Friday, October 29, 2010

End of the Session Field Trip

It’s that time again where friends hang out one last time before saying goodbye to each other as another session ends. On Friday, October 1, 2010 the MLI students went on an excursion to Kanaha Beach Park to learn how to paddle canoe. We were greeted by a few paddlers from a Lae `Ula o Kai canoe club and they escorted us to their canoe hale (canoe house), where we were able to put our “things” while we were out canoeing.


Before we were able to get into the water, Sharon, who was our leader and a strong competitive canoe racer, and a few of her canoe buddies taught us how to properly hold and use the canoe paddle and when to change from one side to another while paddling. The timing of the switch is as follows: “hut, hut, hoo” and switch and another “hut, hut, hoo” and so on until your canoe reaches your destination. After a short lesson on paddling, we made sure that we had a good stretching of our arms, back, and shoulders so we won’t pull a muscle while we’re out on the water.

Finally, we were given our paddles as we headed down towards the beach. We were all excited and couldn’t wait to put what we learned into practice. We all helped and carried three canoes into the water, while the paddlers from Lae ‘Ula o Kai held onto the front and back end of the canoe to keep it from drifting. Each canoe had 6 people and each of them were a assigned a seat, seat 1 was stroker, the one who sets the pace of the stroke, seat 2, the one who assists seat 1 with timing of stroke and help turn the canoe when necessary, seat 3, the one who keeps the canoe moving forward as well as the one who calls out “hut, hut, hoo,” seat 4, known as the “power house.” Seat 4 is responsible for also bailing the canoe if there’s water in the canoe, seat 5 is also known as the “power house,” and finally seat 6, the one who steers the canoe. We hopped in the canoe and sat on our assigned seat and before we knew it, we were paddling canoe. We were out on the water for about an hour, having fun while we were concentrating on our changes and stroking. The timing of our strokes are very important because if one crew member is not in sync with the rest the canoe jerks, the pace slows, and paddlers become more prone to seasickness. So it is very important to be in sync with your crewmembers.

After paddling for about an hour, it was time for lunch. We help carry the canoes back to shore and rushed over to rinse off. We sat, ate lunch, and enjoyed each other’s company. We even played a game of dodge ball. To end a fun day, we congratulated two MLI students for graduating from our program and presented them their certificates. Time surely passes by when you’re having so much fun. We said our goodbyes to Sharon and her crewmates as well as we said our goodbyes to each other. What a fun and exciting day to end our Fall 1 session.