By MiCHael ray

Lysanne Ray Sebastian , my niece , was a waterwoman and a stud .

She swam before she walked , was a star on the Corona del Mar High School swim team , and then was a varsity member of the USD ’ s rowing team . But it was after graduation that she found her true love , outrigger paddling at the Newport Aquatic Center ( NAC ).

We ’ re talking about outriggers like the kind the Polynesians used for thousands of years ; they have long , thin hulls for speed and a side pontoon for stability .

NAC is in Newport ’ s Back Bay , and houses some 400 outrigger hulls , boat

repair facilities , workout rooms , and perhaps most importantly , a sense of family . In fact , they call themselves Ohana , the Hawaiian word for extended family .

Lysanne found Ohana and never looked back .

She joined a paddling team , or tribe , the Imua ’ s , and it was off to the races---like to Catalina ( takes four to six hours---these athletes are intense ). They race in six-person hulls with a chase boat , and every twenty minutes or so , two fresh paddlers jump from the chase boat into the ocean and climb into the seats just vacated by two others , 10 or 12 Imua ’ s taking turns - pumping , always pumping , their shared effort quickly forging them into one paddling machine .

One Imua rule is sacrosanct : “ Once you start the race , you finish the race .” Meaning , paddlers must be in superb shape . Their whole Imua tribe depends upon it . So you do not quit . Ever . If you do , the Imua ’ s probably aren ’ t for you , and knowing that , there is the pride of the elite .

After racing to Catalina , the Imua ’ s race back the next day , but that night they party , tend to sore muscles and blisters , swap tales---and sometimes fall in love---like Lysanne and her

future husband , Rick , who was on the same team .

There is another thing too . The connection to the infinite . It happens when your paddle slices cleanly and silently into the water , and you are in tune with your crew . The Steersman has found the exact one true perfect angle , or line , for those waves and that wind , and instead of you working to plow through the water , it is smooth and effortless , and you are halfway through hour three and still feel fresh and strong , and you forget you . Because your mind is out there . We held Lysanne ’ s paddle out ( pancreatic cancer ) on Sunday morning , Nov . 19 , four days before Thanksgiving . It was at Big Corona near the entrance to Newport Harbor . It consisted mostly of paddlers in about fifty outriggers that were sized from one person to twelve . Once at the correct spot ( 33.5N by 117.8W ), all the boats in a wide circle , Lysanne ’ s ashes were floated out on a yellow boogie board . The ashes were in a heavy biodegradable box that would be dropped and slowly disintegrate .

The water was bracingly cold , but Rick jumped in immediately and spontaneously followed first by Lysanne ’ s four siblings , her son and

daughter , and then by a dozen more paddlers .

Rick pushed the boogie board to the middle and extended his arm to touch the box . Soon everyone ’ s arms were stretched , touching . Then Rick spoke the impossible farewell to his beloved wife , hugged the box , and finally dropped it . Even though no one had a face mask , everyone stuck their heads in the water and watched the box descend , and some even dove down after it .

Afterward , Rick swam back to his outrigger but hesitated a long time before climbing in . When he did , it was at the hull ’ s front position , the pacesetter . Rick paddled furiously , feverishly , as if somehow this was a different reality , one he could outrun , and return home to find Lysanne waiting .

To see a short video on her Paddle Out , visit https :// vimeo . com / 887056768 .

Michael co-founded Orange County School of the Arts , The Discovery Cube , Sage Hill School , Art Spaces Irvine and several other area nonprofit organizations . He is a business partner with Sanderson-J . Ray Development and has lived in Laguna Beach since the early 1980s .