TRAVERSE CITY — Power Island doesn’t sound as cool as Rapa Nui.
But to Daniel Novak, it’s not much different.
Easter Island, whose native name is Rapa Nui, is a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean known for its giant Moai statues.
It’s also the setting of a 1994 movie “Rapa Nui” with the plot centered around a race within the Birdman Cult, the Birdman Competition. The movie’s plot is fictional, but the race has been verified by testimonies of people who lived on the island in the early 19th century, according to the Smithsonian.
Young warriors, one for each clan, would scale 1,000-foot cliff, swim a mile out in the Pacific Ocean through sharks to get to a separate island, Motu Nui, and find the first egg laid by the returning sooty tern. Whoever was the first to return to the village of Orongo with the egg would be temporarily considered a living reincarnation of Makemake, the god of the Tangata mana or “Bird Man.” He and his tribe rule the island for the following year.
“When I thought of Power Island, I was inspired,” Novak said.
He created the Rapa Nui race in Traverse City, a 3-mile stand-up paddle ride out to Power Island from Bowers Harbor, a 2-mile run on the island, then ride another 3 miles back to shore. Midway through the run on the island racers pick up a Moai head necklace, much like the egg. The race takes more than an hour, even to the best of competitors.
Few who compete in the race, Novak said, know its historical context.
Rob Hartman is one of them who knows a little. He’s intrigued at the idea of being The Birdman of Bowers Harbor.
Hartman won the 8-mile race over water for a time of 1:09:15 in an 18-foot surfski. Two double kayaks were not too far behind him. Nick Walton and Yvon Dufour finished in 1:09:37, Mike Davis and Bruce Barton finished at 1:09:40.
Hartman said the conditions favored him for the return trip from the island, with winds carving waves that favored his style of racing.
“On the way back there were waves to surf, and that’s kind of one of my strengths,” Hartman said. “I’m a much faster paddler than I am a runner. The fact that the race has a run is an equalizer.”
Hartman is of a small group that takes paddling seriously as a sport. He competed at the national level, the US surfski championships in San Francisco six years ago and medaled in his age group. This year’s marathon canoe nationals were planned to be in Michigan, but were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the two boats he raced next to him, with Walton and Barton, both are well known in the state for doing well in canoe races. Others came from Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois for the event Novak has put on since 2014.
“There’s a pretty strong waterman culture here,” Hartman said. “We’ve got the Great Lakes. It can be dead flat, or we can have world class downwind conditions.”
Continuing the race in the coronavirus pandemic was a Birdman Challenge in and of itself for Novak.
He said he worked with the Department of Natural Resources to be able to use the bay while keeping the dock up and running for the public to use. The MI Safe Start executive order permitted outdoor gatherings of up to 250 in regions under Phase 5, Novak limited his race to 100 — the cap for elsewhere in the state. On race day, about 70 racers showed up. His COVID-19 safety plan was approved by the county.
The stand-up-paddles — typically 6- to 8-feet long — took care of social distancing, Novak said.
“At any given time, behind each other, you were more than 6 feet apart by far,” Novak said.
It’s the second race Novak organized this summer so far. He held the 45th Parallel Paddle Festival with the Suttons Bay Bike Shop as a similar hybrid race.
Tentatively, next year’s event is planned for Aug. 14, 2021.“When I thought of Power Island, I was inspired.”
