Hawaii Dream Vacations

On Sunday, October 8th, more than 1,000 canoe paddlers from all over the world will test the limits of their strength, courage, determination, and teamwork, as they rage the Pacific Ocean in the Moloka’i Hoe Outrigger Canoe 2006 Championship, a 41-mile open ocean race from Molokai to Oahu.  The men of Lanikai Canoe Club, from the windward side of Oahu, will be defending their title against athletes from Tahiti, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Australia, California, and Hawaii.

The crews will leave Hale O Lono Harbor in Molokai at 7:30 am, cross the treacherous Ka’iwi Channel separating Molokai and Oahu, and finish at Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Oahu.

Outrigger canoe paddling has been deeply rooted in the Polynesian culture for millennia. Polynesians used outrigger canoes for fishing in the open sea and to travel among the islands.  Outrigger canoe paddling has played such an integral role in Hawaii’s history and culture that outrigger canoe racing is the official team sport of the State of Hawaii. 

The Molokai Hoe is one of the longest running annual team sporting events in Hawaii, second only to football. The event perpetuates one of Hawaii and Polynesia’s most important historic cultural traditions and honors outrigger canoe paddlers around the world.