Lihu‘e Station Firefighter Butch Keahiolalo rescues more than Kaua‘i residents in distress. Recently, he rescued a one-man outrigger canoe. Canoes on the islands, like most seafaring craft, possess a spirit all their own and are regarded with reverence and respect
Lihu‘e Station Firefighter Butch Keahiolalo rescues more than Kaua‘i residents in distress. Recently, he rescued a one-man outrigger canoe.
Canoes on the islands, like most seafaring craft, possess a spirit all their own and are regarded with reverence and respect within the paddling community.
So when Keahiolalo received a call from his battalion chief regarding the discovery of a “reefed” canoe on Kipu Kai Beach, he began scrolling through a long list of Kaua‘i watermen and women in search of its owner.
When Keahiolalo didn’t make any progress by phone, his curiosity got the best of him.
He loaded his boat and headed for Kalapaki Bay and paddled the 5-mile run to the property where the boat had been discovered.
“The caretaker for the Waterhouse family pulled it off the reef and into the naupaka,” Keahiolalo said. With permission to examine the boat, he paddled in to see if it was one he recognized.
After describing the colors of the Pegasus to a dozen or more people, Keahiolalo decided to cast his net still further. He posted an announcement on ocpaddler.com, a Web site that serves as a gathering place for the paddling community within the Hawaiian islands and beyond.
Kaua‘i native Keizo Gates keeps the site updated with coverage ranging from race results to boats for sale. The day Keahiolalo posted the discovery of the vagrant Pegasus canoe on the forum, he received a response within the hour.
“I didn’t even have to wait 15 minutes before my cell rang,” Keahiolalo said.
After learning that the rider was an O‘ahu paddler, he then realized that this particular canoe had surfed from one island to another of its own accord.
Mana and tradewinds blowing in the neighborhood of 25 knots that week were responsible for the five-day voyage that the OC-1 took from Diamond Head to Kipu Kai, a spit of beach on the southeast side of Kaua‘i.
Not only did the canoe remain within the Hawaiian chain, but it navigated lava rock points and coral to arrive with minimal damage.
When Keahiolalo’s cell rang, the voice he heard was familiar, “Oh, cuz, I think you got my boat.”
It was Sepa Napoleon, grandson of “Nappy” Napoleon.
“I was doing a Hawai‘i Kai run,” Sepa Napoleon told Keahiolalo.
On an updated post to ocpaddler.com, Keahiolalo wrote, “For those of you lucky enough to know the owner, then you know there is a lot of mana in that canoe.”
The power, or mana, Keahiolalo refers to is that of Nappy, a Hawaiian icon in the world of water sports. In 1958, Nappy made his first Moloka‘i crossing at the age of 16. Since then he’s done 44 of the 50 Moloka‘i Hoe races.
Nappy’s 18-year-old grandson had borrowed the Pegasus on a Tuesday. While out in high winds and surf, he was thrown from the canoe. The wind picked the craft up and carried it away. Luckily, he is a seasoned paddler and a strong swimmer.
The boat surfed at least 110 miles — granted, if it traveled in a straight line — to reach Kaua‘i by Sunday.
As for the condition of the renegade canoe, Keahiolalo said, “The boat has cracks but is still in one piece.”
With the help of a few friends, the canoe was retrieved yesterday. It will be repaired here and then shipped back to O‘ahu.
Keahiolalo said this is not the first time a canoe, or even part of one had arrived on Kaua‘i, “In the late ’90s, a koa canoe broke in half in the Moloka‘i Channel and six months later arrived barnacle-encrusted in Kalapaki Bay.”
“A men’s crew from Kai Ola Canoe Club dragged it to shore, then shipped it back to the club that had lost it in Maui.”
That club had already repaired their boat, he said, “but they took off the new part and put the original half back on.”
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
