KAILUA-KONA — Munching on some post paddle pizza, keiki paddlers Kekoa Kiefer and Nathan Grocholski sat just a few feet away from a canoe they rigged themselves, along with the help of 20 or so friends.
“It was a lot of fun,” Kiefer said with a big grin. “I like using my hands for stuff like that.”
It was just part of a hard week’s work at Kai Opua’s inaugural Hoeamau spring break camp, which welcomed paddlers this week in an effort to help bridge the gap between sport and culture.
“We did a lot of the basic things that really are no longer basics,” said Kahookahi Kanuha, who led the camp. “With paddling, what was once one — culture and sport — seems like two different things now. We wanted to start bridging that gap.”
Kanuha said it also seemed about time for the club to host a paddling camp.
“There is nothing like this,” he said. “You can go to basketball camp, baseball camp, or even a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) camp. But when it comes to paddling, there’s really nothing like it. We are excited about the potential to keep it growing.”
The free, five-day Hoeamau focused on swimming, paddling technique, racing strategies, canoe rigging and canoe maintenance. The keiki paddlers also learned about Hawaiian wa‘a customs and the names for everything on the canoe in Hawaiian.
“It was a fun time,” Grocholski, 12, said. “I liked learning all the names for the things on the canoe. I really didn’t know anything but the basics before.”
Grocholski said his other favorite part of the week was dealing with a canoe when it flips on the water, or hulis. For some that might be a nerve-wracking experience, but he said it was a fun thing to experience with his friends.
“We had to get all the water out, quick!” Grocholski said.
Kanuha admitted the camp was rigorous, especially when it came to paddling and swimming. But the Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino teacher — who spent his own spring break running the camp — credited the kids for coming back day after day and improving, especially when it came to rigging.
“We have three canoes they rigged this morning. That would make most adults jealous,” Kanuha said. “They got better and better as the week went on. Now, they can take a canoe completely apart and put it back together. It’s awesome to see.”
Numbers grew each day of the camp, simply by word of mouth. That trend should continue if all the reviews are as outstanding as Kiefer’s.
“The first day I was a little nervous,” the 14-year-old Kiefer said, “but it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.”
Kanuha said he hopes the camp would be a jump-start of sorts to revive the culture behind the sport, an idea the club’s former president, the late Bo Campos, would surely get behind.
“If we are paddling, we should be looking at culture,” Kanuha said.