Often the things we don’t choose for ourselves end up having the most significant impact on our life. We are exposed to something and from that moment on our world is changed; it’s hard to imagine what it was like before.
For Nish Romero, this thing was war canoe racing, and it was his mom — who also paddles — that first got him on the water at eight years old. “My Mom just said, ‘Hey, your cousins are paddling; come on, you’re going to paddle,’” Nish recalls.
He has been paddling ever since, competing in races with the Rikkole Cree Canoe Club. He began with traditional war canoe racing, in canoes of either six or 11 people. In recent years, Nish also started dabbling in outrigger racing, competing in singles and doubles with his partner Joe Rodriguez. “We compete against teams from all over the place like Hawaii and New Zealand,” says Nish. “There’s a lot of really talented paddlers from all over the world.”
What began as something he did because he was told to developed into a passion. By the time Nish was in his mid-teens, he and his cousins were performing well in races, even traveling to Hawaii to compete, where they saw success. Through greater exposure to other cultures’ paddling, he became more enthralled with the sport and the paddles themselves. He knew he wanted to build a life around paddling.
Nish was also in his teens when Peter Seymour, from Vancouver Island, showed him how to build a traditional war canoe paddle. That experience stuck with him; he enjoyed the crafting of the paddle and the connection it gave him with the sport on a larger scale. He held on to that desire to create paddles, a desire that has now come to fruition.
Nish was building paddles for fun and people were asking to buy them. With demand growing, he decided to quit his job and start Salish Va’a, his own paddle company. The name has a deep meaning for him and a built-in purpose.
“The name is a mix of Coast Salish and Va’a, which is Polynesian for canoe, and canoe team,” says Nish. “The idea of the name came from the idea of opening our eyes and minds to the different paddling worlds. We’re one way or another all connected and, for the most part, we’re all connected by the water.”
While his business is still in its infancy, that’s not stopping Nish from setting big goals. He hopes to build a brand that can bring exposure to the talented paddlers that aren’t currently being seen. There are Coast Salish paddlers going unnoticed because it’s expensive to travel to races, which take place all over the world. Nish knows that if, through his own success, he can sponsor these individuals, it will help grow the sport he loves.
Now in his early 20s, Nish competes weekly in local races where he puts his paddles to work. A good day is when he has to use a paddle he didn’t make — because he sells out before his race starts.
“The orders have started flowing in,” Nish says. “There have been some races where I had to sell my personal paddle right there and then, and then I didn’t have a paddle for the race, so I just had to use whatever was around.
While he loves racing, making paddles has given Nish a connection to the sport where he feels he can have a larger impact. He’s excited for the day when he looks up in a race and sees he’s being beaten by one of his creations.
Nish builds all his paddles by hand out of red and yellow cedar. He crafts traditional war canoe paddles straight blade and steering blade. He also makes single and double bend paddles for outrigger racing. He adds a layer of fiberglass to the front and back of the blades for strength and durability.
When he can keep them in stock, he has a variety of styles and sizes on hand for sale. He also makes custom paddles. Experienced paddlers can give him the specifications they want for length and blade size. For those newer to paddling, he can guide them to ensure a proper fit based on size, experience, and type of paddling.
If you don’t happen to buy a paddle from Nish right before a race begins, you can always order one by contacting him through Facebook or Instagram.
