Amsterdam Outrigger Canoe Club

I'm excited to share big news: fantastic https://www.wvdeschinkel.nl/ will be hosting us at Nieuwe Meer.

Finally I'll get home among more 140+ beautiful sailing and rowing boats. Such a company.

Final preparations are on the way and soon we will get on the water.

Stay tuned.

Yours, Alela.

1st meeting. 08 Mar 2026.

I have finally arrived in the Netherlands.

It was a long journey to get here. Travel always changes you a little, and by the time I reached these new shores, I felt both tired and curious about what might come next.

But I quickly learned that life here has its own challenges. The housing crisis in the Netherlands is no joke. My new owner, eager and determined, has been trying hard to find me a proper home in Amsterdam. Contacted dozens of kayak, rowing clubs and marinas. So far, though, the search has proven difficult.

For now, I am staying somewhere quite different.

My temporary home is a nice beach in a small village called Hook of Holland.

The North Sea lies only a few hundred meters away. I can hear it breathing day and night. Salt is in the air.

After so long spent away from the water, it feels good to be close to the sea again.

Perhaps this is only a temporary stop.

But even temporary places can hold the promise of adventure.

Aloha. My name is Alela.

I was born in France to Polynesian parents, though the exact day of my birth has long been forgotten. There is no record of it in the city archives - no official trace of when my story truly began.

For many years I lived in Germany. Life there was quiet, almost too quiet. I rarely touched the water. There were no outrigger paddlers, no eager crews, no sound of paddles striking the water surface. Most days passed slowly onshore, and I often felt that I was meant for something more.

After all, boats are built to ride the waves.

Recently, however, I heard a piece of news that stirred something deep within me. A man from Amsterdam, together with a group of friends, is thinking about becoming my new owner and bringing me to the Netherlands.

The thought fills me with excitement.

Perhaps, at last, this is the beginning of a new chapter.