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A summer to remember
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Emotional Gorge race challenged Kīkaha
The Gorge Outrigger Canoe Race always lands in the middle of the PNW racing season, but it has the excitement of an annual championship event that can earn paddlers serious bragging rights.
This year, the 28th edition of the event, drew a stacked field of paddlers from New Zealand, Tahiti, California and Hawaii. Conditions were the best in recent years, with sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph and gusts up to 40 mph.
Kīkaha was there in force, fielding five crews for the July 11 race. The club views this Gorge as the highlight of the competitive season. It didn’t disappoint.
The senior master (50+) mixed crew won its division.
For the first time in years, Kīkaha had an open women’s crew.
The undaunted open mixed crew recovered from a huli to finish the race. Imua Kīkaha!
The Kīkaha master men (40+) finished second in their division and 10th overall. Crew member and club head coach Gordon Martinez noted that the club’s top crew has continued to improve on its time since taking first overall in 2024. This year the crew was nearly four minutes faster. “It all shows that all other competitors are all getting faster and better,” he said.
But the crew with the heaviest burden was Kīkaha’s golden master (55+) crew, which raced without its leader and stroker, Boy Chun Fook, who had to have emergency surgery the day before to remove his gallbladder. Big mahalo to Portland-area paddler Seth O’Neil who filled in at the last minute.
Chun Fook was banging hard on his OC1 the Thursday before the race. But he woke up Friday with extreme pain under his chest and breastbone and thought he was having a heart attack, he said.
Doctors at Skyline Hospital in White Salmon ruled out a heart condition after X-rays, CT scans and medication and sent Chun Fook by ambulance to PeaceHealth Hospital in Vancouver for a stress test. They still thought he was suffering from a heart condition.
“The pain was getting worse and doctors finally did an ultrasound and third CT scan to look at my gallbladder, then boom my gallbladder was ready to explode and it looked angry according to the surgeons with gall stones building up,” Chun Fook said.
Chun Fook was rushed to surgery.
“I had that back pain for the longest time and was wondering why my right side on my stomach was protruding outward for at least four to five months,” Chun Fook said. “If this gallbladder would’ve blown up while I was on the water, I would have had no chance of surviving a septic leak in my body.”
Chun Fook said he is recovering well and will be back on the water soon. He is grateful for the love and support he received from family, friends and his Kīkaha ‘ohana.
“Throughout this whole episode I kept praying for God’s hands to help me through this,” he said. “Bren also stayed by side for support and comfort. I love her to death!”
Kīkaha senior master (50+) mixed crew
Kīkaha’s golden master (55+) crew
Kīkaha’s open mixed crew
Kīkaha’s open women’s crew
Kīkaha’s master men (40+)
Boy “Bang When You Can” Chun Fook
A big mahalo to Kīkaha paddler Jacob Turner who created this cool race results feature.
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Da Gorge, Part 2
Kīkaha’s Pat Ogawa and Scott Harrington teamed up again to race in the Gorge Downwind Championships on July 16. The winds were gusting from 40 to 50 mph and waves were 8 feet, making the race one of the best in its history.
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Kīkaha ‘ohana marks 30 years of competition, culture and community
Nothing in the storied history of Kīkaha could compare to what happened to the canoe club in late June. Not thrilling races, victories or challenges met.
It was a night to savor.
More than 175 founding members, long-time members and new members gathered June 20 at Scottish Rite Orient of Washington to celebrate Kīkaha’s historic 30th anniversary. There were smiles, tasty homemade dishes and plenty of aloha. There was music and many memories shared.
Long-time member and keiki/youth coach Vance Bader welcomed the gathering and delighted everyone with stories of how the club began. He told them they were a family –- ‘ohana. He said it was “the secret sauce” of Kīkaha.
“Our responsibility, for all the new members here and all the people who came along during the last 30 years, your responsibility, our responsibility, is to perpetuate the culture, the outrigger canoe paddling and, really, the aloha and ‘ohana that we have,” Bader said. “That makes this club way, way, way, way, way special.”
Kīkaha was formed in 1996 by a small group of Hawaii ex-pats in Federal Way who yearned for home. They would create a club with a reputation for aloha –- and competitive paddling -– that’s known and respected internationally. Today, the club operates out of Tacoma’s Foss Waterway.
To still be active after 30 years is a remarkable achievement, Bader said. He urged everyone at the celebration to help the club continue so that their children and grandchildren could experience “what we do here every day.”
Bader praised fellow member Boy Chun Fook, who was present when the first organizational meeting was held.
“This guy is a living legend within our club,” Bader said. “He’s a living legend within the Hawaiian community. He’s a living legend within the entire Asian Pacific community in the Pacific Northwest. So brah, much love. Our club is not what it is without you.”
Chun Fook, who met Bader at that first gathering, shared the experience.
“We had a bunch of people that just wanted to paddle, just wanted to paddle because they never paddled in Hawaii,” Chun Fook said. “We were all brought up in Hawaii back in the day. We were raised with our culture. But we moved away from Hawaii such a long time ago that we needed a connection to Hawaii.”
And right there, Kīkaha was born.
“It’s so good to see the families, the ‘ohana, come after 30 years. Thirty years. I get chickenskin. Thirty years is something that we should all be proud of.”
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Da Kīkaha Korner
Kīkaha did more than race during the summer of 2026. Members got together July 18 to watch a Tacoma Rainiers baseball game. And on July 16, members gathered to help with the club’s annual youth program with the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. The program teaches youth about paddling and culture every Thursday for six weeks.
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Third annual E Komo Mai
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Kīkaha O Ke Kai, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit that paddles out of the Foss Waterway, would like to say mahalo to its sponsors and supporters: Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Papa Ola Lōkahi, Nordlund Boat Company, Katie Downs Waterfront Tavern & Eatery, Tucci Energy Services, Hawaiian Paddle Sports, Aloha Carpet Cleaning, Moku ‘aina Wakinekona Hawaiian Club, Dirty2Dreamy Ceramic Coating & Detail Service, Tumi Tax, Teamsters Local No. 313, Puget Sound Upfitters and TJ’s Lei Stand.
Talk Story seeks to cultivate a strong, unified identity for Kīkaha O Ke Kai, reflecting the spirit of Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling. It is dedicated to sharing club news and managing information promptly. It aims to provide members and supporters with a newsletter that enhances their connection to the club and represents our shared values on and off the water. You can contact us at kikaha.info@gmail.com.
All pau for now!