We build canoes.

2nd Generation Pueo

April 01, 2012

After years of observation, months of computer aided iteration, and about 18 seconds of on the water testing-- we are proud to announce the completion of the 2nd generation Pueo. Using state of the art mold-less solid foam core technology and bondo highlights, we're able to bring the weight down to a meager 30 pounds.

• April 2nd Edit-- Sorry guys, we couldn't resist posting that on April Fools. The 2nd generation Pueo is still undergoing extensive ocean trials. But we are planning to begin production in July. Hopefully you enjoyed our lighthearted video insight into the design process of our newest canoe.

Virtual Phone Update

March 09, 2012

Once again we've fulfilled a very tardy promise.

If you've called Kamanu Composites on our published number (808-228-8609) within the last year and a half, you probably went straight to voicemail. While we did our best to return every call, we weren't always perfect. Because of that, our phone system has been the perennial weak link in our mission to provide the world's best customer service.

To remedy that, over the last 18 months a small team of overqualified and underpaid telephonecologists have been working around the clock with only the occasional piece of bread and coffee to sustain them.* And they've finally cracked the magic code. Call us at 808-228-8609 and you will be connected to a virtual phone system which will then direct your call to the Kamanu representative that can best serve you.

Today marks the official end of un-returned voicemails.

*That was a large embellishment. The real reason it took so long is too complicated and boring to explain.

Dedication

February 29, 2012

And the crazy paddling dedication award of 2012 goes to.... our Japan Rep, Mr Kenny Kaneko.

Next time you're tired and don't want to paddle, watch this video for inspiration.

Oeup

December 16, 2011

The Pueo has exceeded our wildest expectations. It has traveled to locations we can only dream of. It has won more races than we knew existed. But, most importantly, it has enhanced the lives of people around the world. While we believe it to be the best canoe on the market, we have taken on the challenge of creating its greatest rival. To do so, we are re-organzing, re-tooling, and gearing up to bring you the next revolution in outrigger canoeing. As of January 1st, we will no longer be taking new orders for the first generation Pueo. Feel free to inquire anytime about our progress on this new endeavor or about the availability of off-the-shelf canoes. And keep posted on our website for more information during this exciting time. We at Kamanu Composites thank you for your continued support over the years. Without it, none of this could have been possible.

*Edit: Due to some confusion, here is a bit of clarification:

1) The new canoe will still be the Pueo. As it will retain much of the design and performance aspects of it. Oeup, as the title of the blog post, was a reference to our first print advertisement for the Pueo. Not the name of the canoe.

2) It likely won't be available until mid-summer 2012. And we won't take orders on it until it has proven to be better than its predecessor.

3) The closing of the list has more to do with the excessive wait time and less to do with the new design

We Build

December 02, 2011

We Build Canoes. That three-word statement proudly proclaimed above was the simplest way to express what we do at Kamanu Composites. But the meat of that phrase is We Build. We don’t outsource, re-sell, or source canoes. We build them. Carbon fiber and epoxy come in and canoes go out.

The world is changing so quickly that it can be hard to catch a glimpse as it slips by. Five years ago most of us had never heard of Facebook or Barak Obama. Our phones hadn’t taken over our lives. Money was cheap and jobs were plentiful. Climate change was a distant threat. Tahitian dominance in the Moloka’i Hoe was still being blamed on flat water. And almost nobody was building canoes in Hawai’i. We, as Americans, were on top of a cloud. Debt financing was the way of the future. We didn’t have to produce anything. The cloud was supposed to take us as long as we kept consuming.

But it didn’t. Our extreme leveraging caught up with us and we collapsed. The market peaked in October 2007. Nearly the exact day that Kamanu Composites produced its first canoe. As fate would have it, we began our future here as millions of Americans saw their futures disappear along with their savings, homes, and jobs in the Great Recession.

That is the world that Kamanu Composites grew up in. And it has had a profound impact on where we’re at today. The canoe brought us together; formed us as individuals, as a company, and as a community. But, in the end it’s not really about the canoe. It’s about building. It’s about local production. It’s about being one small gear in this great machine of a world. It’s about the fact that we can’t continually rely on someone else. As a company, Kamanu Composites has framed every decision around one simple premise. We believe wholeheartedly in local manufacturing. Because part of America’s problem was that we forgot how to manufacture after giving it all away. Once we understood why we were doing what we do, it became easy to do what we do. As a community we can have a much greater impact than a small canoe building shop. Every decision we make puts us either one step forward or one step back. The answers are easy, but it starts with understanding why.