Keaukaha paddler Mark Panek always has a good time with his crewmates whether he’s in a canoe with other old guys or breaking their ears with a country song.
On Saturday at Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Racing Association’s Keaukaha regatta, Panek raced in the men freshmen 1-mile event, usually reserved for young bucks.
Puna won in 7:46.97 while Keaukaha finished second in 8:37.64 and Kai Ehitu was third in 9:01.11 at Hilo Bay. Kai Opua and Kamehameha had DQs while Kawaihae scratched.
“We’re all a bunch of old guys,” Panek said. “I’m 48 years old, and we’re overjoyed compared to what we expected. It’s the first time we were all in the canoe together, and it’s my first freshman race.”
Panek, who’s a UH-Hilo English professor, is also part of a somewhat famous country music band called the Bending Elbows, which plays at Puna’s Lava Shack the first Saturday of every month.
He plays the bass, and another Keaukaha paddler in the band is Clint Alexander. Former paddler Ryan Tanner, who owns Fluid Paddles, is another member.
By all accounts, Panek is not the best musician in his household. That honor belongs to his son Kensuke, a pianist, who’ll be a fourth grader at DeSilva, or his wife Noriko, also a pianist.
Panek is also something of a Renaissance man. He’s authored three books: “Hawaii,” a novel in 2013; “Big Happiness,” non-fiction in 2011; and “Gaijin Yokozuna,” a bio of sumo wrestler Akebono in 2006.
Under the bylaws of being called a Renaissance man, one condition is to travel, and Panek fills the bill as he’s been to the Liberty Challenge for the second year in a row.
The Liberty Challenge is a broad canoe paddling event in New York where teams from Europe, Asia, the Pacific region and through the Americas compete.
Panek’s mixed team with Keaukaha paddlers Kyle Keamo and T.R. Ireland and Puna paddlers Julaine Keamo (Kyle’s sister), Shawna Sherlock and Alana Cabatu placed third in the mixed division.
For the first time in two years, Panek escaped the doghouse because he brought along wife Noriko. She’s a nurse at Hilo Medical Center, and someone had to feed their dog last year.
His mom, Jane Panek, also went and last year made 40 T-shirts for New York family members. No word if there was small print on the shirt that said, like Bending Elbows on Twitter.
It was a special moment for Ken Ken (his son’s nickname) and his grandma. Because both saw Hokulea depart from Hilo and sitting at the finish line in New York Harbor.
“You see so many people committed to not only the sport of canoe paddling but the cultural aspect,” Panek said. “And to have Hokulea at the finish line, it was an unforgettable experience.
“But the main goal was for Ken Ken to see his cousins. He has six cousins there, and I’m not allowed to go there without him.”
Well, Panek can add dry humor jokester to his list. And with a lonely dog back home, he’s got more than enough good material to write a country song, maybe titled “I miss my dog,” for his crewmates and Bending Elbows.
