Hawaiian music came from the speaker on Silver Lake’s beach. Above a few hundred beachcombers, tall leafy trees seemed to dance a hula to the music in the breeze.
In the distance five outrigger canoes with six people on each moved across the lake. Each crew pulled its paddles in sync in and out of the water.
As canoes approached, spectators cheered and hooted, air horns in hand, drowning out the music from the speaker.
“It’s an event that brings everyone together,” said Hal Levinsky, the vice president of Hui Wa’a O Puget Sound Outrigger Canoe Club.
The Everett-based club, which has about 100 members from ages 4 to 78, sponsored the seventh annual outrigger races on Sunday, June 13, highlighting the second weekend of the Salty Sea Days festival, Levinsky said.
Six clubs with about 200 people raced in different categories, aiming to qualify for the world championship in Hawaii in August, Levinsky said.
Outrigger canoes are entrenched in Hawaiian culture, said Larry Kaikala, of Lake Stevens, his club’s director.
“We just do it when we want,” said Kaikala, who is originally from Maui, Hawaii.
His daughter Anela Kaikala, 17, has paddled the canoes since she was 10.
“My dad paddled, and he wanted me to do it, too,” said Kaikala, a junior at Snohomish High School. “It looked like fun.”
She’s met good friends through the sport, Kaikala said. “It’s very family-oriented,” she said.
The sport takes physical strength and technique, Kaikala said. But timing among crewmembers is the key to winning races, she said, adding her crew usually practices twice a week.
“It’s really competitive, and everyone gets excited about their crews, and they are very supportive,” she said.
Amanda Carvalho, a Kaikala crewmember, agreed.
“I love competing, and I love the water. It’s just fun,” said Carvalho, 18, of Kent.
Spectators enjoyed watching their hard work.
Jerry Daniels of Everett said he has come to the event for a few years. “I just like to see the teamwork,” Daniels, 59, said.
Yoshiaki Nohara is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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