As I left Hilo last week, on my way home to Kauai, I looked through the airlines in-flight magazine “Hana Hou!”. A story caught my attention: “Who Needs A Bigger Boat? Two-hundred-pound ‘ahi vs. fourteen-foot piece of plastic: the thrill of kayak fishing”(April/May 2013).

Kayak Fisherman

Kayak Fisherman in Hawaii

It was a great article about a minimalist approach to fishing – just you, a few poles, and a small craft propelled by your own muscles! Many of these kayak fishers will even go several miles off-shore in pursuit of their prey! At one point in the story Isaac Brumaghim, a kayak fisherman living on Oahu, mentions “Canoe racing was a part of my Hawaiian culture, and I really took pride in that… I tried fishing off a one-man outrigger, but those canoes are expensive and fragile and there’s not really enough room.”…

That was it. That sentence was the catalyst I needed to begin building canoes!

Outrigger canoes are expensive! Explore the islands of Hawaii and you rarely see outrigger canoes outside of Canoe Clubs or Waikiki. You’ll mostly see expensive canoes made for racing!

Waikiki outrigger canoe surfing

Outrigger Canoe rides are one of many attractions for tourists on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, HI. Waikiki is one of the few places where anyone can ride waves in traditional outrigger canoes.

I’ve visited a few South Pacific islands – Fiji, Samoa, and Nauru, and in any village along the coast and you’ll see small outrigger canoes made for fishing – made for daily use.

outrigger canoe fisherman

Now don’t get me wrong, outrigger canoe racing is a great sport. I don’t want to limit the number of racing canoes, I want to increase the number of fishing/surfing canoes!