The club met for our annual winter meeting and club elections for 2023. Thanks to outgoing board members, Liz Kluz and the Mitchell Family Unit (Alex, Patrick, and Matilda) for their service. Congratulations to this year’s board:
President – Beth Krause Vice President – Nancy Gruen Secretary – Anne Shakespeare Co-Treasurer(s) – Liz Butler & John Cheng Member at Large/Social Chair – Matthias Ulf Liepe
We have raised our annual membership dues in 2023 to $150. If you would like to join but are unable to afford the dues, please contact a board member. Cayuga Outrigger will be participating in the inaugural Ithaca Canoe Fest, May 7, 2023. Save the date!
Look for additional announcements soon about boat-rigging, practice sign-ups (when we begin at a date TBA). See everyone on the water soon!
We have a new boat! Thanks to the generosity and effort of our members, Cayuga Outrigger has a new addition to club’s fleet. We purchased a Mirage OC-6 from the Santa Barbara Outrigger Canoe Club, and KAS Transport, a specialty transport company based here in upstate New York, hauled it across the country. It arrived March 17 and will be ready to go when the club begins its paddling season. Watch for announcements about that!
Thanks to Zeming, Lori, Dave, Beth, Nancy, Mike, Susanna, and Scott (as well as Steve and his co-worker from KAS Transport) for showing up to unload it on a wet rainy day! Pictures are below.
The boat’s name is Kapolioka’ehukai, which means “Heart of the Sea” in Hawaiian. It was also the nickname of a well-known/legendary Hawaiian woman surfer, paddler, and activist, Rell “Kapolioka’ehukai” Sunn. If you’re interested, here’s a documentary made about her.
KAS Transport arriving on a cold, windy day!
KAS trailer pulling up
Lots of boats, including several OC-6s, on the KAS Transport trailer
The paddling season is quickly approaching as our moderate winter should allow us to get on the water earlier than ever before. Â The canoes are already at East Shore Marina and the iakos and amas are ready to be lashed on.
COCC finishing first at the Rochester River Challenge!
Please make sure that you are prepared for cold water paddling with the correct clothing and a PFD. Â Practices will start on Sundays and expand to Tuesday and Friday as weather permits. Â Dues have remained at $125 so we are one of the best deals in Ithaca for people wanting to workout plus you get to be on the water and hangout with awesome folks. Â See you on the water!
April 28th marked the start of Cayuga Outrigger’s 2011 season. Cold water, air temperature hovering around 50 degrees, a brisk wind and a setting sun did not deter 5 excited paddlers from launching A’no:wara onto Cayuga Lake. Â Starting with rigging at Myers Park the crew of Bill, Felix, Julie, Paul and me paddled for an hour until arriving at East Shore Marina. Â So started our season which is filled with an upcoming open house and ECORA races. Â Hope to see you on the water!
ECORA has finalized the 2011 OC-6 racing season schedule  with some new races added.  Cayuga Outrigger is dedicated to increasing our participation in the racing schedule so please feel free to check out the races listed below.
You can find a photo of C.O.C.C’s “Mens” Liberty World Outrigger Competition team in the most recent edition of Pacific Paddler magazine. In the picture are (from seat one back) Julie, Dave, Cookie, Mike, Paul and P.J. as we rounded Governor’s Island and headed to the finish.
YeeeeeHaaaaaaa! September 3rd proved to be a great day to travel south, toward a hurricane and 35+ miles of paddling. That was our plan as we headed toward Kent Island, Maryland in the Chesapeake for a team outrigger race. In our way was Hurricane Igor, missing members and some severe surf that caused the normal circumnavigation of Kent Island to be altered. Â
Hurricane Igor
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 Our team arrived in Kent Island and had a wonderful meal together at the Kent Island Yacht Club. After that it was off to sleep as we rested for the big day ahead. Â
PreRace Meeting
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Race time was scheduled for 7:30 am with boats hitting the water at 7.Â
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The Start
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Our first group of Julie, Liz, Heather, Paul, Dave and P.J. headed south as the winds increased in velocity and the waves responded by growing ever larger. Our team was in the front of the pack as we circled the bouy but was soon surprised by an ama that chose to move to the other side of the boat! HULI!!! Â
We should have read this before the race!!
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Some great work by the team had the boat upright and bailed before the entire field had passed us.  The next 4 miles where a bit dicey as we traveled back to Kent Island with the waves hitting our ama straight on.  The team quickly made it back and changed out with our second leg team. Blair, Cookie, Tracey, Cynthia, Bill and Paul where excited to be paddling but did not realize what awaited them when they left protected water and ventured out into the Chesapeake Bay.  The water in the bay was gnarly with 3 to 4 foot swells that, again, were hitting the ama broadside. The crew struggled mightily in these conditions of high wind and swells and where more than happy to make the turn.  The downwind run was fantastic and fast as we passed 2 boats and came in for the change out with a third. Team 2The crew hit the beach and were glad to be on dry land but also concerned as the first group headed out into the same water. The third and fourth legs went off without a hitch and we were all soon sipping cold beers and preparing for the luau. Â
The next morning all tents were packed and we made an annual breakfast stop at Holly’s and then a small group headed into Annapolis for some sightseeing and a snack a McGarvey’s Saloon. Â
Huge thanks to all team members especially Matt for climbing in and doing a leg which was his second time ever in an outrigger. Also a big mahalo to Blair’s parents for the blue crabs and a place to sleep as well as the Kent Island Outrigger Club for throwing such an outstanding event.Â
July 31st marked the day that Cayuga Outrigger Canoe Club was hoping to erase the events that occurred the previous year at Liberty World Outrigger Competition. What were those events? Four COCC members headed to New York City and met up with Ben (steersman) and Ray(paddler) to take on some extreme conditions in New York Harbor and the Hudson River. After more than 2 hours of paddling it was discovered that the boat had missed a turn, ended off course and was given a DNF. The crew was tired and dismayed and wondered if it was worth ever coming back.
Waiting our turn with Brooklyn Bridge in background
Saturday morning found our team of Julie, Dave, Cookie (Paul C.), Paul W. and P.J. walking across the Brooklyn Bridge for an 11 o’clock race time. Our canoe, courtesy of the Washington Canoe Club, need to be rigged and a portion of the morning was spent lashing the the ama, iakos and wa’a together. A nervous morning was spent getting in some last food and water as we waited for the women’s race to end and for our Men’s Open to start.
Boat Entering Water for Men's Open Race
Finally at 10:30 we launched our boat and paddled to the starting line under the Manhattan Bridge. The current was flowing strong against us with considerable chop but we were more than ready for the challenge. The race start was crazy but with some masterful steering P.J. kept us upright and ahead of another boat which was a cause for excitement. We quickly made our way to the tip of Manhattan, avoided getting run over by the Staten Island Ferry and were headed into some of the roughest water of the day.
Gnarly Water at Battery Park
As we headed north on the Hudson we faced a slight tidal current behind us the flow of the Hudson in our face and massive boat wakes that were reflecting off the shore.  Our ama spent some time in the air but due to an awesome team we were soon making the turn at W 29th Street and heading to the west side of the Hudson. Padding was almost enjoyable as we headed toward Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. At the Statue of Liberty things again grew interesting as tourist gawked from the Circle Line Cruise Boat and wakes again threatened the seemingly inevitable huli. After what seemed like forever, it was actually only a mile, we found safe haven behind Govenor’s Island and were paddling our way to the finish line. Not only had we finished the race but we came in ahead of another crew!
Results!
We were greeted at the shore by MHanh offered us relief in the form of PIZZA and BEER, are you kidding me, she is invited to all events from here on out!! A big Mahalo to her.
Pizza and Beer Post Race
We finished off our day with the luau at the Frying Pan and ate to we could not fit any more. The luau also had women performing hula, a raffle and many great recaps of an awesome and exciting day.
Cayuga Outrigger Canoe Club welcomed and then blessed our new canoe, Hokuho’okelewa’a, which is translated to a canoe’s guiding star, at a blessing on Friday July 17.
Lei on the front of Hokuho’okelewa’a
Decorated Iakos
Linda served as the master of ceremonies and did an awesome job as well as Blair who made the offering while paddling the new wa’a.
Linda performing blessing
This was also a monumental event for the COCC as more than 25 people attended the blessing, which when compared to our first blessing of A’no:wara showed how much our ohana has grown.
Placing Hokuho’okelewa’a into Cayuga Lake
Paddling out to test Hokuho’okelewa’a and to make offering
Mahalo to all that participated in the blessing and the growth of the club. It was inspiring to see us all come together and help in growing the club.
