Our Canoes

Ke Kai is our club's first canoe. In 2020, our club leaders made the hard decision to retire our beloved malia, Ke Kai O ’Uhane (36), who suffered extensive damage after a car accident in 2019. At left, Uncle Les Charles (founder) speaks at our 2021 canoe blessing of his plans to continue her legacy in the form of a paddling trainer.

Uncle Les offers these memories of Ke Kai:

“Ke Kai is both the baby and mother of our club. She started the club, we all paddled in this canoe. When she was given to me, I was asked to bring back the life. And it was a big learning experience. I listened to the canoe, how it’s supposed to be formed and put together. The work put into Ke Kai, I’d work on the canoe every day, just learning as we went. I’m in great touch with the canoe, especially the malias. This is where I learned a lot, in terms of putting them together. I built 5 malia canoes and it’s a part of my heart. The malia is, like, my canoe! If I were to train, I would train malia. It’s harder to paddle in it, and I’m gonna learn more and how to make it go faster and race in it. This canoe, Ke Kai, she taught us how to paddle. This canoe taught me as much as I put into it. And it’s not just what I want to put into it, but what the canoe tells me to do. That’s how she had to be built. I had to let Ke Kai talk to me. And now, after this accident, she told me that she shouldn’t be worked on. That she didn’t want to be worked on. Now I’m thinking about how we could keep the name of the canoe, keep it within the club, remember her by.... I’ll never forget how I learned from her, what my path has been.”

History By: Uncle Les Charles
Transcribed by: Grace O'Dell