Aloha everyone, hope you are enjoying the new year!
2012 will certainly be an exciting year for us as we are hoping to conquer quite a few challenges. First, as you know is the For the Love of Music project, which if you haven’t read about, check out this link. It will be very cool. Speaking of the music project, we have been blessed with a couple of donations that really blew my socks off. We had two people donate pianos to the project! Nice pianos too! I also just got an email from a supporter of the project who wants to donate a trumpet and a flute! How cool is that?! Maybe next my wife will find one of those extra ukuleles we have sitting in the office closet and feel compelled to….. (more…)
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We are really excited to announce our newest project, entitled: “For the Love of Music.” This project was an idea that came from Chris Pohlman, a founding member of The Earth Trot Project and an inspirational voice in many of the projects we’ve worked on thus far.
This newest project combines our love for music and our desire to give underprivileged children an opportunity (more…)
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Here’s the final video from our journey from Kapalua to Kalaupapa. The journey crossed over the Pailolo Channel and along the North shore of Moloka’i. We had a beautiful day with a great window for making our voyage. The skies were clear, the ocean was relatively calm and the crossing was fairly easy. However, we did have a slight problem just before rounding the peninsula… (more…)
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This video starts at the beginning, from when the Kamali’i was first donated to The Earth Trot Project. These clips are from the restoration process and from the first half of our journey which took place on October 23, 2010. We left Kihei Canoe Club and paddled Kamali’i all the way to Kapalua about 32 miles from here. The voyage was pretty calm and easy, especially with the great paddlers we had aboard. I’ll have another video of the culmination of this trip, the paddle around Moloka’i and down to Kalaupapa which should be really cool, but for now, enjoy Part I…. (more…)
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It is with great sadness that I need to report the passing of one of the most dynamic individuals of the Kalaupapa Canoe Project. This past weekend Shaun Gavagan passed away from a heart attack.
Shaun’s brother, Kevin, and I worked hard to restore Kamali’i over the last three months. A few days before our journey, Kevin called me up and asks if there would be room on the boat for his brother. ”Of course!” I said, feeling like I had known Shaun for years already because of the stories Kevin would tell. ”He’s just like me,” he once said, “except the exact opposite. He’s outgoing and fun to be around, and I have the personality of that stone.” (more…)
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The journey was long and treacherous in parts. At times we almost didn’t make it, but alas! We persevered! It was an amazing journey with a slew of amazing stories, but no time for that now. I know it took me a long time to get this up here for you to check out, and I promise I’ve got a whole lot more to update you on soon, so stay tuned! But for now, here’s a few photos from the journey. I’ve got a bunch of video too and soon we’ll have that up here for you to check out, but for now, enjoy these pictures! (more…)
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That’s right, our project is a GO! We are going to launch tomorrow morning from Flemings Beach in Kapalua around 5:30am and with any luck arrive in Kalaupapa around 1:00p or so. A huge mahalo to everyone who has helped the project make it this far and for the crew that will be making the journey with us to Moloka’i. We have a seventeen man crew and a 45′ long escort boat taking us to the peninsula. From there, about half of us will be staying, the other half will be traveling back with the escort boat. Those of us who stay will be flown out on little three seater airplanes back to Maui on Sunday afternoon (can’t wait to see these little planes)! (more…)
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Well, after over two months worth of work, the canoe is all put together and took its maiden voyage from Kihei Canoe Club to Kapalua this past weekend. As the beautiful full harvest moon shone high in the night sky a crew of 12 paddlers set out amid the moonlight on a voyage that would take us close to 30 miles by the end of the day. (more…)
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It’s a little odd, the feeling when you see yourself on the front page of the newspaper for the first time, but it felt good to have the recognition for the project. Hopefully this will be the first of many times we get publicity like this for our organization. Read the whole article here. (more…)
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Yesterday evening the painting of Kamali’i came to an end and the two months of hard work finally started showing its rewards. Lloyd, Kevin and myself were there to witness the magic that came from applying a gallon of “Big Bad Green” onto the hull of Kamali’i. (more…)
Kamali’i today got its first coat of primer and is now set for to get the remainder of its hull painted tomorrow afternoon at the hale wa’a in Kihei. Two coats of primer went on after a bit of a setback with the primer, the sprayer and the setup, but at about 3:30pm this afternoon, the first coat was on.
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KIALOA, the maker of high quality, professional outrigger paddles has jumped in to help The Earth Trot Project by offering to donate paddles to the community of Kalaupapa. The company will be sending the paddles out from their headquarters in Bend, Oregon in time for our voyage which is tentatively planned for the last weekend in October. (more…)
Aloha everyone,
Well, we’ve been hard at work on the canoe for the last few weeks. Sanding it down, patching the fiberglass, adding resin, bondo, sanding some more and adding primer to the hull of the canoe! We’ve been getting filthy dirty working on it, but it is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, now we’re at a point where we’ve got to start getting serious about fundraising. We have a Corporate Sponsorship system that we set up for businesses who want to help support the project and hopefully we’ll get some feedback from that. At this point every little bit helps. The paint alone for the project is estimated to cost about $500- $800, so I’m not sure how much more we’ll be able to fund on our own. (more…)
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Sanding has begun on the canoe’s hull. Most of the cracks and blemishes have been filled with fiberglass, resin or bondo and are now being sanded down to make a nice smooth surface. Soon the hull will be ready for primer, then we’ll move on to the gunnels and inside of the boat. We’re hoping at some point this coming week, the hull part will be done and we’ll be moving on.
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Well, the boat is up on the horses and the process of restoring it has begun. Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been working on trying to get the canoe grinded down in areas that need to be refinished, filling the cracks with fiberglass and resin and even using marine Bondo for areas that just need to be filled in a little. We’re currently working on the outside hull. The rails, the top and the inside do still need some work, but all good things in time, right? (more…)
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A huge mahalo to Rob, Mike and Randol for joining me in taking the boat out for the first time last night.
What a really great evening. We ended up getting to the boat and noticing the ama (float) wasn’t very securely attached, so as I was beginning to re-rig it, over comes Uncle Kimokeo. He congratulates me on acquiring the boat, tells me the wrong ama is on it anyway, and not to bother re-rigging it and disappears for about 30 seconds. When he gets back he brings the right ama along with three other guys to help rig.
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Here are some of the photos of the Kamali’i wa’a (canoe) as it is right now. It’s not in terrible shape, but it does need a bit of work. Fiberglass, painting, restructuring of the supports, etc. Anybody know someone who may be interested in helping fix this boat up and getting her ready for the water? (more…)
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After nearly a year getting all the footwork done, The Kalaupapa Canoe Project is a GO! 70 or so miles from here in Kihei, Maui is a secluded little peninsula on the North shore of the island of Moloka’i called Kalaupapa. This region was once home to thousands of Hawaiians inflicted with the heinous disease of leprosy. For many years this seven mile stretch of land bordered on the South by impregnable sea cliffs and on all other sides by the fierce Pacific Ocean was something of a prison for those affected with the disease. To have been sent to Kalaupapa was to be given an exile from which no return would ever be possible. This tiny peninsula became one of the most foreboding places on the planet. (more…)
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