by Jeff Cantle
Jeff is a novice this year. He is currently doing graduate studies at UCLA.
My wife and I first paddled with the Hanalei Canoe Club in Kaua’i while on vacation, and when we got home to California we looked up the closest club. Google did not disappoint us: we found the Marina del Rey Outrigger Canoe Club website.
Luckily for us, off-season paddling was beginning the following week, and we jumped right into once-a-week practices led by Jeff Tanaka. We got hooked. Paddling on the weekends became the highlight of the week. Paddling out into the bay, we left behind the noise of Los Angeles and were greeted by dolphins, sea lions, and whales. We would paddle up the coast to the Santa Monica pier and come back, or head straight out into the Pacific just to surf waves when we came back in.
We met many club members who would come down and help out by filling in the boats when we needed more people or by steering. Everyone was friendly and willing to help us practice our stroke. Jeff got us used to changing seats so that we would feel comfortable in any position in the boat—he even had us try steering on calm days. Club members would talk to us about the race season, how much fun it is, the camaraderie, and how the practice schedule is tough but rewarding.
As race season approached, the three practices a week seemed intimidating, but Jeff reassured us that the club understands if we couldn’t make every practice, so my wife and I decided to give the race season a try. Two other guys and three other gals from the off-season joined the club for the race season too. As for the workout schedule, the three (or four) practices are the highlight of my week.
We transitioned from Jeff to our new novice coaches (I had Calvin and Brooke, my wife had Kathy), and our new teammates. We had between ten and twelve guys on the novice men’s team at any given practice, so we got to take two boats out and push each other to go faster and longer. Cal and Brooke are great coaches, and always willing to help—whether it was finding 1-person boats for us to use for practice on off days, or finding people to paddle with on vacation in Hawai’i. Cal and Brooke trained with us for about a month and a half before our first race in San Diego.
The first race was an amazing experience. When we arrived to unload our boats, I was shocked at the number of canoes lining the shore. There were about 70! Marina is a large club, and after we unloaded boats, we joined the Marina group that was together at the finish line. After going to a meeting and getting some last-minute advice from Cal and Brooke, we got in the canoes and headed towards out. We were nervous paddling to the starting line, but the coaches had prepared us well and we had a great race. Despite getting knocked sideways at the start by another boat, we maintained our composure and did what the coaches told us—it worked. We got second place. When we finished, the whole club was cheering for us and gave us leis. We felt like full-fledged members of the club and cheered as the veteran women’s team paddled out for their race. We stayed until the awards ceremony and collected our medals, then went to the race after party to hang out with the other clubs. It was a great first race.
Now we’re settling in to our novice season—races most weekends and practices during the week. When we don’t race, it’s usually practices Saturday and Sunday as well. It’s so addicting that my wife and I bought a 2-person canoe so that we can paddle on our off-days! The races have been just as fun as the first one. We got first place at our home race, the Kahanamoku Klassic, which was a sweet victory.
Lately, the coaches have been putting the novices into veteran crews to do the longer races that happen after the novices race. That has been very rewarding, and taught me a lot about how to make my paddling better—plus it’s just plain fun! The season is about a third of the way done now, and we are looking forward to the state championships and eventually the Catalina Crossing race. Everyone in the Marina del Rey Outrigger Canoe Club has been great and given my novice season so much aloha. |
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