Joseph "Nappy" Napoleon may be the only one not impressed with what he's accomplished.

The 66-year-old paddler and founder of 'Anuenue Canoe Club makes his 50th consecutive crossing of the Moloka'i Channel in the Moloka'i Hoe race Oct. 7. He has been in a canoe on that treacherous channel every year since he was 16 years old. Amazing, but he shrugs it off. After all, next year will be No. 51 and the year after that, No. 52.

"If I can," Napoleon says, and he smiles.

He is the quintessential Hawai'i waterman, born on O'ahu and raised in Kapahulu. He worked as a Waikiki beach boy with Steamboat Mokuahi and Blue Makua. Surf, dive, paddle, everything. All of his stories about his wife, his five sons and his 14 grandchildren are about the water.

"When my boys were in school at Saint Patrick's, if the surf was good in Hale'iwa, we would go," Napoleon says with a twinkle in his eye. "Then when we had teacher conference and the nun asked me why my boys were absent, I tell her, 'Sister, it was Napoleon Holiday. They not going be lolo after just one day. And they going have more energy to learn when they come back.' "

The only time he gets effusive, even reverent, is when he speaks of his wife of 41 years, Anona. "If not for my wife, I wouldn't be able to do this. She's special."

The name of the canoe club Napoleon founded, 'Anuenue, is for her.

"If my wife had a daughter, that would be the name."

Napoleon's five sons will be on his crew Oct. 7 along with three of his grandsons. He wants to have another one of his grandsons, a 9-year-old, drive the escort boat. "He's a good waterman," Napoleon says.

For him, age has little to do with it. Paddling is all about heart.

'Anuenue Canoe Club members are looking for sponsors for Napoleon's team. They hope to raise money so the club can aquire a koa canoe.

All the while, Napoleon is playing it cool. Ask him how he prepares for the race and he brushes off notions of cross training, special diets or things of that sort.

"I not that into that high-tech training."

If you're going to paddle canoe, you train by paddling canoe. His only pre-race secret is to sleep on the beach the night before a race. "Everybody is staying at the hotel," he says. "Gets noisy."

And though competing in the race for 50 consecutive years might be enough of an achievement in most people's eyes, Napoleon wants more.

"How shall I put this? I'm still hungry to win."

A banquet to celebrate Napoleon's 50th crossing is planned Oct. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kapi'olani Community College 'Ohia Room. Tickets are $50.

For information on the banquet and/or sponsorship of the canoe club, contact Andrew Cochran at cochrana002@hawaii.rr.com or 778-8941, or Tom Presler at tompresler@gmail.com or 222-4054.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.