigging and register for the 2012 season, see you at the beach!

Thanks for reading, Laura

 

New Year, New Look for Lahaina

We’re fully entrenched in whale season right now. Any time you look at the ocean from the shores of west Maui you are pretty much guaranteed to see adult humpback whales and their young – breaching, tail slapping or spouting giant plumes of water.

There aren’t many ways to get as  up, close and personal to whales as you can in a wa’a. Which is just one of many reasons why it’s so great to be back in the water right now.

Whale and her calf, pictured during an LCC rec paddle. Courtesy Michael Rains.

2012 heralded a new start for Lahaina Canoe Club, with a complete reshuffle of the club’s board of directors. The previous people at the helm of the club had done a fantastic job, especially with the arrival of our beautiful new boat (see last post) but the feeling was that new blood was needed and that, perhaps, it was time for the club’s next generation to stand up and guide LCC into its next era.

Step forward new LCC president Michael Rains, Vice President Eric Bruner and Treasurer Jordan Johnson. The triumvirate have spent the last three years paddling together with the Men’s crew from Novice B to Novice A and, in 2012, into the Open bracket. Imua guys!

Lindsey Raymond will be keeping up her amazing work as club secretary for the second year running. She did incredible things last year and as her team-mate I know she’s the most dedicated person you could wish to have on your boat or on your board. Imua Linds!

Imua Lahaina!

It’s early days at the moment but with lots of community involvement slated for the coming year and recreational paddles, rigging clinics and steering clinics already happening, I feel it’s going to be a great season for LCC.

Check back for coming information about this Saturday’s rigging clinic at Hanakao’o Beach.

Bye for now, Laura

 

 

 

Recreational paddle 2011

Aaah, it felt good to be back in the boat this week!

On behalf of Lahaina Canoe Club, thank you to everyone who came down to Canoe Beach on Monday morning to help out.  It was great to see so many returning kids and to meet the new paddlers and their parents, let’s keep it up through the season and really help our keiki crews.

And we had a good turnout for rec paddle this morning too, where we welcomed several brand new paddlers to the sport. I hope they get hooked, just like most of us girls did about this time last year. After paddling through crystal clear and glassy water, watching whales as we went, it would be hard not to want more!

Sara and Mardy, pictured at this morning's rec paddle, with Carlee on her OC-1 in the background.

In case you were wondering what our rec schedule looks like for the rest of 2011, here it is:

Monday @ 8am, Wednesday @ 8am, Friday @ 8am and 5pm and Saturday at 9am.

These times are when the boats will hit the water, so please arrive 15 minutes early so you can change, grab your paddle, sign-in and pay your dues.

Speaking of dues, they are now, erm…due!! Existing members need to pay either in full ($90) or a down payment ($40) towards the cost for the calendar year. New paddlers – you get to try it out once before paying to see if you like it.

If any brand new paddlers are reading this, feel free to take a look back through my posts. Last year was my first season and I regularly updated the blog about all our new experiences, our races and useful info about the boat, command words, what’s expected of you and what to do in the event of a huli (this last one can come in pretty important…). I hope you enjoy reading it!

We now have a new Facebook site and our Lahaina Canoe Club website is also being updated for the season ahead, so there will be plenty of ways to keep in touch and informed during 2011 and beyond.

See you in the water and mahalo for reading! Laura