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Paddling provides opportunity for military to embrace culture

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Allen
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM, Hawaii --  The slender frame of Tim Awaya's canoe cleaves the water of Oahu's Lanikai Beach, ever watchful of his paddling partner struggling to keep up, like a young duckling laboring to keep pace with its mother. Like the intrepid people who first arrived by canoe in Hawaii, the spirit of the salty water runs in their veins.

Awaya has lived in Hawaii his entire life. His apprentice, Master Sgt. Jeff B. Allen, a strategic plans technician with the Pacific Air Forces public affairs office at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii has only called Oahu home for two years. Allen hopes, however, that his love of paddling will make him as much of a local as anyone.

Both these men are participants in the popular local pastime of "paddling," a popular Hawiian activity in which paddlers brave the Pacific Ocean in outrigger canoes ranging in size from one to six passengers.

"I've been on the Island for nearly two years now, but nothing I've done so far has come close to making me feel the way paddling does," said Allen.

Awaya has not always been a paddler. When he began the hobby, he did not have any friends in paddling - a big disadvantage to anyone interested in learning.

"When I started paddling it seemed like it was an exclusive club," he said. "People who knew how to paddle didn't want to teach new people how because they didn't want any competition."

At first, Awaya would struggle to keep up with other paddlers. Many would challenge him to races and bait him into trying his hardest, only to leave him behind due to his inferior technique."

"I was working twice as hard as anyone out there," Awaya said. "People would zoom out ahead of me, let me catch up, and then take off again when they knew I was exhausted. No one wanted to pass on their knowledge.

Awaya did not allow this setback to let him give up. He began to train harder. After awhile, he began to feel the unique rhythms the ocean induces before a canoe catches a wave. Unexplainable elements of paddling began to unfold before his eyes. Before long, he said, bumps in the ocean that would cause him to flip no longer did. Additionally, the distance he could travel before feeling fatigued grew exponentially.

As fate would have it, Awaya ran into the same gentlemen who took advantage of his inexperience again much later. This time, however, he was able to turn the tables when he casually challenged them to a race.

"Once we said go, I just took off," he said. "I think they started slow because they couldn't figure out how this same guy they embarrassed earlier was smoking them - especially after I let them catch up before taking off again."

Awaya's paddling mentorship of Allen began in a manner altogether different from what he experienced once he began to sense Allen's interest in the sport.

"Paddling is a great sport and it shouldn't be limited to where you're from or how long you've done it," he said. "The Hawaiian spirit of aloha means that we accept anyone who shows interest in the culture."

He began teaching Allen simple things like where to hold the paddle between strokes and how to lean on the canoe before going into a wave. Many things, Allen says, can only be learned through experience.

"It's such a visceral experience," Allen said of his time learning how to "feel" the sport. How to anticipate when a wave will break or how to shift body weight to avoid flipping the canoe are all things Allen has intuitively learned, but not yet mastered.

"That's the really addictive part - knowing that you're getting better," Allen said.

Allen said he has learned much during his time in the water, but he still has at least one thing to figure out. He will be eligible to retire in two years - a date that coincides with the ending of his tenure in Oahu. While he said he's not sure what his future holds geographically, he knows that wherever he ends up, he'll bring his canoe along.

"I'm from Pennsylvania originally, so obviously the Pacific doesn't stretch quite that far but there are lakes nearby," Allen said. "Some of the dynamics might be different than in the ocean, but I'll figure that out. I'm so physically and emotionally invested in this that I'd use it in a bathtub if I had to."

With willing mentors such as Awaya on the island, paddling can be an exciting, accessible hobby to Hawaii visitors. For military members, the easiest way to get involved in paddling is to seek out canoe clubs. Prospective paddlers should expect to invest some cash should their interest in the sport evolve past experimentation. Allen said that canoes can range in price anywhere from $750 to $5,000. Additional accessories can add on anywhere from $200 to $500. Also, Allen said that the one-man outrigger canoes he and Awaya use to paddle likely wouldn't be available for rent at the base's Outdoor Recreation facility, however those seeking to try out the sport might find something similar there.

"The biggest thing is to just go out and do it," Allen said. "For someone like me who works hard and can't stop thinking about things even when not at work, paddling is so physically and mentally engaging that I can't think of anything else while I'm doing it. Having that singular focus takes away a lot of stress, and I get a good workout at the same time."

To Awaya, the presence of the military in Oahu will always bring a new influx of prospective paddlers - a circumstance that should be met with excitement instead of rejection.

"A big part of why I do what I do is to spread the spirit of Aloha beyond the Hawaiian Islands," he said. "The ocean's too big to keep new paddlers away - if the ocean will accept them, why shouldn't I?"