The History of Surfing
King Kamehameha and Kaahumanu
Even the most renowned and powerful Chiefess in Hawaiian history- Kaahumanu, the Queen Regent and favorite wife of Kamehameha the Great- was an enthusiastic surfer. Indeed Kamehameha (1753?-1819) and Kaahumanu (1768-1832), according to the Hawaiian chronicler John Papa Ii (1800-1870), were particularly fond of surfing at Kooka, a wave spot located at Pua'a in North Kona "where a coral head stands just outside a point of lava rocks." Or as Ii remembers:
QUOTE:
When the surf dashed over the coral head, the people swam out with their surfboards and floated with them. If a person owned a long narrow canoe, he performed what was called lele va'a, or canoe leaping, in which the surfer leaped off the canoe with his board and ride the crest of the wave ashore. The canoe slid back off the wave because of the force of the shove given it with the feet. When the surfer drew close to the place where the surf rose, a wave would pull itself up high and roll in. Any timid person who got too close to it was overwhelmed and could not reach the landing place. The opening through which the surfer entered was like a sea pool, with a rocky hill above and rows of lava rocks on both sides, and deep in the center. This was a difficult feat and not often seen, but for Kaahumanu and the King it was easy. When they reached the place where the surf rose high, they went along with the crest of a wave and slipped into the sea pool before the wave rolled over. Only the light spray of the surf touched them before they reached the pool. The spectators shouted and remarked to each other how clever the two were....
And so, he'enalu flowed on, and like ancient dolphins at play in a remote part of the world, the isolated Hawaiians kept this water sport magic to themselves for several centuries. They, and only they, knew the wonder of being borne so swiftly by the unpredictable sea. Only they stood up and played with large vibrations of water pumped their way by wild storms in the frozen north and south.
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