EVERETT — They sail on a canoe and a prayer.
Hui Wa’a O Puget Sound, an outrigger canoe club that races in the Hawaiian tradition, invited a minister to bless the club’s new canoe on Wednesday evening.
Members of the club and their families stood around the new canoe, a 44-foot Bradley used for long-distance races, and prayed for its seaworthiness.
"Before we go on the water, we like to bless our canoe just to keep us safe on the water and keep us strong," said canoe racer and group spokesman Butch Calivo of Lynnwood.
In addition to welcoming a new canoe to its fleet this week, the club will have its largest fund-raiser of the year at 2 p.m. Saturday at Club Broadway, 1611 Everett Ave.
It will be a day of dancing, music and food, and Hui Wa’a O Puget Sound will use the money to bankroll the club through the year and help send teams to Hawaii for the world outrigger canoe championships, should they qualify.
The club has about 80 members of all ages and practices about five times a week at Silver Lake in south Everett. It is one of 15 clubs in the Northwest, all competing for the chance to go to Hawaii.
But for the men, women and children in Hui Wa’a O Puget Sound, the experience is about more than which teams get the fastest time. The club also participates in hula and Tahitian dances, Hawaiian language classes, native Hawaiian history and ukulele lessons.
"We’re family-oriented. We love to see families out there," Calivo said. "We like to consider ourselves one big ‘ohana,’ which is family."
Calivo said everyone is welcome to join the club. To learn more, drop by Club Broadway Saturday, one of the club’s Monday through Thursday practices at Silver Lake, or go to www.huiwaaopugetsound.org.
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
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