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Kyler Hood

Aloha Spirit

For more than four decades, Kamoho Aliʻi, beloved traditional koa waʻa of the Waikīkī Beachboys Canoe Club (Beachboys) has served as a physical connection to the club’s roots.

“Koa canoes are so important to our history [of the Beachboys], and to the history of the Hawaiians,” said Rae Kamaka, wife of the late legendary waterman William “Moku” Kamaka who was one of the club’s founders and the club’s head coach for years.

The canoe club was founded in 1973 by a group of Waikīkī beachboys to promote surfing and outrigger canoe paddling. Today, the Beachboys are a highly regarded canoe club known for embodying the Hawaiian waterman tradition, preserving outrigger canoe history, and for perpetuating aloha.

Kamaka shared that, back when the club was founded, traditional koa canoes were far more prevalent. Today, fewer than 60 are actively raced, and all are highly prized.

Kamoho Aliʻi was born in 1980 in Hilo, the creation of canoe-builders Ray Bumatay and Alex Apo. From the beginning, Kamoho Aliʻi was a source of pride for the Beachboys. Still a relatively new canoe club at the time, adding Kamoho Aliʻi to their fleet of canoes was the achievement of a goal that club members viewed as being a significant step towards becoming a respected canoe club.

Another goal was to win either the Molokai Hoe or Nā Wāhine o ke Kai – both long-distance canoe races (approximately 41 miles) that cross the Kaʻiwi Channel from Molokai to Oʻahu.

That goal was finally realized in 2011 when the club’s female crew took first place in Nā Wāhine o ke Kai. It proved to be a spectacular season for the Beachboys.

“2011 was really the culmination of carrying out what Moku and the Beachboys had set out to do when the club was founded,” Dana said. “Gorecki” Yaross, a club member who paddled with the Beachboys for 18 years and served as its president from 2002 to 2017.

However, amidst the club’s success that year, the Beachboys also experienced tremendous loss. Club co-founder Moku Kamaka passed away in August 2011.

[{"type":"text","text":"In need of repair"}]

Around 2003, after paddling her for more than 20 years, the Beachboy’s prized koa canoe, Kamoho Aliʻi, was placed in storage. She needed repairs that the club could not afford.

Time passed and in 2019, the club began restoration work on its fleet of canoes. By 2026 all the club’s fiberglass canoes were restored. Kamoho Aliʻi is next.

After almost 23 years, the Beachboys are excited to begin restoring Kamoho Aliʻi. It will be a long process, but the waʻa is foundational to the club and its values. To this end, fundraising efforts are underway to restore Kamoho Aliʻi which club leadership estimates could cost $90,000. A hefty price, but they believe it is well worth it.

Eric Lentz is the current president of Waikīkī Beachboys. He has been with the club for about 16 years and is its Novice B paddling coach. Reflecting on the club’s canoe restoration efforts, Lentz emphasized that boats are meant to be on the water.

At the annual Waikīkī Beachboys Invitational Regatta on July 11, 2026, Kahu Dennis Salas offered the opening pule. Seventeen clubs competed this year at the event which, of course, was held at Waikīkī Beach. The regatta enjoyed clear weather and the Beachboys took home five gold medals that day.

At the conclusion of the regatta, beneath sunny skies and against the aquamarine backdrop of the ocean, the Beachboys celebrated on Waikīkī Beach with the other canoe clubs and paddlers who competed that day, win or lose.

“We want paddling to be competitive. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to win races. We’re here to paddle, but we’re mostly here to have fun,” Lentz said.

To donate to the restoration of Kamoho Aliʻi, 

This article is reprinted with permission from 

OHA's Ka Wai Ola newspaper: "Waikīkī Beachboys Seek to Restore Historic Koa Canoe" by guest author Kyler Wood in its September 2026 issue, Vol. 43 No. 9. Read more at 

Kamoho Alii

<title>Community Voices: Waikīkī Beachboys seek to restore historic koa canoe</title>

For more than four decades, Kamoho Aliʻi, beloved traditional koa waʻa of the Waikīkī Beachboys Canoe Club has served as a physical connection to the club’s roots. The koa canoe has been in dry dock for more than two decades, but fundraising efforts to restore it are currently underway.

Community Voices: Waikīkī Beachboys seek to restore historic koa canoe

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Business & Tourism

The state Public Utilities Commission kicked off a series of town halls about storm-related blackouts to sparse attendance Monday.

 on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island throughout October to collect feedback from residents about the reliability of Hawaiian Electric’s service amid this year’s many storms. The first of those meetings, held on Monday in Kailua, was brief, with only a handful of people providing vocal testimony.

PUC commissioner Naomi Kuwaye explained at the meeting that the testimony submitted during the meetings will be used for future decision-making regarding HECO’s service. While she didn’t specifically mention it, those future decisions will likely include decisions on whether to approve a 

Consequently, the few Kailua-area residents who did speak at Monday’s meeting urged the PUC to review HECO’s processes before approving any future rate increases. Kailua resident Aria Castillo said the canoe manufacturing business she works for in the Kapa‘a Quarry Industrial Park “regularly experiences power outages,” which directly impacts her own income.

Castillo said repeated shutdowns during Hurricane Lala caused damage to a canoe under production, which required the business to sell it after a loss. Despite this, that loss of revenue could not qualify for insurance coverage, forcing the business and its workers to shoulder the impacts themselves.

“This is basic infrastructure, and doing business in Hawai‘i is already so hard, and small businesses and their employees cannot continue to absorb the cost,” Castillo said, urging PUC to impose standards for HECO to account for documented business losses as a result of service interruptions.

Scot Matayoshi, state Representative for Kailua, also appeared at the meeting to suggest that the PUC establish a capped damage claim that people could file to be potentially reimbursed by HECO for losses such as food spoilage or loss of income.

“That might incentivize HECO to harden certain parts of the grid or provide backup power, generators, may batteries,” Matayoshi said. “A lot of people in my district were very deeply affected by the power outages. They lost a lot of food, the food banks in my district lost all of everything in their freezers and refrigerators, all the meat, everything.”

Another attendee, Cori Terayama, said that, whenever HECO service is lost in ‘Āhuimanu, all cell service is cut off as well, which has serious safety implications in the case of potentially hazardous weather events. Terayama asked HECO develop redundant power systems for cell towers in such vulnerable areas.

Shari Ishikawa, HECO’s vice president of energy delivery, said the company is working on equipment upgrades for East O‘ahu circuits, and is planning underground cable replacement projects next year.

“We recognize that hearing about projects underway does not make it less frustrating when the power goes out,” Ishikawa said. “We have more work to do both in strengthening our infrastructure and also communicating during outages.”

The next town hall meeting will be held Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Kapolei High School. The remaining three meetings will be on Hawai‘i Island on Oct. 20, 21 and 26, at Waiākea, Kealekehe and Kā‘u, respectively.

Screenshot 2026 10 06 at 4 18 48 PM 16x9

<title>Residents weigh in on storm power outages</title>

The state PUC held the first of five town hall meetings discussing power outages caused by this year's various storms.

Residents weigh in on storm power outages

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Hawai‘i History

Probably not, at least not in the way it is remembered. 

The question entered my mind a few weeks ago. I found myself walking along the waterfront, and there the abandoned building’s faded signs reminded me of the past.

The Hawai‘i Maritime Center, now closed for nearly two decades, looks like an ideal setting for a Scooby-Doo-style mystery. My imagination wandered for a few minutes. 

The museum, like the now-scuttled Falls of Clyde, started out with a great deal of promise. In the 1980s, the Maritime Museum and the Falls of Clyde looked like newfound attractions fit to complement a broader push to revitalize the area under the direction of the Aloha Tower Development Corporation (ATDC), a state agency that exists to this day. 

In a vein akin to the State’s establishment of the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority (HCDA) for the purpose of redeveloping Kaka‘ako, the ATDC’s purpose was to “strengthen the international economic base of the community in trade activities, to enhance the beautification of the waterfront, and, in conjunction with the department of transportation, to better serve modern maritime uses, and to provide for public access and use of the waterfront property.” 

As part of those efforts, the Maritime Museum took shape. Bishop Museum began operating the museum in 1988 but ultimately 

 it in May 2009 amid the economic impacts of the 2008 recession. Since then, the State of Hawai‘i’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has struggled to articulate proper plans for the site. 

 that the DOT was seeking bids for the potential redevelopment of the site. The story arrived on the heels of the Honolulu Harbor 2050 Master Plan 

 by the DOT. The site’s outlook was not ideal.  

“The former Maritime Museum structure at Pier 7 has extensive termite damage and is recommended to be examined for any reuse potential via a structural condition assessment,” the plan found. “Should the structure be deemed unsalvageable, a new structure with a potential redevelopment footprint of 18,000 SF could be built on the pier. Future uses may include office or retail space, exhibit area, or [a] cultural education center.” 

It is sobering, at this point, to know that no amount of nostalgia will guarantee the return of the old Maritime Center, as far as it existed as a museum until 2009. The building is not what it used to be. In October 2025, the Falls of Clyde was 

No amount of effort will bring the Falls of Clyde

back. It now rests in the ocean off the coast of O‘ahu, at peace with the pace of decay. Its delisting from both the state and national registers of historic places shows that time does move along, even when we’re afraid of time’s passage. 

What remains is a possibly better future. In February 2024, the Star-Advertiser 

 that the DOT had selected a bidder to redevelop the site. Two years later, we can only hope that such a plan is still in the works. 

Some people want to hold onto the past until it is nothing more than a sad and hollow shell of the promise it once seemed to offer. The tragedy of that lost promise is the source of much nostalgia, and such nostalgia can arrest long-overdue development. 

The old Hawai‘i Maritime Museum is left to sit. The termites eat the wood. One day, the building will either be rehabilitated at great expense, collapse into the ocean, or face demolition at the expense of a yet-to-be-determined entity. 

Perhaps a developer will come and reinvent the site. Pier 7, with enough time, will find a new purpose. In the meantime, we’ll see if Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine manifest along Honolulu’s waterfront.

Hawaii Maritime Center 2

<title>Will the Maritime Museum ever return?</title>

The Hawai‘i Maritime Center has been closed for 20 years, standing termite-eaten and faded next to Aloha Tower. Its signature exhibit, the historic ship Falls of Clyde, was towed out sea and sunk last year as unsalvageable. ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explains where the center came from in the first place and what might happen with it next.

Will the Maritime Museum ever return?

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Sterling Higa

Crime & Courts

The Moanalua High School girls wrestling team has won five state titles in a row. That is the sort of sentence that usually ends a story. This week it begins one.

Sean Sakaida coached that team through four of those titles. He is 

, accused of producing child pornography with one of his wrestlers. Court records say he began dating the girl when she was in ninth grade.

Within a day of the FBI posting a tip form, two more possible victims came forward.

The morning after Sakaida’s arrest, the mother of his three children walked into Family Court with a handwritten petition for a protective order. She alleged that he abused her children, and she asked the court to keep him away for 20 years.

The courts have not yet ruled. But the public record is already heavy enough to ask: How did he get here?

The wrestlers were children. Their parents signed the permission slips and drove them to practice and trusted a man — and the school that hired him — to help form their daughters.

That formation is what a coach is for. A parent lends a child to a coach for a few hours a day so the child can learn to work hard, compete well, and get up off the mat.

Sakaida, by his own account, made himself available at all hours. In 2012, at Roosevelt High School, a parent accused him of kissing a 13-year-old wrestler and texting other girls as late as 3 a.m. He denied the kiss. He did not deny the texts. He told the Star-Advertiser he was only helping students with their problems, and that former students still called him “because he was always available.”

Every parent should hear alarm bells in that sentence. A 30-year-old man texting other people’s teenage daughters at 3 a.m. is not “available.” He is a threat. Teens have problems, and they should carry those problems to their parents. A coach who becomes the person they carry them to instead has not added something to a family. He has taken something from it. The best-friend coach is a type we have learned to admire. It is a type we should learn to resist.

The Department of Education investigated in 2012. But it never called the police. Sakaida was placed on leave. The next year Moanalua hired him. Moanalua’s athletic director has 

 whether the school knew about the 2012 allegations.

, and anyone with a search engine could have found it in under a minute. If Moanalua knew, that is one kind of trouble. If Moanalua did not check, that is another.

Then Sakaida won: First a few individual champions, then four state titles in a row. In 2025 the school received a complaint that he was in a relationship with a 17-year-old wrestler. The school investigated. Again, no one called the police.

Sakaida was placed on leave, his contract lapsed, and his name went into a confidential registry. According to federal prosecutors, the relationship continued for months afterward. It took a private citizen tipping the FBI in January to bring in anyone with a badge.

Wrestling is a fine sport. It builds tough, hard-working people, because the mat does not lie. It teaches responsibility, because a wrestler who loses cannot blame a teammate.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to win, and nothing wrong with winning. But the desire to win is like fire: useful in the hearth, ruinous in the curtains.

We know what that desire looks like when it gets loose. Students who live in the weight room and skip the classroom. Teenagers taking steroids to gain an edge. Schools that hire a coach with a complaint already on file because his teams bring home hardware.

The desire to win at any cost is idolatry, pure and simple, and idols always want to be fed. In this case, it appears, girls were the offering.

Here is what happens next if nothing changes. The victims will rightly sue. The DOE will settle out of court to avoid the headlines. The settlement will be sealed, and the public will pay the bill without ever learning who knew what. Records requests will die under “pending litigation.” The criminal trial will produce details, and we will consume them the way we consume cold-case podcasts, and then we will forget.

We should not. Every detail that emerges should be read as a specification for reform. A school is not a police department. When a complaint involves a possible sex crime against a child, the school’s first call should be to the people whose job is investigating crimes.

That is already the law. Hawaiʻi makes every school employee a mandated reporter, required to report suspected abuse immediately to Child Welfare Services or the police. It’s not clear that the schools did. The Legislature should ask why, in public, before the settlements seal the answer.

A coaching hire should require a check of past complaints across the whole system, not just a clean criminal record. Parents should ask who is texting their daughter at midnight, and a coach should be dismissed if the answer is him.

Moanalua has a case filled with trophies. At what cost?

Moanalua HS BANNER 16x9

<title>Moanalua won four state titles: Who paid?</title>

In 2012, a parent accused a Roosevelt coach of kissing a 13-year-old wrestler. The next year, Moanalua hired him and he won four state titles. ASD columnist Sterling Higa on idolatry, mandated reporting, and the trophy case nobody wants to look inside.

Moanalua won four state titles: Who paid?

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

[{"type":"text","text":"Searching for an estate on a world-famous beach?"}]

An oceanfront home that sits on a half-acre of land on Lanikai Beach might be what you're looking for. With a $16 million asking price, it currently is the most expensive property on the market in the Lanikai neighborhood.

Listing agent Anne Oliver with Coldwell Banker Realty says the property is one-of-a-kind.

“You don’t often find a home in Lanikai that features this level of privacy and direct access to the ocean," Oliver said in an announcement from CBR. "This kind of property, which defines the standard for luxury, rarely comes on the market.”

Located at 958 Mokulua Dr., the property has 7,000 square feet of interior living space, five ensuite bedrooms and four full- and one half-baths. Among its features is an "ultra-spacious" primary suite with a private ocean-view lānai; an open-concept kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and custom finishes; a courtyard pool and expansive oceanside lawn, CBR says. You can find the 

Although the open kitchen is a "special, central feature of the home," Oliver told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions that her favorite feature is the "expansive, luxurious primary suite" that looks down at the beach, "and I could easily spend a week without leaving it at all!"

As for what makes the property a rarity, Oliver told ASD it's one of the few remaining large parcels on the sandy beach in Lanikai, found "on the choice center spot of the beach" and set back from shore with an "expansive lawn ensuring privacy and a peaceful, tranquil sanctuary. This is Pu’uhonua."

"This is a once-in-a-generation legacy property so the hope is that a young family will be the buyers to carry on its legacy for the next generation enjoying the beach, the ocean, kayaking, canoe paddling and the unique sense of community that is Lanikai," she said.

Lanikai is often considered among the world's best beaches. In 2024, 

 declared it the best in the U.S. and the No. 14 best beach in the world.

Interested in a private showing or want more information? Contact Oliver at 808-292-2800 or 

As of Wednesday morning, there were 15 properties actively listed for sale in the Lanikai neighborhood, according to the 

. The lowest-priced home is on the market with a $2.89 million asking price. You can 

958 mokulua dr1 072225

<title>For sale: oceanfront home in Lanikai is on the market for $16 million</title>

Located at 958 Mokulua Dr., the property has 7,000 square feet of interior living space, five ensuite bedrooms and four full- and one half-baths.

For sale: oceanfront home in Lanikai is on the market for $16 million

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Over the last few months, founder and chief innovation officer of RevoluSun Eric Carlson said he had heard 15 times from a variety of sources that his local solar company was going out of business. 

“We’re not going out of business. That is one of their strategies is to discredit Hawaiʻi companies,” he said of Mainland solar salespeople pretending to work for the state government and/or Hawaiian Electric. 

He added that this “solar dupe” is a national trend occurring wherever Sunrun Inc. and its third-party companies operate – including Hawai’i.

"Not only are these baseless and completely false claims, but it's causing a lot of fear and confusion for our local homeowners, which we believe works against our state's collective goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2045," a RevoluSun communications representative told Aloha State Daily by email. "Unfortunately, this isn't a new practice for these Mainland solar companies, whose sole goal is to get the sale with zero concern for the long-term well-being of the homeowner. However, recently their dishonest tactics are becoming more blatant and outrageous."

According to Carlson, local police won’t be involved, but the Attorney General can be, as seen in other states like Connecticut. “We’ve already filed a complaint with Hawaiʻi Solar Energy Association, which was signed by at least four local entities. Our next step is to talk to the AG, Building Industry Association and Better Business Bureau," in addition to his Mainland connections in the industry “to hit this from all angles.”

He shared more in a recent LinkedIn post, 

“This is not a one-off. It’s Sunrun’s business model. ... I want to be vocal about it to help protect local people," Carlson told ASD. 

[{"text":"ASD has reached out to Sunrun for comment.","type":"text"}]

Other local companies speaking out about scammers include Alternate Energy, Hawai'i Energy Connection, KumuKit, ProVision Solar, HI POWER Solar, Malama Solar and Independent Energy Hawaiʻi, among other providers, he said.

“I’m born and raised here. RevoluSun, one of Hawaiʻi's largest solar providers since 2009, is a product of the Islands – we are known for giving back to the community,” he said. "We’ve competed 'local style' for years, so what we’re worried about is the local market becoming a monopoly."

ASD asked Carlson more about what community members can ask to prevent scams and why it matters for the local energy sector.

How do you know that it is Mainland companies targeting local homeowners? 

We’ve heard it directly from Sunrun's local director.  

 Sales volume. And access to long-term financial contracts. These companies sell solar leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs), which they bundle into large investment portfolios and sell to Wall Street investors. Each lease they sign with a homeowner becomes a piece of a portfolio they can use to raise capital — so the more deals they close, the more money they generate on the backend.

They’re not just selling solar — they’re selling financial products and local homeowners are being treated as data points and revenue streams, not as clients they intend to support long-term.

This current surge started around mid-2021, but the trend has exploded in the last six months. We estimate Sunrun alone has brought in over 200 reps, mostly young salespeople flown in from the Mainland, given aggressive scripts and sent out door-to-door. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this — many of us in the industry stood together in 2013 during the Vivint solar blitz — but this time, it’s more widespread, more aggressive and potentially more damaging to local trust in solar.

 We’ve seen it island-wide — but the hardest hits so far have been Mililani, Kapolei, Hawaiʻi Kai, ʻEwa Beach, Kāneʻohe, Wahiawa, Kailua and Kaimukī. And even rural neighborhoods where residents may be more isolated and trusting of someone "offering help."

Here is a statement from a Mililani homeowner and Revolusun customer: "A Mainland solar company came to my home in Mililani and knocked on the door. They asked me about my solar panels, and I told them I had SunPower panels. When they asked who installed them, I said RevoluSun. The rep then told me that RevoluSun was going out of business. I found this surprising, as I’m in regular communication with the company and hadn’t heard anything like that. To be sure, I called my contact at RevoluSun, who confirmed that the claim was completely false. I felt it was important to report this because spreading misinformation like this can harm local businesses and mislead homeowners."

We’ve also heard repeated accounts of reps telling homeowners: "We’re partnered with HECO."; "This is a state program."; "These panels are free."; "You’ll never pay an electric bill again."

Each one of these statements is misleading at best and outright false at worst.

Never sign anything at the door. Get 2-3 quotes. There's no such thing as “free solar.” HECO doesn’t sell solar and neither does the state. If it feels off, it probably is.

RevoluSun Eric Carlson 16x9

<title>RevoluSun: Homeowners beware of ‘misleading’ sales tactics by Mainland solar companies</title>

RevoluSun’s Eric Carlson shares tips for individuals who may be targeted by door-to-door scammers. “If it feels off, it probably is,” he said in an interview with Aloha State Daily.

RevoluSun: Homeowners beware of ‘misleading’ sales tactics by Mainland solar companies

Kyler Hood has lived in Hawaiʻi for about nine years. He is passionate about strong storytelling.

Kyler Hood

Latest from Kyler Hood

Community Voices: Waikīkī Beachboys seek to restore historic koa canoe

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