Legends in the Fleet: Marco + Polo
The double-hull Hydras carrying the NAC Makapo Aquatics Project forward
Every canoe at Newport Aquatic Center has a story. Marco + Polo’s includes a familiar joke, a generous community, and a connection to one of paddling’s most influential canoe builders.
Paddled together in a double-hull configuration by the NAC Makapo Aquatics Project, these Hydra canoes help bring athletes with disabilities onto the water to train, build skills, and share the experience of being part of a crew. Their names give you a pretty good introduction to the people paddling them.
If you’ve spent time around Billy and the team, you may have heard this exchange:
“Hey everyone, watch this. This is my blind team… MARCO!”
“POLO!” the paddlers answer, with plenty of sarcasm and always lots of laughs.
Before making the names official, the team asked donors The Hartford and Move United for their blessing. Both embraced the humor and the way it reflected the paddlers’ own perspective on disability.
Marco + Polo carry that personality with them: a crew ready to work together, enjoy the water, and give Billy a hard time whenever the opportunity comes up.
Two hulls, one crew
Connecting the two canoes creates a stable platform for adaptive paddling, while keeping teamwork at the center of the experience. Paddlers still have to find their timing, listen to their coaches, and contribute to moving the crew forward.
For the NAC Makapo Aquatics Project, equipment like this helps create more ways to participate. It gives athletes room to develop confidence and ability, and gives the program a foundation to keep welcoming people onto the water.
The support of The Hartford and Move United helped make these canoes part of that work. Their place in the fleet also connects Makapo to the broader paddling community through the person who designed them: Kai Bartlett.
The waterman behind the Hydra
A Maui paddler and canoe builder, Kai designed the Hydra OC6 with a lifetime of ocean experience behind him. Raised between Kauaʻi, Maui, and Kailua, he began building canoes on Oahu in 1995 and went on to become one of the sport’s most accomplished paddlers.
His career included five Molokaʻi Solo World Championships, along with numerous relay and team titles. But his favorite title: Dad. He brought the knowledge gained from those crossings into his work as a designer, creating canoes that would find their way into fleets around the world.
Kai passed away earlier this year after living with multiple myeloma. Throughout those years, he continued designing, paddling, pursuing adventure, and keeping the people he loved close.
This coming weekend, the paddling community will gather on Maui to honor him at the Kai Waʻa Strong Maliko Race & Paddle Out on October 17, followed by a celebration of life on October 18.
In a 2013 interview, Kai shared a thought that captures his approach to life:
“We only live once, might as well get as much out of the one life we have.”
— Kai Bartlett
At the NAC Makapo Aquatics Project, Marco + Polo give that sentiment a local connection. These canoes help athletes get out on the water, challenge themselves, and enjoy time with their crew. Each practice adds another chapter to their story.
We are grateful to The Hartford and Move United for supporting access to paddling, and to the athletes, coaches, and volunteers who give Marco + Polo their character.
As Makapo continues to grow, these two canoes will keep helping us welcome paddlers, develop crews, and make more days on the water possible.
And whenever Billy calls “MARCO,” there will be a crew ready with an answer.