DEPARTMENT:

The Joy of Paddling

To Joseph “Nappy” Napoleon, the ocean offers much more than recreation. It’s his way of life. While most people head to the beach just on weekends, Napoleon, 64, spends every day in the water.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Napoleon has been a paddling enthusiast since he was eight years old. He founded Anuenue Canoe Club in 1983 and has been at its helm as head coach ever since.
Napoleon still competes in the grueling 41-mile Molokai Hoe race from Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai to Queen’s Beach, Oahu every October. In fact, he holds the record for participating in the most Molokai Hoe races; last year marked his 48th consecutive competition.

“Paddling has been good to my wife Anona and me,” says the soft-spoken, unassuming Napoleon. “I’m a very lucky man because she loves the ocean as much as I do. She’s been paddling as long as me, and now all of our sons and even my grandchildren are involved in paddling.”

Napoleon has the trim physique and deep tan of a consummate Hawaiian waterman. Taught by legendary beachboys such as Sam “Steamboat” Mokuahi, he took visitors on canoe rides off Waikiki Beach when he was a youth, which is how he perfected his steering techniques.

Over the past 50 years, Napoleon has competed in races around the world, including Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Rarotonga and the Mainland. Last September, he, Anona and their good friends Bruce and Sue Johnson made a trip to upstate New York for the three-day, 90-mile Adirondack Canoe Classic, which runs from Old Forge, a small town 300 miles south of New York City, to Saranac Lake, 10 miles east of Lake Placid.

Two hundred fifty paddlers from all over the United States, Canada, England, France and New Zealand competed in the 23rd running of that popular event. “It was something new for me,” Napoleon says. “I told my wife I want to try different races on the Mainland because we’ve pretty much done all the races here.”

Napoleon and Johnson paddled and carried their 18-foot fiberglass and graphite canoe 30 miles each day, which took about six hours. At night they met their wives at designated campsites for dinner. The next morning around 9 a.m., after the early-morning fog had cleared, they would be back in their canoe.

The intrepid Hawaii team placed second in their division, Men’s Veterans for those over 60 years old—crossing the finish line less than two minutes behind Soern Petersen and Norm Goldstein of Ontario, Canada.

Eager to share his knowledge, Napoleon has produced an instructional video, One Paddle, Two Paddle: Techniques of Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Paddling, that discusses the basics of the sport (it’s available on Oahu at Island Paddler and Native Books Na Mea Hawaii). He’d like to produce another video that focuses on safety because he believes winning long-distance competitions is dependent on practicing safety techniques and having the right mind-set.

“Anyone can enter a long-distance race,” Napoleon says. “That’s not hard. But winning is hard. To win, you have to feel like you can win. You have to have a winner’s attitude and work hard every day.”

And that’s exactly what Napoleon does. He believes you don’t have to count calories or run on a treadmill to stay healthy; you just have to do some form of daily exercise.

Napoleon is currently training for the one-person Starbucks Kaiwi Channel Relay, a challenging 39-mile outrigger canoe race from Molokai to Oahu on May 7. “I have to paddle every day,” he says. “If I didn’t do that, I would just sit home and sleep. I would rot.”

Above: Steersman Nappy Napoleon (far right) and his team cruise off the Big Island’s Kona coast in last year’s Queen Liliuokalani Long-Distance Canoe Race. Photo by Ropati Hebenstreit. Opposite page: Napoleon takes a break during a practice session. Photo by Paul Dyson.

The veteran paddler doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. He has found his fountain of youth in the shape of a canoe. — Corinne Ann Knutson

Interested in getting into paddling? Napoleon invites you to join his canoe club. No prior arrangements are necessary; just look for Anuenue’s canoes on the Waikiki side of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor. Practices are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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