Vintage Hawaiian Canoe Paddle- Koa wood- antique

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This auction is for a seventies era 50" Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddle .These paddles are pretty scarce- I did repairs on a couple back in theeighties and this one I paddled with many times, years ago, and has been hanging in my living room for the past decade or so. The paddle was built by a man Named Herb Ako in Keauhou, Hawaii. He made at least a dozen of these but possibly more- I've seen about a dozen myself. He originally built a bunch of these for the youth program of a local canoe club, back when t weren't too many store bought paddles to be had and you generally got someone local to make you one. I picked this one up second hand from an older paddler back when I was in my twenties, at the time not realizing who it was made by and how important that kind of stuff could be. I probably paddled thirty races with this paddle, and it rode as my back up when I steered a decade's worth of seasons regatta and long distance races. I imagine if you believe in stuff like that, it knows the Kona Coast pretty well. It's been up and down a lot of it literally hundreds of times. It's placed second Koa in the Queen Lilioukalani race and has made the Kaiwi channel (Molokai) crossing at least five times. I actually know w three more of these are, hanging on two paddlers living room walls- one in Hawaii, one in Brest, France and one in Mooloolaba, Australia. This one has the normal wear and tear near the tip but otherwise I see no noticeable cracks or gouges. It looks like a paddle that's seen a few nautical miles. The paddle seems sound and in good condition. It looks to be made of Koa, redwood, cedar and maybe alder or birch. I'll post some better pictures tomorrow in the daylight. My feeling about stuff like this is that you can buy one of those paddles that people make for "art" that look like an ancient Hawaiian paddle and it's designed just to hang on the wall, and if that makes you happy- cool. But I personally like the idea of having a paddle that has a little history- some Mana- and who knows how many races this paddle has done, y'know? I got it second or even third hand. The guy I got this from was a pretty healthy paddler who medaled at states pretty regularly and always usually did pretty well in the Queen's race and Molokai.For me the fact that this particular paddle was built by Herb Ako is a thing all by itself. (The only reason I'm selling it is I'm liquidating a lot of my stuff and moving to Oahu w I'll have a tiny apartment and will be traveling abroad a lot after that, and home will be wver I am. Plus I've put the really sweet stuff in storage. ;) ) But Who knows who has paddled this paddle? No one can tell who's hands were on this paddle, whether they were determined to stay in the front of the pack or struggling to overtake the leader, or maybe just laughing and having a good time surfing the canoe at Kahaluu. I tend to feel that Koa Canoes and wood paddles have a certain amount of personality, a life of their own- a thing to respect. Anyhow- this will make someone a beautiful wall hanging and an outstanding conversation piece. I wish I could tell you more of it's history. After the auction is complete the paddle will be wrapped in bubble wrap and carefully boxed up and shipped within 2 days. I'll also be sure to put the Queen Lilioukalani Second/Koa medal in t too, since it's more about the Koa than it is about the guys in the boat anyhow. (plus I have those races locked up in my head anyhow. The medals tarnish and fade, but the memories stay bright and clear.) Included in price are postal insurance and tracking number. read more

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