Western faculty and staff get out on the water on an outrigger canoe

Elementary Education Associate Professor Chris Ohana and Instruction and Classroom Support Technician Gabe Starbuck are among a growing number of local residents plying Bellingham Bay in an outrigger canoe, according to a recent story in the Bellingham Herald.

Photo by The Bellingham Herald

The Bellingham Bay Outrigger Paddlers have been on the water since April and holds practices nearly every weekday, launching from the Community Boating Center in Fairhaven.

The club had its first meeting in November 2010 and Starbuck became the club's president. Now that the outrigger is on the water, the club has grown to about 45 members.

"They are walking along (Boulevard Park) and they see this boat go by and they send us emails saying, 'I don't know what that was but I want to try it,'" Starbuck told The Bellingham Herald. "A lot of those people have just found us or they saw us out here on the pier.

"They see this and think, 'I can do that.'"

The club has grown so much, they're looking for a second boat.