KaiBartlett

Kai grew up between Kauaʻi, Maui, and Kailua, with the ocean always at the center of his life. He started building canoes on Oʻahu in 1995, learning the craft at Hawaiian Designs and Outrigger Connection under builder Brent Bixler. In 2001, he founded Kai Waʻa and spent the next twenty-five years designing and shaping canoes that paddlers around the world would go on to race.

Kai was also one of the best to ever paddle them. He won five Molokaʻi Solo World Championships, ten relay titles across the Kaiwi Channel, and three Molokaʻi Hoe Championships with Lanikai Canoe Club. But the people who knew him tend to talk less about his results and more about the way he showed up for others — the advice he freely shared, the canoe he loaned without hesitation, and the young paddlers he encouraged and took under his wing.

At the center of Kai’s life were his children, Lea, Kaiākea, and Keliana, along with the family and friends he loved so deeply. He had a way of bringing people together and making them part of the adventure. He was a dad, a loyal friend, a mentor, and — in his own words — an “adventrepreneur.” The people he loved were at the heart of everything he did.

Even through four years of living with multiple myeloma, Kai kept designing, kept paddling, kept chasing adventure, and kept the people he loved close. He lived with courage, generosity, and an unwavering passion for the people and pursuits he loved most.

• 5Molokaʻi Solo World ChampionshipsKaiwi Channel, OC1
• 10Molokaʻi Relay World Championshipsacross the Kaiwi Channel
• 3Molokaʻi Hoe Championshipswith Lanikai Canoe Club
• 25years designing and building canoesKai Waʻa, founded 2001
• 2023Waterman Hall of Fame inductee