At Seattle Outrigger, we treat our outrigger canoes like a member of the family. Today, there is a great cost associated with sourcing and maintaining a canoe. Historically, the process of making a canoe was intricate, lengthy, and very arduous. So these beautiful wa’a are our pride and joy. We treat them with the utmost respect.
Our current canoes
SOCC currently has three OC-6 canoes:
- Our newest canoe is an ultralight Malolo racing canoe made by Puakea Designs. It is named “Mālana,” which loosely translated, describes her characteristics: “light in weight, an important hoku (star) in navigation, sought after characteristic of a wa’a – planing”
- “Ke Kōlea” is our unlimited wa’a, and is named for the golden plover. This migratory bird spends time in both Hawai’i and Alaska. These champions of distance are comfortable in warm and cold climates, just our canoe. It is a Bradley Lightning that was made by Ryan Pogue in Canada.
- Our oldest canoe is a Bradley Striker and is named “Alohinalu”. Translated, her name means, “sparkling wave.” The canoe is in great shape, serves as our main “spec” regatta wa’a, and will be a member of the ‘ohana for many years to come. The folks at Bradley Canoes sure know how to build them!
Our extended canoe family
These canoes are no longer with us and yet they are still paddled by other clubs in the Northwest!
- One of our first canoes is an older model Bradley named “Elua Kekoa”. It currently resides in Bellingham, WA, and belongs to Bellingham Bay Outrigger Paddler (BBOP).
- Our second oldest canoe is a Force Five named “Po’anuenue”. She is a terrific wave canoe, and was a favorite canoe to race the Gorge, as she seems to ride those swells better than any other. The “Dark Rainbow” is currently owned by Columbia River Outrigger Canoe Club (CROCC) in Portland, OR.
OC-1 and OC-2:
- We have an Huki “V2” OC-2 canoe and an Arrow OC-1 available for club use at the beach. Our experienced paddlers can take these small canoes out when they have performed a huli drill and paid an extra fee. During the fall and winter, OC-1 and OC-2 paddlers are required to wear a life vest and in the summer they need to bring one along on the canoe to satisfy Coast Guard rules.
If you’d like to learn more about outrigger canoe paddling, you can read about the sport on our site, you can drop by to visit us during practice, or you can contact us with any questions. We have a membership base that paddles year round and during the summer months, we have a fun keiki program that teaches the PNW youth about teamwork, paddling, and the Hawaiian Culture.