Andrew Bosshard & Napali Woode

PAPALOA HAS ARRIVED at Heeia State Park!! Our journey to restore Papaloa to be once again suitable for competition is officially under way. Within the next year, Kueolakekoa participants & staff, along with the Healani Board of Directors, Coaches, and paddlers will be given this special opportunity to participate in this remarkable journey. The first ‘patch’ on Papaloa was done by 2 very important people – Andrew Bosshard and Napali Woode. Napali, as a Board of Director, had the knowledge and foresight to encourage the Board to apply for a grant that would help revive an ancient Hawaiian cultural tradition, and pass these skills on to new generations. Upon realizing that a grant would be an educational program that would strive to perpetuate Hawaiian canoe culture and traditions through the restoration of two koa canoes, Andrew volunteered to explore this idea by attending the grant writing seminar presented by CNHA. Andrew would eventually become the author our grant. Without Andrew and Napali, Kueolakekoa would not exist today.

April 29th was a very special day - the first cut was made in Papaloa. To have Napali and Andrew be the individuals to complete this task made it even more special. It was a very exciting and emotional moment when the first cut was made. Although it initially started off as a surface patch, it ended up to be a full patch – about 2 1/2 inches wide, 20 inches long. We couldn’t help but gaze at this new ‘window’ in the bottom of Papaloa. But after a few minutes, we gathered our thoughts and moved on, for we have SEVERAL more patches to go before we can celebrate the rebirth of Papaloa.