Canoes That Carve
The outrageous, white-knuckle sport of outrigger wave riding
Matthew Thayer
Photography by Matthew Thayer | JOSS
Conversation stops in the outrigger canoe as legendary Hawaiian waterman Ross Kaaa turns to gauge an approaching wave. Building in height as it nears, the breaker is 20 feet away and coming fast when the veteran steersman issues a single command: “Paddle!”
There is time for a dozen quick strokes as Kaaa positions the 22-foot-long canoe in front of the wave, and turns it straight down the face of a 9-foot wall of aquamarine. Board surfers hoot and laugh as we streak by.
“Stow your paddle and grab that ama,” Kaaa barks. Leaning left with all of my weight, I reach for the ama, or outrigger float. At his call, “Back to the right,” I sit up straight and enjoy the smooth trajectory of the boat as it switches directions and picks up speed. We carve back and forth until the ocean breaker dissipates in a deep channel.
There is nothing quite like sitting in a canoe with a large wave chasing after you. As gravity and momentum take over, the narrow craft slices down the face of the wave like a flat stone skipping across a pond suddenly turned vertical.
“When we surf big waves, it’s almost better than sex for me,” says Kaaa. “It’s a wonderful feeling just sitting in a canoe coming down a mountain of a wave.”
