Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe

From March 2018 until May 2019, we built a 28’ Hawaiian outrigger canoe. Traditional Hawaiian construction built canoes by hollowing-out logs. Nowadays these are generally made with modern fiberglass. For our project, we combined a traditional design but used lapstrake construction with strips of marine-grade plywood. Helping us build this boat was a guest boatbuilder from the island of Hawaii: Kiko Johnston-Kitazawa. Captain Kiko is a sailor and experienced boat builder specializing in traditional Hawaiian canoes made by hand. Kiko got us started on the boat using plans his uncle acquired in the 1950s in Honolulu. The plans for the boat came from his uncle. Since completing Wa’a Hanai, this boat has been used for paddling adventures in the Aquatic Park, SF Bay, and has circled Alcatraz.