Friday Boat Rigging

Thursday OC-4 Sprint Relay Race with a Mandatory Huli

Travel to Kona and Practice at Keauhou Canoe Club

Queen Lili Crews at the Victoria Airport waiting for their flight to Kona.

Paddlers on the Plane to San Francisco

Practice at the Keauhou Canoe Club

 

Pool at the Ohana Plantation

Predicted Weather during our week in Kona

Predicted weather during our week in Kona.  The showers might be a welcome respite.

Final Queen Lili Crews Selfie

Some members of the Queen Lili crews posing for a selfie during their last practice this Saturday before heading to Kona on Tuesday.  In the background the Johnson Street bridge is about to be blocked by the Artic Tuk crane barge to install the first new bridge components that have arrived from China.

Less then a week until we head to Kona for the 46th annual Queen Lili Race!

Feels like 39°C -  Looks like we are in for some hot and humid weather!

A Big Thank You to Everyone!

The team has now been back in Victoria for several days and we would like to thank everyone who visited our blog and sent us encouraging comments.   To-date we have received over 2200 visitors to the blog from over 10 different countries! 

We also appreciatively acknowledge the local Hawaiian canoe clubs that generously provided us boats to practice and race in while we were in Kailua-Kona.  Thank you to the Keauhou Canoe Club,  the Northshore Canoe Club,  the Kahana Canoe Club and the Kamehameha Canoe Club.  The ohana that each of you shared with us was greatly appreciated and will not be forgotten!

We would also like to extend a special thanks to several individuals who worked hard on-site in Kona throughout the week to ensure that the logistics of managing five teams ran smoothly.  We owe a debt of gratitude to Erin Beckwith for her excellent organizational skills as well as the help of Shawn Stalker, Bruce Fogg, Peter Giesen, Marie Urban, Stephanie Fogg, and Alex White.  

A special recognition also goes out to our medical professionals, Jan Urban, Marie Urban and Shawn Stalker for attending to the injured among us, of which there were several throughout the week, including myself.

We would also like to thank our coaches, Cindy Wright, Julie Kippen and Todd Ayotte,  our generous sponsors, and several other individuals including,  Adam Kerrigan, Helen Currey, Jen Loo and Nappy Napoleon who selflessly assisted us in reaching our goals in a variety of different ways.

And finally, to all our teammates, thank you for the journey ... it was a fun ride!

Mahalo