07-04-2008, 01:19 PM
Maybe a deep breath or two should be taken. . .what is trying to be achieved here?
I'd like to meet all of you for sure, as we have things to share. But my experience so far among Hawaiian kids is that they so far know damn near every fish in the sea. This much hasn't been lost. I came out of the water as the mad haole a couple of weeks back with a near 20 pound Kala and every kid on the beach from 3 up knew exactly what it was, what it tasted like, and what it was worth. Unfortunately, the culture of seafaring is lost. Surfing is here, and the kids are fearless. What they've lost is canoes and sails, and for offshore work rely on big trucks, big imported outboards, foreign built boats, etc. I think MOST of that is due to the fact that the Polynesian Voyaging Society or whatever they've called themselves have done such a botch job of the whole thing, including killing one of the best surfers that ever lived. We need to remedy that. As well, we don't need to duplicate the "canoes of the kings." No one gives a damn about that, or that tradition, unless you want to go hack sandalwood for nothing. What we need to duplicate is the working boats of normal Hawaiians. This has been utterly lost, and no one has bothered to even try to resurrect it.
The current state of affair makes going catching ahi at a dollar a pound a rich man's play time sport, period. You need a 30000 dollar boat with 20000 dollars worth of outboards on a 10000 dollar trailer with a 40000 dollar pickup to catch 500 bucks worth of fish. With a proper canoe, with a sailing rig, you'll make 7/10 of the speed of a power boat, and catch more fish. This is something the kids will understand. I'm desperately trying to build a jig that I can turn such a boat out, sail away, for under 2000 bucks. It could be lugged in a hatchback Honda. We'll see, it's touch and go, but honestly it's close.
Jay
I'd like to meet all of you for sure, as we have things to share. But my experience so far among Hawaiian kids is that they so far know damn near every fish in the sea. This much hasn't been lost. I came out of the water as the mad haole a couple of weeks back with a near 20 pound Kala and every kid on the beach from 3 up knew exactly what it was, what it tasted like, and what it was worth. Unfortunately, the culture of seafaring is lost. Surfing is here, and the kids are fearless. What they've lost is canoes and sails, and for offshore work rely on big trucks, big imported outboards, foreign built boats, etc. I think MOST of that is due to the fact that the Polynesian Voyaging Society or whatever they've called themselves have done such a botch job of the whole thing, including killing one of the best surfers that ever lived. We need to remedy that. As well, we don't need to duplicate the "canoes of the kings." No one gives a damn about that, or that tradition, unless you want to go hack sandalwood for nothing. What we need to duplicate is the working boats of normal Hawaiians. This has been utterly lost, and no one has bothered to even try to resurrect it.
The current state of affair makes going catching ahi at a dollar a pound a rich man's play time sport, period. You need a 30000 dollar boat with 20000 dollars worth of outboards on a 10000 dollar trailer with a 40000 dollar pickup to catch 500 bucks worth of fish. With a proper canoe, with a sailing rig, you'll make 7/10 of the speed of a power boat, and catch more fish. This is something the kids will understand. I'm desperately trying to build a jig that I can turn such a boat out, sail away, for under 2000 bucks. It could be lugged in a hatchback Honda. We'll see, it's touch and go, but honestly it's close.
Jay