Outrigger Paddling on the Central Coast

2022 PKO SEASON COUNTDOWN

Greeting Friends & Paddlers!

We are so excited to welcome you back to paddling with Pale Kai Outrigger. Our 2022 recruitment sessions are coming to an end this Saturday and membership registration opens to the public on March 1st! Are you planning to join? We hope so!

During our recent demo days in Morro Bay our club shared the sport of ocean outrigger racing with 100+ new paddlers. We cannot wait to get our new novice members race ready, the Southern California Outrigger Association is going to get a taste of what we have cooking up for the 2022 season! Many great crews got out to explore the beauty of Morro Bay with us and even got a few canoe races in as a preview for the upcoming season. Thank you to all who came out and paddled with us!

Did you miss the demo days? It's not too late to join as a novice paddler. Registration details can be found on our website. www.PaleKai.org or email join@palekai.org

2022 MEMBERSHIP - OPENS MARCH 1st

IMPORTANT DATES *

February 26: Last Demo Day in Morro Bay
February 27: Last veteran & alumni paddle in Morro Bay
March 1: New 2022 Season Registration opens!
email Join@palekai.org with any questions

AVILA BEACH - PKO VET practices
March 5: First veteran member Saturday 8:30am practice of 2022 in Avila (conditions permitting), followed by site maintenance
March 14: First week of weeknight practices for veteran members - Women (M & W), Men (M & Th) @ 5:30pm

MORRO BAY - PKO NOVICE practices with Coaches Don & Andrew
Starting March 5th!
March 5 & 12: Saturday 8:30 am
March 14-23: M & W 5:30pm, Saturday 8:30 am
note: all novice paddlers move to Avila Beach on March 26th!

AVILA BEACH - ALL TEAMS Practice
March 26: First all teams Saturday 8:30am practice in Avila Beach; followed by season-opener & novice welcome BBQ

*All PKO members, you can view and update your availability for practices, races and events on TeamSnap! Download the app when you register for 2022 season.

AN UPDATE FROM THE PKO BOARD PRESIDENT

Pale Kai (PKO) Friends,

The Pacific Ocean is calling all paddlers and Pale Kai is excited to oblige. The PKO Board recently met and is outlining PKO's plans for the best season ever - our post-pandemic resurrection. PKO veterans have started serious workouts on Saturdays in Morro Bay, and the recruitment demo days have filled all our canoes to capacity with new prospective members. Thank you all for paddling with us. Here are some important notes for the immediate future.

For experienced vet paddlers, we will move our practices to Avila starting on the 5th of March. After that first practice on the 5th, we'll have a site clean-up activity in preparation for moving the canoes located in Morro Bay back to Avila later in the month. Stay tuned for details on that front.

For our new paddlers, once you have signed up in March, coaches Don and Andrew are going to start novice practices in Morro Bay. After the last MB practice on March 23, paddlers will load the canoes for the move back to Avila Beach. Our first blended (novice and vets) Saturday March 26th practice in Avila Beach, will include a celebration of the season opening and a welcome BBQ/party on the beach!

The board is so looking forward to welcoming our new family of paddlers, and all our veterans back to Pale Kai after the pandemic. We can't wait to celebrate with you all, in our combined union with the Pacific, embodied in the island culture associated with outrigger canoes. Our future in the Pacific, along with all the other outrigger clubs in Southern California as we enter the racing season, is before us. E ho'omaka kakou (Let's get started).

Mahalo ia oe (Thank You)

Paul Worthington
President, Pale Kai

2022 MEMBERSHIP - OPENS MARCH 1st

ALL MEMBER SEASON OPENER BBQ
Pale Kai Members - Save the Date!
March 26th

We are celebrating our new season and welcoming in our novice team with all teams practice in Avila followed by a BBQ on the beach.

Let's fill the boats up and kick off this new season the PKO way!

EARTH DAY ROADSIDE CLEANUP
Pale Kai Members - Save the Date!
April 22nd

Get out those gloves and grabbers! It's Earth Day and PKO is planning a cleanup, all members are encouraged to participate. We will work together to clean up the road mile into Avila Beach up to our clubhouse site.

2022 PKO TEAM COACHES

HEAD COACH: Scott Bixlar
MENS TEAM: Tom Needham and Pat Lyons
WOMENS TEAM: Bonnie Lyons
NOVICE TEAM: Don Tran and Andrew Wilkening

PKO MEMBERS!
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR SCORA ACCOUNT
& SIGN YOUR 2022 WAIVER

GO TO SCORA WEBSITE

RACE RECAP
Five PKO members descended upon Newport Beach on 12 Feb for the Hal Rosoff Classic OC1 race with over 250 OC-1 participants! A good time was had by all, paddling out of the Newport Aquatic Center competing in a 4 mile short course, and an 11 mile long course race. An easy breakfast and tasty lunch along with a cool race t-shirt were given to all the participants along with 1-3 place awards in the various divisions.

Results are included below:
Short Course (4 mile):
Dave DeGroot, 2nd place, OC1, Golden Masters men >60

Long Course (11 MIles):
Jon Hergert, 1st place, V1, Sr Masters Men >50
Sandra Hergert, 4th place OC1, Golden Masters women >60
John Savarese, 9th place OC1, Sr Masters Men >50
Scott Bixler, 16th place, OC1, Masters men >40

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
"Pale" (pronounced 'pah-leh') means to guard, protect or shield in Hawaiian. "Kai" means sea water or ocean. Our club Pale Kai is named after the breakwater wall at Port San Luis that protects the inner waters and allows us to paddle safely in the ocean. It is also an important part of the canoe, the wave breaker!

Please do not hold on to this part of the canoe when you are moving or lifting the canoe. The pale kai can be seen clearly in the photo below in front of the seat 1 paddler.

Pale Kai Outrigger is a non-profit outrigger canoe club located in Avila Beach, California. We offer competitive Hawaiian style outrigger canoe racing for men and women right here on the beautiful central coast! PKO is a member of the Southern California Outrigger Racing Association (SCORA).