Leslie Pua Charles

Canoeing isn’t just a sport for the Ke Kai O’Uhane Outrigger Canoeing Club. It’s a cultural experience that brings paddlers from all walks of life together at Del Monte Beach in Monterey four days a week. By day, some are football athletes from Seaside and Monterey High School, or lawyers clad in suits and ties. But once they come to practice, founder Leslie Pua Charles, known as Uncle Les, promises they will all get wet.

Practices start with a safety drill: Paddlers jump in water that rarely reaches 60 degrees and try to stay afloat. If they can swim, that’s good. Then they get safety guidelines for hypothermia. After that comes another safety test, flipping an entire outrigger canoe upside down, then flipping it back upright on the ocean. No easy feat, as some outriggers span up to 40 feet in length and weigh up to 400 pounds.

After these hurdles, Uncle Les teaches paddling technique. The paddler must “glide” across the bay, in sync with their bodies, their teammates and the water. Anything but gliding is a waste of energy and a futile struggle against the tides, Pua Charles regularly advises his team.

As intense as the routine is, Pua Charles has good reasoning: It brings people to respect the power of the sea, which he theorizes then brings people to respect each other and themselves. It’s a lesson he learned growing up in Hawaii and applied when he began teaching paddling in Monterey in 1984, when the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association decided Monterey Bay was a prime playground for outrigger canoeing. The Weekly spoke with Uncle Les to see if his philosophies have changed at all.

Weekly: Why do they call you Uncle Les?

Pua Charles: It’s a term of respect that you call your elders in Hawaii. As a child, you call any older person who isn’t even distantly related to you aunt or uncle, because they teach you lessons about the world. So when I became uncle I began teaching valuable lessons to the next generation.

What does ke kai o’uhane mean?

It means spirit of the land and the water. It comes from Hawaii. When I started teaching, I wanted to make sure people understood to respect the power of the mountain and the sea, the sky and the water. The Northern California Association picked this spot because it was so beautiful. I’m teaching the younger generation to take care of it and to take care of each other.

Who are your athletes outside of practice?

We get doctors and lawyers. A lot of them are Catholic. A lot of them come from [Monterey Peninsula College] and Hartnell after they work out at the gym. We get a lot of young people that are 12 years old. Sometimes we get kids from Hawaii that go to college here, but want to reconnect with their culture.

It’s also good for people who are already athletes and cross trainers. They think it’s just paddling, but here, they find out they’re not as good as they think they are. It’s a lot of upper body strength and using your legs. They learn to use their entire body and it opens up their eyes.

Your club also teaches hula. Why is it important that you maintain a cultural element during physical activity?

When I moved here, I didn’t want my kids to lose their culture. There are two types of halau [cultural learning] in Hawaii, paddling and hula. When we started the club, [members] wanted my wife to teach. She volunteered to teach everyone in the club. A lot of people treat hula like a business, but when you know something, you treat it as a gift.

I didn’t want to push culture too much when I teach paddling, but our team demanded it. Sometimes we sing an oli before we go out. So it’s not just paddling or learning a dance. It’s our culture, and it teaches you to respect and be humble to each other. Then they can do anything together.

What makes a good team?

Camaraderie, and learning that everyone is not perfect. You can only win as a team. Even if you’re doing a one-man canoe, it’s not about individual strength. No one individual wins. You can’t just be a strong person, because there is always a team aspect – we learn to paddle together. You can’t just be a strong person, technique is technique. And strength is strength, but you can’t be a good paddler without both.

MEMORIAL DAY HOE WA’A outrigger canoe race happens 8am-3pm Sat-Sun May 28-May 29 at Del Monte Beach, next to Monterey Bay Kayaks, 693 Del Monte Ave., Monterey. Free for spectators. www.kekaiouhane.org