Slam… Photo: Screenshot
Outrigger canoe surfing has been part of Polynesian culture for centuries. Historically, the canoes have played a crucial role in everything from fishing to travel. So a modern family climbing into a canoe together and catching waves can be one of the greatest ways to celebrate a culture. Unfortunately, this family took one of the gnarliest spills you’re going to see, sending at least one of them to the hospital with three broken ribs and a torn meniscus.
Footage of the wipeout was posted by Brandi Chanel Machado. Machado is a local radio host in Hawaii and says her family has been canoe surfing for more than half a century. Even with all that experience, Mother Nature had its way when they rode in close to shore and their six-man canoe got flipped in the shorebreak. Mom was in the back, and she was sent off the top rope and straight into the sand.
“Everyone is okay and can’t wait to get back out,” Machado wrote. “Mother Nature is always in control, and anyone who takes a canoe into surf knows there’s a high chance for wipeouts. All in all, some hard falls and even harder laughs (now that we know everyone is alive). We are in a traditional six-man paddling canoe, not a four-man surf canoe and my mom didn’t have her huge paddle for steering the canoe in surf. Hard to understand how hard it is to pull this off — but if you knew, it’s actually pretty insane.”
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