Standing by Ladahao, from left, Keith Quintanilla Jr., Keith Quintanilla Sr., and Zion Quintanilla.
Keith Quintanilla Sr. with his son, Keith Quintanilla Jr.
500 Sails staff and volunteers are preparing their various ocean-going canoes ahead of the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture or FestPac in Honolulu, Hawaii.
According to the festival’s website, the Wa’a Arrival Ceremony is set for Wednesday, June 5 at Kualoa Regional Park.
A highlight of the festival, the ceremony will feature traditional sailing vessels from Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia.
The CNMI canoes need to be shipped to Hawaii, and Matson Shipping requires that the boats should be ready by March 19.
On Thursday, Variety visited the 500 Sails boatyard in Lower Base and saw volunteers and staff working on three canoes: Ladahao, a fiberglass Chamorro vessel whose designed was based on the Anson Drawing; Che’lu, the 47-foot Chamorro canoe made of California redwood; and Mikaela, a Carolinian-style sailing canoe, which may be the first ever in history to be partially built out of fiberglass.
The work on Ladahao and Mikaela is a family affair.
Keith “the Boat Doctor” Quintanilla, who owns a boat repair service on Guam, arrived on Saipan on March 1 to help 500 Sails get ready for FestPac. He is volunteering his time and skills to repair Ladahao. Working with him are his sons, Keith Jr., 16, and Zion, 15.
Quintanilla studied electronics at Guam Community College, but has years of experience in the maritime trades. He once operated a submarine tour service on Guam, and has been repairing boats for around 16 years now.
He said he first became involved with 500 Sails about seven years ago when he took on a local project to repair a mega yacht that was damaged in the Saipan Lagoon. At that time he also assisted with repairing Ladahao, which “needed a lot of work” back in 2017, he said.
On Thursday, he and his sons were adding “stiffeners and mounting points” for the wooden spars, known as gåhet in Chamorro, that connect Ladahao’s main hull to its outrigger hull.
He said he’s donating his service to 500 Sails because he believes in its mission.
A good thing
“Pete and Emma [Perez, the founders of 500 Sails] have a really good thing going. I’ve been following 500 Sails on their Facebook page and I really wanted my sons to see what they had right in our backyard,” he said. “I was here seven years ago. They were just working on the first canoe and here we are now, seven or eight canoes later and I see no end. I would like my boys to hopefully pick this up and maybe turn things around for their future.”
He said on Guam, he fabricated two fiberglass proas based on the Anson Drawing, just like the 500 Sails canoes.
As for using fiberglass to create Micronesian canoes, Quintanilla said, “Fiberglass is going to be around forever and you can bring this canoe up to a certain level and hand it down for future generations. This is something I saw with Pete and Emma and 500 Sails and I would really like to be a part of that.”
His son, Keith Jr., said he has “been running around” and “just assisting,” but his father disagreed.
“He’s actually my right hand,” Quintanilla said. “If I didn’t have him I wouldn’t be able to go as fast as I could.”
“I like that idea,” Keith Jr. said, referring to his dad’s decision to include him in the trip to Saipan. “It seemed pretty cool. It’s not like we get to do this every day — go somewhere else and repair something.”
Zion said there are automotive trades classes on Guam, but he’s not aware of any fiberglass or marine trades courses he could take that could compare to the experience he’s receiving while working with his father and brother on Saipan.
“It’s really fun,” Zion said. “It’s something new.”
The Quintanillas will return to Guam on the 11th.
Once in a lifetime
For their part, Lolo Benito, and his father, Master Navigator Mario Benito, were at the 500 Sails boatyard to build Mikaela whose outrigger hull and main hull are fabricated out of fiberglass.
Traditionally, breadfruit tree is the primary wood used to make the hulls of Micronesian sailing proas.
But wood will still comprise Mikaela’s spars, yard, boom, mast, leeward platform, and other parts.
“Honestly it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity because not a lot of people get this kind of lesson,” Lolo Benito said. “This canoe is fiberglass. The design is part of our culture. For me to be alongside my dad learning all of this — it’s hard to put in words because not a lot of people can get this kind of experience.”
Lolo said a “faifai” blessing ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 9 at the Division of Fish and Wildlife boat ramp in Lower Base.
The date may change, and the public should check 500 Sails’ social media accounts for the final schedule.
Lolo Benito said when the time comes, Mikaela will go out to sea for sailing and fishing. He is likewise excited to see Mikaela sail alongside other Pacific vessels.
“I can’t wait…. “It’s going to be fun,” he said.
‘My daughter’
Mario Borja updated Variety about Che’lu, his “daughter.”
“She’s a teenager. She’s 13 years old this 25th of March and she wants to go to party in Hawaii,” he said in jest. “She’s not ‘aguguat,’ [naughty] she’s just determined and a strong-willed lady. She wants to go and I’m spoiling her.”
Che’lu will have a new trailer and a new “dress,” meaning a fresh coat of paint and fresh designs.
Borja said his dedication to Che’lu is spiritual.
“This is an extension of the spirit that resides in me,” he said. “Apparently it has invaded my entire structure, mind body and perhaps soul that I don’t seem to find a way to let go. So I am captive. I’ve absorbed it like a sacred duty.”
He said canoes are an essential part of Pacific culture.
“If you want to talk about your islands you cannot not talk about the canoe,” Borja said. “To me if I want to embrace the culture then here’s an opportunity. The canoe is the vessel that contains everything. It contains your history, the story of your arrival and survival. How the people came and how we survive on an island. What are we surrounded with? Water. And in that water there are more resources for life than on land.”
Lolo Benito works on Mikaela, which may be the first Carolinian style canoe made partially with fiberglass.
At the 500 Sails boatyard, efforts are underway to fabricate Mikaela.
Mario Borja works on Che’lu.