A beautiful sight greeted Lissette and I this morning on our early morning walk.  Three sailing canoes were streaming together across the distant horizon-heading down wind and toward us at a very brisk rate, all with traditional “crab claw” sails unfurled.  There were two with traditional deep red sails and one with a dark blue sail.  As they approached over the next few minutes I could tell the 2 nearest to the shore were making a detour into Makaiwa Bay and our walk would intersect with them at the small beach momentarily.  The lone canoe with a blue sail seemed to be sailing down the coast line paying no attention to the others.  When we arrived together at the shore line,  we were greeted by a crew of 8 boys and girls and a couple of uncles and aunties that had been the skippers of these very sleek and fast vessels.  They beached the canoes at full speed with sails still hoisted and the kids smiling from ear to ear.

After they gathered themselves I asked what group they were a part of as they all were wearing the same red rash guard with a traditional sailing canoe as the logo.  They responded “Na Pe’a-The Sail” and pointed to the logo.  We told them to have fun and watched as they lowered the sails of the two canoes and then disembarked with sails down, back out to sea under paddle power only.  I presume the winds were too strong and they were intending to join the other canoe or “hele on” to some other distant bay along the coast.

Once they left I searched “Na Pe’a” on my phone and discovered these 11-15 year olds were part of a summer camp scheduled for this week.  Na Pe’a’s website states,

Na Pe’a is “A youth program that seeks to promote social tolerance and environmental responsibility through the perpetuation of the cultural traditions and practices associated with the traditional Hawaiian Canoe.” “Sponsored by the Nakoa Foundation and the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, Nā Pe’a is  designed for students between the ages of 11 and 15 and seeks to perpetuate traditions and practices of Native Hawaiians that are associated with the Hawaiian Canoe. It also seeks to teach the fundamentals of sound leadership and effective stewardship of land and marine resources through the use of traditional Hawaiian sailing canoes.”

Both Lissette and I stated we wished we were a part of this type of group when we were growing up!  It looked like great fun and a chance to learn important skills associated with sailing, oceanography and leadership skills while enjoying our beautiful surroundings.  Check out their website for more information: napea.info

Written by Rick Oliver on July 24, 2017
Posted in: Hawaii Life | Tags: Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, Nakoa Foundation, napea, oceanography, sailing, sailing canoes