Outrigger Paddling

Sara and I have been looking for an activity that will suit us both since we arrived on island. I've been doing some hiking, but since Sara's leg is still in need of some repair, it's not ideal for both of us. Thus we decided to give the outrigger paddling group a try. One of the other attorneys in our office is involved with a group that gets out on Pago Harbor every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There's also a more casual group that dips their paddles on Tuesdays and Thursday, but we've never been the types to back down from a challenge. Today was our first try at staying upright in the water.

We showed up at the appointed time and place after work. Most of the boats were already making runs along the west bank of the harbor. There were a number of children and youth groups that were taking their turns with the outrigger canoes. We knew one of the parents who was there watching her son's paddling. After the usual chit chat the kids started to come in and the adult group started to congregate around the boats.

I realized that this group was serious when everyone in attendance had their own paddle. Each one was custom made in Tahiti, with certain lengths, bends of the shaft and blade sizes depending on the paddlers size, ability and strength. I felt a little out of place grabbing one of the extra ones left over from the kid's practice.

We hoisted the boats from their resting place on shore and carried the ones we were taking out over to the beach and divided the fifteen of us into three boats. With a few moments of instruction Sara and I were hopping into the third and fourth seat of our canoe and we started paddling off toward the channel marker at the mouth of the harbor.

The rhythm of paddling is 14 strokes on one side, then the number one or two paddler calls "hut." One more stroke on that side, then the rear paddler calls "ho" and everyone switches sides and punches out another fifteen strokes, rinse, repeat. As a first time paddler, this means I had enough time to get my hand hold right, match the cadence of the other paddlers, iron out my stroke technique and then I had to switch sides and figure it all out again. The key is staying in time with your lead paddlers and not taking strokes that are too long, as all your power is at the beginning of your paddle stroke. If anyone is out of cadence you can feel the canoe noticeably deaden in the water and the momentum is quickly lost.

We paddled south into the waves that were rolling into the mouth of the harbor. Nothing was breaking, but there were moments between the crests where you were digging deep to get the blade of the paddle into the ocean. We paddled out to the marker buoy, called a halt to our efforts and let ourselves drift for a moment.

There's easily no better place to view a small volcanic island than from a mile off the shore. We were greeted to a view of the sun setting behind the peaks that line Pago Harbor. That's a view I need to get a little more often.

We got a few moments to admire paradise and recommenced our paddling. Our rear paddler barked out corrections and coaching advice to Sara and I as we started our return trip back into the harbor. On the return paddle our lack of experience and stamina started to make itself apparent. I thought I'd paced myself well for the return trip, until I realized that we weren't angling towards the beach we started at, we were heading down the middle of the harbor, right past the beach we started at. Damn, there went the energy reserves I thought I'd rationed out for the journey.

Instead we continued our paddle past the port and the Canadian Naval vessel that's moored there on to the channel marker near the end of the harbor. Once around that buoy we got another breather. At this point my back was aching, my brow was dripping sweat into my eyes, my beard was soaked with salt spray and I was struggling to keep up with the paddling cadence. Determined to keep up, I resolved to finish out the final leg as best I could.

Thankfully the final leg was the shortest, but the wind was against us. We just need to go half the length of the harbor and loop around the breaking waves that were over one of the reefs. Going into the wind we lengthened out strokes and tried to maintain a consistent rhythm. With the end in sight, we coasted into shore. My back and shoulders were aching, but it was well worth the effort.

All that was left was to carry the boats back to the field where they are stored and rinse ourselves off. A little tired and woozy, Sara and I made it back without earning too much distain from out boat mates. Turns out we did over five miles paddling. Depending on how sore we are tomorrow, were looking to do it again soon.