Riding the Waves in an Outrigger Canoe

"Alright Austin, I want you up in #1, up front!" Barney yelled from behind me. As I wandered to the front of the outrigger canoe, still sitting on the beach, I wondered how I'd gone from sitting on long airplane ride from chilly Seattle to leading an outrigger canoe ride in sunny Waikiki.

The six of us, Kelly, myself, a retired couple from Long Island and our guides, Barney and Uncle Billy, slowly slid the canoe into the water and hopped in. Immediately I forgot why I was there, sitting in a thin, fiberglass boat. Sitting in the front seat, I was mesmerized by my unobstructed view of the seafoam green water, the waves rolling towards the shore, and the puffy white clouds that dotted the blue sky. Just as I started thinking, "wow, this water is amazing," a wave rose up and smacked me in the face. And the paddling commenced.

There's something magical about strenuous effort, about putting your all into doing something that's not an easy task. No time for worries, no chance to even think about whether you're doing something the right way, or being perfect. All you can do is......do. Leading the canoe was my calling, at least for this half hour. And I was rowing like there was no tomorrow. It was the next wave, or bust.

Our guides navigated us into proper position to catch the first wave, although I didn't realize it at the time. I was still struggling to perfect my rowing form and keep myself following their directions. When we started moving full steam ahead to the shouts "go, go, go" it wasn't until they shouted to pull up our paddles that I realized we were riding a wave. Our boat was lifted and hurled towards the shore, with the water roaring to our sides. It was thrilling and surprisingly fun. But just as quickly as it began, our first wave was over. I couldn't wait to get back out there and paddled even harder to catch our second and third waves.

By the third trip, I was exhausted. After rowing myself to death, putting all the pressure to move the boat faster, to keep good form, to catch the next wave, I wasn't sure how I'd keep moving. But I wanted to feel the water lapping at our heels, chasing us all the way to the shore. But the waves weren't coming. So, we all just hung around and waited. I couldn't stop watching our cameraman, hanging onto his surfboard, fidgeting with the waterproof camera, chatting with other surfers. Then, without warning, he slid off his board, into the water, and disappeared effortlessly.

When we got back onto the shore, I wanted to go back. Although I was physically incapable, my desire was strong and I was exhilarated. It was a great way to start a trip, and a great was to say aloha to Hawaii.