Na Wahine O Ke Kai

By Catherine Cluett and Marie Nowell

Sixty-seven crews and about 700 paddlers participated in the 30th annual Na Wahine O Ke Kai Canoe Race last Sunday. The race started at Hale O Lono on Molokai and finished at the Hilton Hotel on Oahu across the Ka`iwi Channel for a total distance of 41 miles. The day brought flat water, which made the conditions more mentally challenging than physically taxing, said Rose Lum, 30-year paddling coach at Kamehameha Schools whose daughter paddled in Sunday’s race. “Love for the sport is all you have out there,” she added. “It’s all about culture and who we are. You can’t get this feeling anywhere else in the world.”