The 2013 Doggie Paddlers. From left to right; Kayla (#1), Stephanie (#2),
Noah (#6), Jennifer (#3), Me (#4), Eli (#5)
In 2013 I was still stationed with the Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and working for the Joint Base one star admiral. Along with other duties and responsibilities our One Star loved to have a "show of force" in the community. He was no stranger to the customs of the islands and knew what an exciting opportunity it would be to have his own outrigger canoe paddling team in the upcoming Duke's Oceanfest. A call for volunteers went out, myself being one of them, and a team was assembled; we were to meet and practice with our team with less than a week prior to the regatta.
"First order of business; we're going to need a name!" It's a little after seven in the morning, and everyone still has their "I need coffee" face on, silence passes among us, "How about the Doggie Paddlers?" I piped in. A refreshing laugh followed and we continued on with business. Most of us knew each other from work, but had never known our shared enthusiasm for paddling. The experience of the group ranged from novice, to semi-pro; and a few hobbyists in between; we had just enough variety for an excellent 6 man team. Noah, our most experienced paddler was to sit #6 and be our steersman. Ely, the only other guy in the group, would sit #5 and help with the power. I took #4 and Jennifer #3 to also help with power. Our #2 would be Noah's wife Stephanie who was also an experienced paddler from her college team and knew how to time the calls just right, and #1 seat was taken by Kayla, who was once on the same team as Steph.
"Paddles up.....HIT!" Steph makes the call that gets us started. We're on our warm up paddle to get everyone on the same page. The motions are completely fluid and natural for me; lean forward, paddle in, one, pull back/sit up, lean forward, paddle in, two, pull back/sit up. Lean forward, paddle in, three, my eyes are focused on my lead, #2. Four. Our motions completely in sync. "HUT... HUT..." Get ready to switch "...HO!" paddle to the right side now, five. I'm amazed by our synchronization, every single one of us is hitting the water at the same time. Six. It's almost completely silent, we're cruising through the glassy harbor. Seven. The chill that was around earlier is starting to fade away; what an amazing way to spend my morning. Eight. "HUT... HUT..." change "...HO!" Another switch; back to the left. One. Noah announces a turn to the right, "2 & 4, more power, 3 & 5 keep pace with 1." Two. A little confusion, but then we see the buoy we're about to squeeze around. Three. I start to dig my paddle a little deeper into the water; four, my core is getting a wonderful workout. Five. I'm now regretting the sleeves I pulled on before we jumped in. Six. "2 & 4, paddles up." I can hear Noah's paddle slice the water, expertly maneuvering us around the buoy. Steph calls all paddles up as we straighten out.
We all give an excited cheer as we realize that our little hodgepodge team might just do alright this weekend in the regatta. Noah critiques us all, and gives Steph the go ahead to get us started again. We spent our next few laps working on timing and turns, each time getting more and more comfortable with every stroke. After thirty or so minutes Noah informs us we're about to start our last lap, "...and this one we're going to add speed!" "Paddles up....HIT!" One. We started off with a comfortable pace, each of us readying ourselves for the speed change. Two. My eyes are focused on my lead, I notice the same posture from everyone else in front of me. Three. The harbor is starting to come to life around us; four, and we're starting to get the attention of harbor security. Five. Noah gives the signal to speed up on our next change. Six. The whistle for the shipyard worker sounds behind us. Seven. "Dig deep for power, let's double our speed!" Noah motivates from the back. Eight. "HUT....HUT..." change "...HO!" One. Harbor security is starting to side up to us. Two. I can't help but think that we should race them, even though I know we'd be no match for their motor. Three. Dig Adrienne dig! Four. "HUT, HUT......HO!" Five. They're pacing us now. Six. Their pace enticing us to keep pushing. Seven. I can hear their RPM's picking up. Eight. "HUT, HUT, HO!" One. That must mean we're going faster! Two, holy arm work out! Three. We've got to be flying! Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Our turn is coming up soon. Six. The security boat has lost interest with us. Seven. Only one more pull till we switch. Eight. "HUT, HUT, HO!" One. I can hear us all puffing for air. Two. My entire core is on fire. Three. My legs are starting warm up. Four. We've finally made it to our turn. Five. I know the drill, one more pull. Six. "2 & 4, paddles out, 3 & 5 dig!" I anxiously wait for cue to continue paddling as we steady up, eagerly waiting to get my paddle wet again. My focus is only on my lead. "HIT!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. "HUT, HUT, HO!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Our finishing marker is quickly approaching; One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six... "PADDLES UP!" We did it! We let out another cheer, this one a bit more labored than our first. We pull our canoe out of the water and start cleaning it up, all of us excitedly chattering about how good our last lap felt. Discussion of another practice comes up and is quickly dismissed; all of our schedules are too hectic to support it before the weekend's race. Everyone bids their good byes and heads off to clean up and head into work. The next time we will be meeting will be race day; I'm nervously excited, but confident.
Outrigger Canoe Regatta at Waikiki Beach
Race day; it's 8 in the morning, and Waikiki Beach is already more crowded than normal. We've claimed our spot in the sand in front of the stretch of water we'll be paddling in. The buzz from other paddling teams and spectators is filling me up with an excited anticipation. There's to be six heats of four, and our first race is in the last heat; ample time to size up our competition and get a feel for the ocean. Our practice, all done within the harbor, was completely different from an open beach; we'd be racing on a 500 meter stretch of ocean with a turnaround half way. The waves were small, but as the day progressed the tides would change and if any swells grew, they could flip a canoe. We settle in and excitedly watch as the regatta kicks off and we await our turn.
Finally our heat is called to start getting into our canoes and lining up. Feeling confident from our first, and only, practice, we eagerly load in, sticking to our same positions as last time.
Canoes lined up ready to start.
We sit quietly alongside three other canoes, every single one of us waiting to hear the whistle from the beach, announcing the start. Our paddles raised, ready to make our first hit into the water, my heart is pounding with expectation and exhilaration. My only thought is to dig deep, and pull hard. There's the whistle. "HIT!" We start paddling like mad, and are off to a rough start, we're already falling behind just because we're not all paddling at the same time. I hear Noah start to call out our strokes, I refocus on my lead, listening for #2 to call the paddle change. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Focus. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. We start to steady up, and start claiming back the distance that has opened between us and the other teams. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. One outrigger down, and we're gaining on the second and third. Turn ahead "2 & 4 paddles out!" I get a few extra seconds to refocus and catch my breath while we steady up on our turn...correction wide turn. "HIT!" I'm back in the water like clockwork. We're coming up on the second canoe; #2 calls out a speed change, but it's too late. They slip past the markers just feet ahead of us, the first canoe already making for the beach. Defeat grips me. "Third place isn't bad!" Noah calls to us. He's got a point, but it also means we're done racing for the day.
We climb out of our vessel all trying to maintain a good attitude; after all it was a gorgeous day, and we were fortunate to have even been participating. The warm ocean water helped as we pulled ourselves onto the shore. Our one star, who'd been cheering us on from the beach, steps up to congratulate us and inform us that our time to shine is not yet over. "A Losers Pool has been created for all the Third place teams" a new wave of excitement washes over us. A quick team meeting to get ourselves back in the same gear we were in at practice, and a small shuffle of positions, and we're ready for round two! I'd been moved to #5 to help with steering; I've sat #6 before and was familiar with the techniques we'd need to get us a nice tight turn around our turn marker. #1 & #2 also switched, Noah noticed that Kayla, our original #1, was setting an inconsistent pace, and put her in a more familiar #2 seat. We set back into the water hoping this would fix our kinks.
A win by an entire canoe length set our new standard and motivated us for what was to come. We'd only get one more race to determine the winner of our newly coined "L-Bracket", we were determined to be the winning-est losers out there. As the day passed we watched each heat, picking apart the strengths and weaknesses of the teams, hoping to gain an edge in our next and final race. The last heat had finished closely and more of the spectators had turned their attention back to the race of losers. There would only be three canoes in the final race, and it was sure to be a close one.
One last race. One last chance to redeem ourselves for our early exile from the main regatta; an excited confidence had settled over us as we lined up.
Whistle. "HIT!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" The race was dead even. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Our only chance was to lose them in the turn. "HUT, HUT, HO!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Here it comes. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. "2 & 4 paddles out!" Immediately I start to dig into the water my paddle now parallel to the outrigger pulling the water furiously towards us to help swing us around the buoy, #3 is mirroring my actions. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins, I look over, we've gained our lead. "HIT!" back to my original motion. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I start to hear Noah cheering us on, then I realize it's not just him, it sounds like the entire beach is up in arms. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. The other two teams are back. One is almost directly next to us and the third is coming up fast. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I'm now paddling harder than I ever have before. I can feel every molecule of water dragging past my paddle as we propel ourselves forward. I feel #6 abandon searing as we near the finish line and add to our momentum. The beach erupts in a cheer louder than I thought was even capable of them. We've crossed the finish line, but it was too close for any of us to know the winner. We wait in exhausted anticipation for the officiators on the beach to announce it. "Doggie Paddlers have it by two feet!" We erupt with exhilaration. I've never felt so amazing after a win, even if the title is only over a bunch of losers. We were the winning-est losers; Commandant of the L-Bracket.
We climb out of our vessel all trying to maintain a good attitude; after all it was a gorgeous day, and we were fortunate to have even been participating. The warm ocean water helped as we pulled ourselves onto the shore. Our one star, who'd been cheering us on from the beach, steps up to congratulate us and inform us that our time to shine is not yet over. "A Losers Pool has been created for all the Third place teams" a new wave of excitement washes over us. A quick team meeting to get ourselves back in the same gear we were in at practice, and a small shuffle of positions, and we're ready for round two! I'd been moved to #5 to help with steering; I've sat #6 before and was familiar with the techniques we'd need to get us a nice tight turn around our turn marker. #1 & #2 also switched, Noah noticed that Kayla, our original #1, was setting an inconsistent pace, and put her in a more familiar #2 seat. We set back into the water hoping this would fix our kinks.
A win by an entire canoe length set our new standard and motivated us for what was to come. We'd only get one more race to determine the winner of our newly coined "L-Bracket", we were determined to be the winning-est losers out there. As the day passed we watched each heat, picking apart the strengths and weaknesses of the teams, hoping to gain an edge in our next and final race. The last heat had finished closely and more of the spectators had turned their attention back to the race of losers. There would only be three canoes in the final race, and it was sure to be a close one.
One last race. One last chance to redeem ourselves for our early exile from the main regatta; an excited confidence had settled over us as we lined up.
Whistle. "HIT!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" The race was dead even. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Our only chance was to lose them in the turn. "HUT, HUT, HO!" One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Here it comes. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. "2 & 4 paddles out!" Immediately I start to dig into the water my paddle now parallel to the outrigger pulling the water furiously towards us to help swing us around the buoy, #3 is mirroring my actions. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins, I look over, we've gained our lead. "HIT!" back to my original motion. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I start to hear Noah cheering us on, then I realize it's not just him, it sounds like the entire beach is up in arms. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. The other two teams are back. One is almost directly next to us and the third is coming up fast. One. Two. Three. Four. "HUT, HUT, HO!" Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I'm now paddling harder than I ever have before. I can feel every molecule of water dragging past my paddle as we propel ourselves forward. I feel #6 abandon searing as we near the finish line and add to our momentum. The beach erupts in a cheer louder than I thought was even capable of them. We've crossed the finish line, but it was too close for any of us to know the winner. We wait in exhausted anticipation for the officiators on the beach to announce it. "Doggie Paddlers have it by two feet!" We erupt with exhilaration. I've never felt so amazing after a win, even if the title is only over a bunch of losers. We were the winning-est losers; Commandant of the L-Bracket.
Crossing the finish line for our final race.
Our glorious L-Bracket
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