The beach was packed again Saturday at Hilo Bay, though there was certainly room for one more. Something was missing, and it wasn’t Kai Opua’s mojo.
Along with myriad outrigger canoes, the former – and perhaps future – West Hawaii powerhouse brought its momentum to the first Moku O Hawaii regatta of the season in East Hawaii, reeling off its fourth win in as many tries.
This one was hosted by Kailana, but it wasn’t observed by the ever-watchful and always intentful eyes of Aunty Maile Mauhili, the club’s president, and moreover a pillar of the island’s paddling community.
The 84-year-old Mauhili was resting comfortably, if not anxiously, at a local Hilo rehab center after suffering a stroke last month.
“The poor people in there,” joked daughter Aloha Mauhili. “I always say, “Mom, be nice; be nice.”
“She’s fine. Her progress is real good,” said Aloha Mauhili, the Moku O Hawaii treasurer. “It happened right before paddling season, and that blew her away. You have no clue.”
Aunty Maile Mauhili has helped pump vibrancy and spirit into the Big Island paddling scene for more than 70 years – 38 as a race secretary and the last 33 years at Kailana– and Aloha Mauhili says the sport effectively saved her mom’s life.
Aunty Maile suffered her stroke during a meeting at Hilo Bay, so there were people to attend to her, including an EMT who was on hand and told her to get to the hospital.
“She was at home that whole week and the one day she decided to come here she had the stroke,” Aloha said. “There was nobody at home.”
Puna thwarted
Puna Canoe Club managed its highest point total of the season and registered a regatta-high nine victories, but the three-time Moku O Hawaii defending champion was held off by Kai Opua 192-175 in Division A.
Kai Opua also scored a season-high in points, winning seven seven races, and four of its crews remained undefeated:
• girls 14 (Kamai Malakaua, Mele Spencer, Eleina Hayward, Kahina Benbouzid-Hewitt, Aulike Kaiawe and Shauntae Hardy);
• boys 16 (Henry Cho , Makoa Ng, Hunter Ellis, McKale Hill, Jake Honl-DeGuair, Cory Wilkin);
• boys 18 (Hanalei Akazawa, Henry Cho , Hunter Ellis, Bailey Kreusling, Iokepa Aponte, Lamaku Kekaualua-Nacis);
• women’s golden masters (Teri Fong, Leila Duim, Susan Anderson, Kim Schneider, Karen Crawford, Gemma Ley).
Despite four scratches and one disqualification, Puna improved by 31 points after finishing in a tie for third last week at Kai Opua’s regatta.
Paddlers of Laka, with six of its 14 crews winning gold, claimed Division B for the fourth consecutive week.
Aunty Maile return
It wasn’t until 10:30 p.m. Friday that Aloha Mauhili finally convinced her mom not to try and attend her club’s regatta.
‘I said, “Mom, you have to relax and rest,” Aloha said. “Finally, she agreed.”
With five more Hilo regattas scheduled – Keaukaha hosts next week – the plan is for Aunty Mauhili to make it back by the July 21 championships, which are named after her.
Aloha Mauhili joked that if her mom came for the start of Saturday’s festivities, she’d never leave.
Such was almost the case this week past week when Aunty Maile came to the beach for what was supposed to be a four-hour visit, but it quickly turned into six hours.
“You know Aunty Maile,” Kailana youth coach Kawika Kekuawela said. “She’ll go when she’s ready.”
“We definitely miss her,” he said. “She’s the one who holds everything together.”
Kailana put 12 canoes in the water and finished a distant runner-up in Division B.
Though there has been a bump in the club’s adult paddlers, Kailana is still strongest in the younger divisions. It’s boys 18 and 16 crews tied for third, and Kekuawela has high hopes for his girls 13 crew, which remained in third place in the standings despite finishing fourth Saturday.
“We have higher expectations than that for sure,” Kekuawela said.
In one regard, it was a good thing Aunty Maile sat this one out.
“She would probably have scolded me and ask what happened,” Kekuawela joked. “She’d say, ‘The girls came in fourth? What did you do?”’