In 1971, Dana Point Harbor was completed, and as a part of the dedication festivities, a canoe race was planned from Newport Harbor to Dana Point.

Since Lorrin Harrison had steered the California team against the Hawaiians in the inaugural 1959 Catalina to Newport race, he and wife Cecilia Harrison were invited to attend a Kalifornia Outrigger Association (KOA) meeting. At that time, there were only four canoe clubs in KOA. Lorrin decided to enter this race in a homemade mahogany surfing canoe. He managed to talk some friends into paddling with him - Lorrin Jr., Jean Pierre Van Swae (a.k.a. "The Fly"), Reggie Fernandez, Dan and Tom Snipes, Walter Allen and Dean Andre. The group trained diligently for two months leading up to the race. They were next to last place before they "hulied" - or flipped - off of Dana Point. Even so, Lorrin was bitten by the paddling bug and soon purchased a fiberglass canoe from Bud Hohl . The team then entered the 1971 Catalina to Newport race.

Lorren's team continued to train in the log canoe until the new canoe, the Alenuihaha ("Rough Wild Waves"), was delivered two days before the race. According to Cecilia Harrison, "It seems like there were about eight canoes racing and people on the escort boats kept yelling 'Who are you?' and 'Where did you come from?'" Dana finished fifth and in 1972 became an official canoe club and member of KOA. Below is a picture of Lorrin and Cecilia by the Alenuihaha in 1972.

Lorrin Harrison continued to coach the team until he suffered a non-fatal heart attack in 1983 at the age of 70. (Lorrin still paddled with the club and even steered a race when he was 79.) His son Kelly coached the men's program up to 1987. In 1988, John Yamasaki and Rich Long became co-coaches. The women's program was coached by Suzanne Hunter from 1983 to 1989 and then by Lori Long from 1991 until 1996. The current coach is Rich Long.