Weekend of Firsts, 1 of 3

This weekend was chock-full of new experiences. All of them were paddling related, but what's new?

On Saturday morning I was in Kailua for our new canoe blessing. You can't imagine how exciting it is for our club to get a new canoe. The blessing itself was relatively low-key but pretty fitting in that we're all low-key and we were on the beach. A Hawaiian kahuna* joined us and spoke of how important paddling and canoes have been to the Hawaiian spirits. He spoke about how paddling promotes important Hawaiian ideals of health, teamwork, and culture. He splashed koa water to signify the original material of the canoe. He sprinkled Hawaiian salt because Hawaiians consider salt the essence of life. I might have this all a bit wrong but this is what I took away from it. Then he asked us to hold hands in a circle around the canoe and thanked all those involved in the creation of the canoe and bless all those that would paddle in it. He asked for health and success. He asked us to lay hands on the canoe as he said his final blessing. He then asked our coaches and club president to wrap a maile lei around the nose of the boat. I think he also gave the boat a Hawaiian name which I have not yet memorized.

Our top paddlers then took the canoe for its first official spin. When they got back we all got a chance to paddle it. I thought it felt like any old canoe but the energy still made it very special.

* I don't really know for sure that he was a kahuna, I just don't know a better word. He's sort of a Hawaiian minister of sorts.