By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
| For donations or information on how to assist the Leeward Kai Canoe Club, call Ryan Van Gieson at 668-5650, or Edith Van Gieson at 696-8248. |
When a racing canoe was damaged on the H-2 Freeway two weeks ago, so were the hearts of hundreds of paddlers in Nanakuli.
Ten days after an accident ruined its only racing canoe, the Leeward Kai Canoe Club was still in search of answers ... and assistance.
"It was basically shock when it happened," head coach Ryan Van Gieson said. "And I guess I’m still in shock."
After coaching at a high school regatta on Feb. 10, Van Gieson was driving his truck home with the club’s 45-foot fiberglass canoe attached behind on a trailer. Somewhere around Kalaeloa, two cars -apparently racing — approached from behind at high speeds. One car slammed into the trailer, unfastening the canoe into the middle of the freeway.
"I looked out my side window, and I saw the canoe flying through the air," Van Gieson said. "Next thing I know, the canoe was lying on the road, blocking the whole freeway."
Traffic was relatively light that afternoon, so ensuing cars were able to stop in time. Several volunteers helped Van Gieson lift the canoe off the road, and no one was seriously injured.
Except the Leeward Kai Canoe Club.
Chunks of the canoe were torn out during the accident, and nearly an entire side of the hull was damaged after skidding some 200 feet along the pavement.
"I don’t know if it’s repairable," Van Gieson said. "But even if it is, it’s not going to be the same."
The trailer was even worse. "We can’t fix that," Van Gieson said. "The metal got all bent and twisted."
A new fiberglass racing canoe costs around $8,000; a new trailer about the same amount.
For a small canoe club based at Nanakuli Beach Park, it is an extravagant price tag.
"We can’t just pull that kind of money out of our pockets," Van Gieson said. "As it is, we do chicken sales all the time just to help us pay our (association) dues and insurance."
There are an estimated 120 paddlers in the club. The canoe, named Hema Kana ‘O Hanalei in honor of club founder Henry Van Gieson, was only 4 years old. It took the club nearly four years to raise enough money to purchase the canoe.
"We worked hard for it," Van Gieson said. "That’s like our baby."
During the O‘ahu Interscholastic Association paddling season, the club allowed both Nanakuli and Waipahu high schools to race in the canoe.
For now, all those paddlers are without a canoe to call their own.
"There are high emotions right now," said Heidi Arrington, a paddler with the club. "We really don’t know what’s going to happen."
At last Saturday’s OIA Championship Regatta, the Nanakuli and Waipahu teams raced in a canoe borrowed from Keahiakahoe Canoe Club. Nanakuli’s mixed junior varsity crew won its race.
"The kids were great," Van Gieson said. "But they know the situation. A lot of them are upset."
The club has several "practice" canoes, which are suitable for training, but not for competition. Once the regatta and long-distance paddling seasons start in April, other clubs might not have extra canoes to lend on race days.
"It’s a crappy situation to be in," Van Gieson said. "What makes us even more angry is the way it happened. Because of a few careless people, hundreds of paddlers got hurt."
Van Gieson is not certain if or how the club could seek legal action.
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