Story Telling & Marketing

I recently submitted an article to the Sierra Club about the sport of outrigger canoeing.  Stories are a great way to engage your customers, clients or members.  When you tell your story, you become passionate in the delivery of the topic and this compels the reader or viewer to connect with you and in some cases to want to know more.  Here is my story about my involvement with outrigger canoeing.

In Kona Hawaii with loaned OC1 - my Hurricane in San Francisco is green!

Outrigger Canoeing - My Story

There was a chill in the air as I hoisted my outrigger canoe over my shoulder to begin the short trek across Crissy Field.  Today was different as the muddy puddles that  usually oozed between my toes, now crunched under my feet.  It was ice!  I chuckled to myself out loud and reminded myself I was in San Francisco, not Minnesota but somehow I knew, this morning, this moment, I was in the right place.

San Francisco Bay was calm as I carefully slid onto the seat of my newly waxed emerald green Hurricane outrigger canoe.  The sun was just creeping up over the horizon as I squeezed the pedal to direct my boat toward Golden Gate Bridge.  The Sea lions were very active and gave me a comforting feeling as they greeted me.  My team mate and friend, Dary, once told me that all of them are named “Bobo”.  Keeps things simple.  And it feels like there’s a personal connection every time I meet “Bobo” in the water.  A pelican, let’s call him Edgar, in his gangly and awkward style, made a spectacular dive for his morning breakfast.  While above, high in clouds, the graceful Jonathan Livingston Seagull hovered as he prepared to break the Seagull world speed record.

My body started to warm up and my mind went into auto pilot as I had programmed myself to repeat the many training tips from my well-meaning coaches and colleagues.  They echoed in my head, appeared in my dreams, and sometimes the occasional nightmare if my Filipino coach, Omar, was in an overly enthusiastic mood that week.  “Reach forward with your right arm, make sure your hand touches the water, get closer to the blade, drop your shoulder, catch at the top of the stroke, release early, keep it up front, slow down the pace, accelerate in the water and... breath.  Always breath. 

Well, this particular morning knew I was breathing because I could see my breath, as well as that of Edgar, Bobo and Jonathan!  We weren’t alone.  There were other humans on the water this crisp morning.  The familiar 1-person rower cruised by on the flat water.  A stand up board paddler seemed to be struggling to get back to the beach.  No, I wasn’t the only crazy one out here in 31 degree temperature.

I got hooked on this sport after paddling recreationally in Kona, Hawaii with the early morning paddlers at the Keauhou Canoe Club.  When I relocated back to San Francisco in December of 2007, I was searching for something but not sure what it was. Perhaps I missed the competition and the camaraderie that I experienced participating in sports in high school and college or those encounters with nature on those family camping and ski trips.  One day I was browsing through Sports Basement and happened to ask one of the staff if he knew if there was an outrigger canoe club in San Francisco.  His name was Jon Sadama and turns out he was the assistant coach.  I joined a week later and was swept up by the weekly races, competing in the Novice category.  A season progressed and our six-man team continued to win every race.  We finished the season as the undefeated Novice Men’s team from the San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club.  I was hooked.  As Uncle Phil, the team manager and president, became more confident that a novice like me wasn’t going to smash up an OC1 (1-man) canoe during practice, I started to take a liking to to a particular Hurricane canoe.  One day, we took a trip around Angel Island and as I clung closely to the shore while following a boat in front of me, I heard a scrape and a thump.  Only when I had returned to Crissy Field did I realize I couldn’t lift my boat.  It was filled with water.  I had punctured a hole in the Hurricane.

Through what I can only describe as a miracle, Uncle Phil called me one day and asked if I wanted to “take over” the green Hurricane.  Basically, purchase the boat that I had damaged.  Since I had already gotten to work on the fiberglass repair, my project expanded to painting, adding a new water bottle holder, purchasing a new seat and gluing in rubber foot pads.  I made the foot pads from an old inner tube after a day-long quest to various tire companies throughout the city.  I learned that no one makes inner tubes anymore!  I bonded with my green Hurricane and we have been inseparable ever since.

Lately, I’ve been training with my friend Sue.  She recently tried out and made the Canadian National Team for the World Sprint Championships which will be in Tahiti in 2010.  Unlike Sue, I don’t show up with a computer print out of my workout or any kind of agenda.   One day, I started referring to her as “Team Canada” as if there were an entire team showing up for our two person practice.  I soon named myself “Team Icelandia”.   I need to explain that the Icelandia team workouts are a little less formal than Team Canada.  A common workout is “heading out to da iceberg and making a few laps around dat der iceberg”.  I’ve never heard an Icelandic accent, but I figured it was something like what I’ve heard in Northern Minnesota when one hears Norwegian Sven and Olie jokes.  

All joking aside, this sport has become my outlet to stay fit and healthy while challenging myself mentally and physically.  It’s also been a means to connect with nature.  Out on the Bay or in the midst of the ocean on a small fiberglass plank with only a paddle to transport with, one realizes how insignificant humankind is compared to our planet and its forces of nature.  What if we lost the opportunity to experience this? 

My outrigger story continues to evolve and somehow, it remains entangled with other aspects of my life.  Relationships, ambition, contemplation and spirit all are somehow engaged.  Everyone I come across who is involved with this sport has their own story to tell.   Most have some connection to Hawaiian or Polynesian culture.  A love of nature, particularly water, is also a given. Some paddlers have an innate competitive spirit while others enjoy the exploration or contemplative aspect of the sport.  Unlike kayaking or lake canoeing, these outrigger vessels are easy to capsize (we call it a Huli) and take a certain amount of skill to navigate waves and currents.  It’s not for everyone.  Outrigger paddlers thrive on challenging themselves, on facing extreme conditions like paddling after dark in the Bay with the wind howling and waves crashing or stroking for hours and hours in the hot sun to test one’s endurance and limits.  I call it passion.  It gets us through the tough times and offers a place to celebrate the good times.  It transcends us to a higher place.

Written by:

Michael Richter

Michael is a digital media/marketing specialist with Immerse International.  He is a member of the San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club.