About Kilohana Outrigger Canoe Club

Kilohana Outrigger Canoe Club was founded in 1987 by a group of friends who thought it would be 'cool' to start their own paddling club. Little did they (we) know what they'd be getting into. Ideas were drawn on napkins; meetings were impromptu; there was no equipment; there was no money; we had little to no experience in running a club, much less one that had to have any kind of legal documentation.

Many of our founders originated from Ke Anuenue Outrigger Canoe Club of Fremont, to whom we must thank the late Auntie Arma Fonseca and her husband, Eddie, for instilling in us the cultural aspect of and respect for outrigger paddling. Without that, we would be a club without a purpose. We are honored to have been under their wing and we pay great homage to Auntie Arma who was instrumental in the development of what we know today as the NCOCA - the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association.

We eventually elected a president, Brad Saguindel, and with the support of his parents and other donations combined, we were able to purchase two boats from Southern California. Although they were badly in need of restoration, their winning histories gave them the potential of becoming champions again. The traditional racing "Malias" were named O'Kamaka Hiapo (First Born) and Ikaika (Strength).

Now we had our canoes. But how were we going to get to any races? Good thing we knew someone who owned a sheetmetal shop! Franks' Metal Products helped to construct our own trailer to haul our canoes and equipment. In 2002, they helped us evolve again by constructing our new trailer which holds our 6 man canoes and now our single canoes easily.

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