Hanalei Bay
Race day traffic at 7am
Koa canoes, borrowed, begged, bartered,
Not every club owns a $100,000 koa canoe
Typical of local hype and warnings, many locals were planning to avoid the bay
What a shame, this event is spectacular
Clearly, not everyone stayed away
The officials tent
This race is controlled by the Hawaii Canoe Racing Association (HCRA)
The other officials of Hanalei Bay - the lifeguards
Namo coach Jody Simpson actually got a day off from lifeguard duty so he could coach
Koa nose
The manu (bird) that deflects water coming over the nose
Lovingly prepped, these ti leaf rosettes were highly crafted
Not sure why, but I always get a kick out of all the paddles lined up
In the past the kids races were first thing after the
pule or prayer given in Hawaiian as the official race opener. This year they had the 65s and 60s first
which was great for Gil. He was putting
together teams for the other races the rest of the day and wasn’t distracted by getting ready for his
own – he won his medals and moved on!
The
Namolokama 65 guys won 2nd place and the 60s guys won third against
all the contenders from the other islands.
This Brown Booby has just returned to the bay for the summer
He really doesn't care that there is a canoe race going on
Namolokama 65 guys come in second out of lots of teams for a silver medal
Pretty pleased
L to R: Dick, Rex, Gil, Jim, Nick, Gene
L to R: Dick, Rex, Gil, Jim, Nick, Gene
Because we had to borrow a different boat for each race, Namo's number 87 was on a little removable sock that went over the nose. The 60s guys had this lovely Lanakila club boat.
Sweet, sweet Koa
The 60s guys had a really close race
Namolokama came in third for a bronze medal
The guys that like paddling regardless the outcome are smiling! The other two, oh well.
L to R: Lance, Jack, Steve, Gil, Tom, Sully
Gil and Jody had the rest of the day to put the teams together, pretty much 7am to 7pm
First of the kids' races, these little guys, mixed boys and girls, are age 10 and under
in a 600 pound canoe
Other Activities
Lots of vendors: food, crafts, t-shirts, gear, etc.
A poi making demonstration
see previous post about taro - this is the final product, purple poi
Anahola guys with their famous delicious huli chicken
marinated in secret sauce and charcoaled on the beach
Always lei makers at the canoe events - lots of winners
Hanalei Canoe Club sign for their gear booth
I love the tatoos (on other people)
This guy hasn't completed the leg tatoo, will be much more complicated than lines indicate
The 3s are actually noses of tahitian gods!
I went home after Gil won his races perusing the entire venue. I had packing to do. I stopped by the club to see the new tent cover the club just put up - white replacing the green one that gave up the ghost in the last few storms.
Our fiberglass canoes are ready for tomorrow's Na Pali challenge
Na Pali Challenge 2013
From the pier, escort boats visible here, canoes beyond
Eighty some canoes in various stages of being ready to go at 7:30am
This year the women started and the men were on the
escort boats until the first water change was called out over the radios. The teams change every 30 minutes for the
next several hours. (see page at top for how races work and pics from previous Na Pali challenges)
Just about time, some heading out to starting line up
This canoe has been blessed and is wearing the protective ti leaves and ti leaf lei,
this club is very traditional, treating their canoe with love and respect
Men in escorts, every canoe has a fishing boat to carry the
other half of the relay team throughout the race
Gil’s team entered as 55 year olds this time with both a
strong men’s and women’s team. The race
had started and the guys had not loaded onto their escort boat. With over eighty canoes and that many escort
boats, just finding your canoe in open water would be a challenge.
Uncertain, the race started 10 minutes ago
There was some serious worry that if the boat was unable to come for some reason, the women would be stranded 30 minutes away wondering what happened; nevermind scrapping the race
Ah, here it comes.
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Thankfully the escort made it and was fully prepared with water and ice,the captain turned out to be excellent and once they located their canoe, the guys rested easier and then psyched up for their turn.
Once this race took off, and all the canoes and boats turned the corner at Lumahai, Hanalei Bay
A few tents remain, the Bay is calm after the two race days
Not so much going on now, these would be gone by noon
Business as usual, booty baby learning to boogie board
Remaining evidence of the big weekend, HCRA did a good job on this score
I went on home to pack as we were leaving the next day
for two months on the mainland. When I
got home I was happy to see the front yard plover had returned safely from
his/her Artic adventure. Back in Hawaii
Pacific golden plover
Gil arrived home with a gold medal for first place in 55s
on the Na Pali Challenge. With his
bronze and silver from the day before he was bedecked in jewelry!
Races over!
Aloha Kauai
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