ancient hawaiians always put the "canoe god" (please note little "g") rarotonga on their sea fareing vessles for safe travel, and good fortune. this practice was later discouraged by missionaries, and done away with. it has, most recently, began to re-surface as more and more native hawaiian's become interested in the "old world culture". also, when an small lizard is depicted resting on any object that object is considered "tao" or sacred.
i'm not ancient hawaiian, but who am i to argue with 1oo's of years of islander tradition. i think i'm going to have both located on my kayak somewhere....
the most important thing w/ a luanch, i think, is to make it fun and memorable.
good luck...
brett the hitman hart