Surf History

And if distant storms didn't generate suitable waves, surfers would enlist the aid of a kahuna, or priest, and literally pray for surf. Abraham Fornander (1812-1887), a Maui Circuit Court judge who wrote An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations, collected an unusual chant used during ancient "surf coaxing rituals." This chant was called a pohuehue, after the beach morning-glory, a hardy vine found on tropical beaches. If there was a serious dearth of surf in a particular area, the appointed kahuna would take several strands of the pohuehue and, in unison with the frustrated surfers, swing the vines around and lash them "unitedly upon the water until the desired undulating waves were obtained, at the same time chanting for a response to their efforts." The chant implored:

Ina a 'ohe nalu, a laila aku i kai, penei e hea ai
(If there is no surf, invoke seawork in the following manner)
Ku mai! Ku mai! Ka nalu nui mai Kahiki mai, (arise, arise you great surfs from Kahiki)

Alo po i pu! Ku mai ka pohuehue,
(the powerful curling waves. Arise with the pohuehue)

Hu! Kai ko'o Loa. (Well up long raging surf.)

John Francis Gray Stokes (1876-1960), in an archaeological study Ancient Worship of the Hawaiian Islanders compiled by William T. Gingham, wrote in 1919 of a seaside hey (temple) at Kahaluu Bay on the Kona coast where Hawaiian natives made offerings and prayed to their gods for good surfing conditions. That heiau, called ku'emanu, was identified by local Hawaiians as "a heiau for surfriders, where they could pray for good sport." Stokes observed that there was a bleachers like terrace where spectators could watch surfers in action, and within the temple compound's confines was a brackish pool where surfers could rinse away saltwater after a wave-riding session.

Because the Hawaiians never developed a "printed language" per se, they were highly evolved as a "chanting culture." Some of you may remember the Kumulipo: a 2102-line Hawaiian chant on creation composed about 1700 A.D. Stories such as the Pohuehue chant and the Kumulipo were committed to memory and handed down generation to generation. The ancient Hawaiian songs were called mele, and were really poems which were chanted, often accompanied to the Hawaiian people, for in them they preserved their legends, traditions, genealogies and history. The same thing happened in Europe during the middle ages where minstrels and troubadours preserved the legends and history of the time in song.

The Ali'i, or chieftains of the Hawaiian people, composed a large percentage of the mele and early songs. Why were the ali'i such prolific composers? Because both their heritage and their education made them better fitted for composition than either the kahuna or priests, or the maka'ainana, or common people. In contrast to the kings of feudal Europe who were largely illiterate, the Hawaiian ali'i were very well educated. They had superb physical education, and they learned the traditions of their people the religious rites of the kahuna, and many of the traditional chants. Since a large percentage of the first arrivals in the canoes from Tahiti were ali'i, a relatively large percentage of Hawaiian people are descended from ali'i stock. So it is no accident that they are musical, or that the ali'i composed most of the songs.

Known chants that have to do with surfing-or surfing's physical and metaphysical effects on mind and body- are too numerous to recount here, but those that are mentioned illustrate the role surfing played in the social and spiritual lives of ancient Hawaiian practitioners. Thomas G. Thrum's Hawaiian Annual for the year 1896 notes that "surf riding was one of the favorite Hawaiian sports, in which chiefs, men, women, and youth took a lively interest. Much valuable time was spent by them in this practice throughout the day."

Of the Hawaiians who surfed, it was the ali'i or chiefly class, who claimed the highest reputation for dedicated proficiency with board and waves. They had their own prayers, chanters, board shapers, wood and beaches where they alone could surf with others of similar rank. No one dared to drop in on their wave, not a chance, because that meant death, or at least a near death experience. Because surfing was strongly endorsed by the ali'i as well as the maka ai nana (ma-ka-eye-naa-naa) (common people), it achieved a special status and respectability in ancient Hawaii. Renowned surfers were celebrated in song and dance and often enjoyed special privileges in royal circles. Their status as leaders within the class of chiefs depended, in part, on their strength and stamina. The sport of surfing served as arduous training as well as a challenging pastime, to keep them fit for the physical requirements of their chiefly position.

In his Polynesian Researches, the Christian missionary William Ellis (1794-1872) recalls that Kaumualii, the great mo'i (king) from the island of Kauai, was renowned as an accomplished surfer. Ellis also recalls seeing the elderly Big Island chiefs Karaimoku (Ka-ra-ee-moku) and Kakioena (Ka-kee-o-en-na).

"both between fifty and sixty years of age, and large corpulent men, balancing themselves on their long and narrow boards, or splashing about in the foam, with as much satisfaction as youths of sixteen."

Which ever board they choose, olo, kiko'o (longboard) or alaia (short), the chiefs took great pride in the skill, grace, speed, and courage with which they rode the Pacific's swells.

Hawaiian surfers often exhibited their finest wave-riding style in fierce competition. This was, in fact, a major part of the game to early enthusiasts, and the betting that accompanied every contest was no doubt an important incentive for the practice of the sport. When the waves were at its biggest, and all bets were in- personal property was at stake, not to mention the tremendous personal pride, ego and even romance- were all on the line; winner takes all.

Of the Hawaiians who surfed, it was the ali'i or chiefly class, who claimed the highest reputation for dedicated proficiency with board and waves. They had their own prayers, chanters, board shapers, wood and beaches where they alone could surf with others of similar rank. No one dared to drop in on their wave, not a chance, because that meant death, or at least a near death experience. Because surfing was strongly endorsed by the ali'i as well as the maka ai nana (ma-ka-eye-naa-naa) (common people), it achieved a special status and respectability in ancient Hawaii. Renowned surfers were celebrated in song and dance and often enjoyed special privileges in royal circles. Their status as leaders within the class of chiefs depended, in part, on their strength and stamina. The sport of surfing served as arduous training as well as a challenging pastime, to keep them fit for the physical requirements of their chiefly position.

In his Polynesian Researches, the Christian missionary William Ellis (1794-1872) recalls that Kaumualii, the great mo'i (king) from the island of Kauai, was renowned as an accomplished surfer. Ellis also recalls seeing the elderly Big Island chiefs Karaimoku (Ka-ra-ee-moku) and Kakioena (Ka-kee-o-en-na).

"both between fifty and sixty years of age, and large corpulent men, balancing themselves on their long and narrow boards, or splashing about in the foam, with as much satisfaction as youths of sixteen."

Which ever board they choose, olo, kiko'o (longboard) or alaia (short), the chiefs took great pride in the skill, grace, speed, and courage with which they rode the Pacific's swells. Hawaiian surfers often exhibited their finest wave-riding style in fierce competition. This was, in fact, a major part of the game to early enthusiasts, and the betting that accompanied every contest was no doubt an important incentive for the practice of the sport. When the waves were at its biggest, and all bets were in- personal property was at stake, not to mention the tremendous personal pride, ego and even romance- were all on the line; winner takes all.

However humble one's surfboard, it was treated with respect. Even before the board was shaped, according to the 1896 Thrum's, a proper "surfbuilding ritual" was observed. It began with the tree. Only three types of tree were used to make the ancient surfboard; the wiliwili, the ulu (or breadfruit), and the koa. Once a tree had been selected a board-builder with a stone axe, dug a hole among the roots, and placed the fish therein with a prayer as an offering to the gods in return for the tree he was about to shape into a board. The construction and shaping of the surfboard that followed this ritual was an exacting task that required the experienced craftsmanship of professional native "shapers."

The trunk was first chipped away with an axe and roughly shaped to the desired dimensions. It was then pulled down to the beach and placed in a halau (canoe house) for finishing work. Granulated coral called pohaku puna (po-haa-ku-pu-na), and a rough kind of stone called oahi (o-ah-hi) were used for smoothing the rough surfaces on the board getting rid of the adze marks, much as canoe hulls were polished. As a finishing stain, the root of the TI plant called mole ki, or the pounded bark of the kukui, called hili was used to give the board a dark, glistening lustre. Stains were also obtained from the soot of burned kukui nuts, charcoal from burnt pandanus leaves, or the juices from young banana buds. To complete the process, a dressing of Kukui nut oil was applied when the stain was dry, and the black, glossy board was ready for surfing.

Today, such boards are nonexistent except for some ancient Hawaiian surfboard kept in private homes and in the collection of Honolulu's Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Probably the oldest known board is a small "floater" that belonged to a much-beloved Big Island chiefess who enjoyed surfing during the early to mid 1600's.

This rare surfboard is described in a charming story published in the December 8 1905 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette, a then popular semi-weekly Honolulu newspaper. According to a page 6 dispatch headlined "Sled of a Chiefess," N.K. Pukui while on a tour of the island of Hawaii found an ancient sled and surfboard in a burial cave at Ho'okena:

QUOTE:

It is said that the oldest Kamaainas of Hookena have heard from their parents and grandparents that sometime in the reign of King Keawenuiaumi, about 250 or 300 years ago, a high Chiefess named Kaneaumuna was then living at Hookena. Her principal amusement was he'e holua (coasting on a sled) and he'enalu (surfing).

She had her people make a sliding ground for her on a hill just back of the little village of Hookena, and ordered a sled, or land toboggan, called a pap holua, as well as a surfing board, or a pap he'enalu. When the slide was composed of smooth stones

covered with rushes. After her death her sled and surfboard disappeared, and the secret of their hiding place was never revealed. It is believed the sled and board found in the cave belonged to the High Chiefess. They are made of wood of the bread-fruit tree, the 'ulu and at the present time are in very good condition......"

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.

In one of Hawaiiana's most interesting commentaries on early surfing equipment, Ii explains that there were three types of Hawaiian surfboards commonly used- the olo, the kiko'o, and the alaia.

QUOTE: (John Ii)

The 'olo is thick in the middle and grows thinner toward the edges. It is a good board for a wave that swells and rushes shoreward but not for a wave that rises up high and curls over.

The kiko'o reaches a length of 12 to 18 feet and is good for a surf that breaks roughly. This board is good for surfing, but is hard to handle.

The alaia board, which is 9 feet long, is thin and wide in front, tapering toward the back. Because it tends to go downward and cut through a wave it does not rise up with the wave as it begins to curl over. Skilled surfers use it frequently, but the unskilled are afraid of this board, choosing rather to sit on a canoe ore to surf on even smaller boards.

There is not a great deal of information available in Hawaiian language literature about the construction and maintenance of surfboards, but reports by early foreigners indicate that a person's surfboard was considered special property.

Surfing also played part in the annual three-month celebration the Hawaiians called Makahiki. The great God Lono was the patron deity of those festivities. From mid-October through mid-January the Hawaiians stopped work, relaxed, and passed much of their time dancing, feasting, and participating in sports.

Thousands gathered to watch the famous tournaments, which always included surfing. Dr. Kenneth Emory writes, "No important contest was engaged in without approaching the Gods with prayers and offerings to win their favor. When a man felt he was in harmonious relations with the mysterious forces about him he was quite likely to accomplish superhuman feats of strength and skill."

Ancient maps of the Hawaiian island indicate more than 100 popular surfing sites and although there was no written language in ancient Hawaii, a list of forty terms has been compiled to form a portion of the traditional surfing glossary. This fact suggests that among the early Hawaiians there was a great need for adequate self expression on the subject of "wave-sliding."

[Today's surfing vocabulary probably seems just as foreign as the Hawaiian words sound to us.]

With this rich, descriptive vocabulary and prominent number of surfing sites throughout Hawaii's islands-one can easily understand how the early explorers called surfing Hawaii's national pastime.

However, even as Hawaii's royal sport enjoyed immense popularity at the end of the 18th century, a profound change was about to dismantle almost every aspect of Hawaii's ancient culture-including sports, games, Tapa-making, ritual dancing, canoe-building- all was to disappear, just as the Hawaiian's smooth dark skin disappeared under gaudy gingham clothes- right down to the overthrow of Hawaii's government. The transformation began with the very discovery of the islands by Capt. Cook. One day late in the 18th century, a strange thing happened...

Unusual "floating islands," massive watercraft with white billowing wings, appeared on their horizons. Hawaiian journalist Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau (1815-1876) describes this apparition:

QUOTE:

Chiefs and commoners saw the wonderful sight and marveled at it. Some were terrified and shrieked with fear. The valley of Waimea rang with the shouts of the excited people as they saw the boat with its masts and sails shaped like a gigantic sting ray.

One asked another, "What are those branching things?" and another one answered "they are trees moving on the sea." Still another thought, "A double canoe of the hairless ones of Mana!" A certain kahuna named Kuohu declared, "that can be nothing less than the heau of Lono, the tower of Keolewa, and the place of sacrifice at the altar." The excitement became more intense, and louder grew the shouting.

Upon seeing these terrifying things, the Hawaiians first fled, went into hiding, and prayed in fright. Then, becoming bolder, they began venturing closer to their shores, and braver ones began waving aloha to these visiting gods. Eventually, after fearful inhibitions had been declared, the Hawaiians took to the water and slowly paddled out to sea- in outrigger canoes and on surfboards- to marvel at these fair-skinned deities at close range.

It was under such awesome and historical circumstances, bobbing in offshore waters, that the white man, haole, met his first surfer.

Following that event, increasing numbers of foreigners visited Hawaii- mainly Europeans and Americans who came first as explorers and traders and later as missionaries and settlers. Respect for all these institutions wavered, and the end of the kapu system in 1819 marked the beginning of the end of traditional life in the Hawaiian Islands.

As far as sports and games were concerned, the most immediate effect of the 1819 revolution was the lapse of the annual Makahiki festival. Celebrated for the last time just before this overthrow, the Makahiki's lusty stimulus had been one of prime importance in keeping sports and games alive and fresh, and in maintaining public support. With the end of the festival the great tournaments were never again organized; never again were Hawaiian sports inspired by the mass enthusiasm of the Makahiki. As the culture of the islands was deteriorating, all recreation and amusements joined surfing in a race to disappear completely.

For surfing, the abolition religion signaled the end of the sacred elements in the sport. With surf chants, board construction rites, sports gods, and other sacred aspects all removed, the once ornate sport of wave riding was stripped of much of its cultural plumage. Before long, betting, sexual freedom, and in many cases the act of surfing itself met disfavor under the influence of Puritanical teachings. With these activities the interest in surfing quickly died. Foreigners introduced new recreational activities that interested the Western-conscious Hawaiian and in many cases served as substitutes for their traditional games. While learning new games the Hawaiians also were preoccupied with understanding and adapting to a new life; this further contributed to the neglect and disappearance of old pastimes. The new learning brought by missionaries was an imposing challenge to the islanders. Curious about the previously unimagined secrets of reading and writing and encouraged or ordered by their chiefs, many Hawaiians undertook the arduous task of learning the scholarly skills of the West.

The combined effort of all this- the fall of the kapu system, the loss of leisure time, the attractions of a new culture, and the restrictions of a new religion- was augmented by an incredible population decline that spread through the islands. [In 1778 when Capt. Cook arrived, an estimated 300,000 lived in the islands. By 1900 the number of Hawaiians, including part-Hawaiians, had dropped to 40,000 and comprised only one forth of Hawaii's total population.

Surrounded by these strange and unfamiliar pressures and forced to adjust to an entirely new social environment, it is no wonder that the Hawaiians let all traditional pastimes fall away as they rushed to catch up with the world. Surfing's decline was only a single phase in the compacted changes of the Hawaiian people. Because the sport, with it's associated elements, was so much a part of the old way of life, the abandonment of these traditions was bound to affect it. By the turn of the century, surfing in Hawaii was near extinction.

INTRODUCTION

Although the spirit of surfing was diminished during the 19th century, it did not die.  He'enalu, in fact, fared best of all the traditional Hawaiian sports and games.  Most of the others quickly disappeared in the early period of foreign contact.  Surfing's flame died down, but a fortunate combination of circumstances preserved in Hawaii the Polynesian pastime that disappeared completely in such other early cultural centers as Tahiti and New Zealand.  From somewhere a spark remained to smolder through the dark century of Hawaii's transformation.  It was nearly one hundred years after the abandonment of the taboo system, when what little that remained of the old world was almost unrecognizable, that new, fresh elements in a changed Hawaii fanned the spark and brought the sport of surfing back to life.

SURF REVIVAL

As the 20th century began, the Waikiki area of Oahu was the center for the few still surfing.  Waves were ridden occasionally on Maui and possibly on Kauai.  Surfing on the once popular Kona coast had apparently disappeared.  Although Waikiki was a prominent surfing location in ancient times, its position as the center for the remnants of the sport depends as much on the major shift in the Hawaiian population from Kona to Honolulu.  By 1900 28% of the Hawaiians and many part Hawaiians were living in or near Honolulu.  This concentration may help to explain why surfing survived at Waikiki.  Yet by 1900 even at its so called "center", there was barely a suggestion of the sport's former glory.

In 1900 one of the early surfriders at Waikiki, William Cantrell says,  Princess Kaiulani was an expert surfrider from around 1895 to 1899.  She rode a long olo board made of wili wili. She apparently was the last of the old school at Waikiki.  Princess Kaiulani was the daughter of Governor Archibald Cleghorn and Princess  Mariam Likelike and the niece of King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani. Kaiulani was given the Ainahau estate in Waikiki by her Godmother Princess Ruth, and there she entertained Robert Louis Stevenson in 1889. He wrote a celebrated poem, "Forth from her land to mind she goes," on the occasion of her departure to attend school in England, after which she traveled throughout Europe with her father.  The Princess was widely loved as a linguist, musician, artist, horsewoman, surfer, and swimmer.

From 1903 to 1908 marks the true revival of the sport, encouraged by the following old timers: William Dole (Dole Pineapple Co), Dudie Miller, Duke Kahanamoku, Harold Castle (Castle & Cook) George Freeth, Dad Center, Kauha, Holstein, Jordan, Lishman, Atkinson, Steamboat Bill, Winter, Brown, Kaupiko, Mahelona, Keawamaki, May, Curtiss, Hustace, Roth, Aurnolu and McKenzie.

The large olo boards were no longer made.  The alaia type boards in use could not match the fine relics of earlier days that you can see in the Bishop Museum, in Honolulu today.  Most boards were about 6 feet long; many were hardly more than rough-hewn planks.  The sport might be said to have returned to its infancy: boards were short, riding techniques were simple, the whole pastime was unelaborated and practiced only by a few.  Soon after the turn of the century, however, the first signs of  a revival appeared.

During the 19th century few Caucasians learned to handle a surfboard.  Mark Twain, during his trip to Hawaii in the 1860's said, "None but the natives ever master the art of surf-bathing thoroughly."  It was a popular myth, in fact, that only a Hawaiian could balance himself successfully while standing and riding a wave.  Despite this belief, in the early 1900's, a number of Honolulu residents, including many enthusiastic schoolboys and beachboys, re-discovered the waves at Waikiki, and gradually interest in the sport was renewed.

One of these was George Freeth, who was born in 1883 of Hawaiian and Irish parentage.  In 1900, at the age of 16, he taught himself to ride standing up on the board instead of lying down.  The board on which he accomplished this was a solid, heavy, 16-foot olo design.  The story is that it had been given to him by his uncle, a Hawaiian prince, and the board is now a treasured item in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.  Freeth was an innovator and experimented with shorter boards by cutting the old 16-foot boards in half.  As the locals were rediscovering surfing at Waikiki, tourist from the United States and Europe were discovering Waikiki for the first time.  In 1901 the first major resort opened in Waikiki. The Moana Hotel was plush and built in a Beaux-arts style of architecture, distinguished by a grand Banyan tree in the courtyard fronting the beach and by a wooden pier that extended some 300 feet into the water.  In order to promote the Hotel advertisements began appearing around 1906 proclaiming surfing and canoeing to be exciting vehicles of sport for tourists.

Surfing is and always will be a sport of intense excitement and the shared experience of riding waves in what is most responsible for its revival.  In order to facilitate this shared experienced another Waikiki institution was beginning to emerge as a main player responsible for surfing's emerging popularity in the early 1900's -- the Waikiki beachboys.  In 1907 George Freeth was brought to Redondo Beach, California, to demonstrate surfboard riding as a publicity stunt to promote the opening of the Redondo-Los Angeles railroad owned by Henry Huntington --- who gave his name to Huntington Beach.  Freeth stayed on in California to become the first lifeguard, and in this way brought the art of surfboard riding to the United States.   He became a national hero and earned both the Carnegie Medal for bravery and the Congressional Medal of Honor when in a particularly violent storm in December 1908, he made three trips through mountainous surf to rescue seven Japanese fisherman.  At least 78 people owed their lives to his work as a lifeguard.  He was a great swimmer as well as surfer, and in 1912 he would almost certainly have been selected to represent the United States at the Olympic Games had it not been ruled that he was a "professional" because he was a paid lifeguard.

At the age of 35 he died in San Diego during a national influenza epidemic; locals said that Freeth exhausted himself rescuing several swimmers at Oceanside and became an easy victim of the virus. Freeth was a great man; he had the build of a surfer and by "standing on the water" at Redondo Beach he began the move of surfboard riding out of Hawaii through the rest of the world. Also prominent in the new movement was Alexander Hume Ford, an adventurous mainlander who was so enamored with the sport that he took it upon himself to personally boost its revival and popularization.  In 1907, Ford organized and formed the Outrigger Canoe Club, for the purpose of "preserving surfing on boards and in Hawaiian canoes".  Hence the birth of the world's first organization whose sole mission was the perpetuation of wave-riding.  The club soon offered facilities for dressing, and a grass hut for board storage right on the beach.  This gave surfers easy access to the sand and to the long sloping rollers.

The charter read, (Ford quote:) We wish to have a place where surfboard riding may be revived and those who live away from the water front may keep their surfboards.  The main object of this club being to give an added and permanent attraction to Hawaii and make the Waikiki beach the home of the surfrider."  Ford conducted surfing classes for youngsters at Waikiki.  Also in 1907, it was Ford who taught Jack London how to ride a surfboard.  During his famous cruise on the Snark, London spent several weeks in Hawaii, and camped for awhile in a tent on the beach at Waikiki. About this time London wrote an impassioned article on "The Royal Sport" that appeared in a national American magazine and spurred interest among Hawaii's residents, as well as on the mainland.

The Outrigger Canoe Club was mainly for Caucasians of Honolulu.  Three years after its foundation, a second surfing club was formed.  The Hui Nalu (Surfing Club), which began informally around 1905, and was officially organized in 1911 to promote the sport among Hawaiians.  In this way the Hawaiians eventually regained their place on the beach, and with their renewed participation and the friendly rivalry between the two clubs, the sport began to recover its status as an important part of Hawaii's life.  In 1911 as many as a hundred surfboards could be seen at Waikiki on the weekend.

Modern surfers had finally recovered some of the skill that greeted Captain Cook some hundred and forty years earlier.  Surfing, it seemed, or rather, surfing itself, was back on its feet.

As we re-call surfing first came to California in 1907 to promote Huntington Rail Line - so it seems that right from the start surfing and commercialism went hand in hand as both the sport and the tourist travel industry evolved over the years.

So much for the "soul theory of surfing evolution". Yet, despite this capitalist drift, surfing is and always will be a sport of intense physical and cerebral excitement and the shared experience of riding waves is what's most responsible for its revival.

By 1912 surfing was beginning to expand from the Redondo Beach area with places like the Palos Verdes Cove being ridden. It was Duke Kahanamoku who brought surfboard riding to Australia. In 1912, C.D. Paterson, of Manly, had returned from Hawaii with a solid, heavy redwood board which a few local bodysurfers had tried to ride, but couldn't. Then three years later the New South Wales Swimming Assn. invited Duke Kahanamoku to swim at the Domain Baths in Sydney, where he broke his own world record for the 100 yards with a time of 53.8 seconds. While he was in Australia he made a tour of the beached and chose Freshwater to give an exhibition of the art of surfboard riding. He didn't know about the old redwood board in the district so he set to work to build his own out of piece of sugar pine supplied by a surf club member whose family was in the timber business.

Sunday morning. A clear, brilliant day. Spectators were milling around to watch. Manly Surf Boat was on had to give Duke assistance to drag his board through the break - an offered he laughed at good naturedly. Picking up his board he ran to the water's edge, slid on and paddled out through the breakers. He made better on time on the way out than the local swimmers who escorted him. Once out beyond the break it wasn't long before he picked up a wave in the northern corner, stood up and ran the board diagonally across the bay, continually beating the break. Duke showed the crowd everything in the book, from head stands to a finale of tandem surfing with a local girl, Isobel Latham.

At this point surfing truly became an international sport. As surfing was about re-creating itself all around the globe, another institution was about to emerge from the ranks . Board shaper - A kahuna from ancient times. Although the old traditions and rituals accompanying the act of selecting a tree had been replaced with a modern ritual - plunk down some cash for a plank and drag it home - the soul of the Kahuna expressed their desire to maintain a link with the past through the Shaper.

The board itself became the hero. George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku, two of the first modern shapers had proven many times that the surfboard was a lifesaving tool - while thousands enjoyed the art of wave-sliding (he'enalu) hundreds owed their life to a board and a surfer. George Freeth became a national hero and earned both the Carnegie Medal for bravery and the Congressional Medal of Honor when in a particularly violent storm in December 1908, he made three trips through mountainous surf to rescue seven Japanese fisherman. At least 78 people owned their lives to his work as a lifeguard.

One June day in 1925 at Newport Beach, Duke Kahanamoku was enjoying a picnic with fellow actors when a pleasure yacht, the Thelma, capsized in raging offshore surf. Of the twenty-nine people on board that day, seventeen died. With his surfboard, Duke managed to save eight, battling his way out and back through churning white water, three times. Newport's police chief call Duke's performance "the most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen".

By the late 1920's tourists flocked to Hawaii to experience the world's most famous beach -- Waikiki. Surfing was becoming very popular in southern California, partially because of the new and lighter hollow boards which were being produced by Tom Blake. The design was influenced by the ancient boards he had seem at the Bishop Museum. The original blank was 16' x 2' x 4' thick -- and about 150 pounds. It finished up 15' x 19" x 4" looking like a cigar but it was only 100lbs.

Over the next few years Blake and his good friend Duke Kahanamoku spent much time together shaping, surfing attempting world swim records and acting too, in Hollywood. Along with Johnny Weismuller, Duke and Tom were all world class swimmers and were constant companions on the southern California scene. In the late 20's while Duke and Weismuller were in Hollywood, Blake was in Santa Monica, building lighter paddle boards, finally getting the weight to 60 pounds. Soon these boards shapes were modified to wave riding.

From about the early 30's surfers weren't content anymore with simple wave riding - the surfers ambitons out-raced the equipment they had to work with. Ever since then the surfboard was the focus - pushing technology and design to provide boards that could match surfers skills. Leading the field was TOM BLAKE.

During the 20's techniques and equipment grew more and more refined and by 1928 a group of California surfers announced the 1st Pacific Coast Surfboard Championships. Adds in the Santa Ana Daily Register invited the public to bring their picnic baskets and enjoy a day at the beach watching surfboard riding by world famous figures such as Duke Kahanamoku, Tom Blake, George Freeth, and many more. Aug. 5, 1928 was the day of the big contest, and the largest crowd in the last five years was on hand to witness the event. This too was the day Tom Blake would introduce his latest invention, the Hallow Hawaiian Surfboard. Not everyone on the beach would appreciate his efforts though, because he was nearly laughed off the beach with his new board. As Blake recalls,

"When I appeared with it for the 1st time before 10,000 people gathered for a holiday, and to watch the races, it was regarded as silly. Handling this heavy board alone, I got off to a poor start, the rest of the field had gained a 30 yard lead in the meantime. it looked really bad for my board and my reputation and hundreds openly laughed. But a few minutes later it turned to applause because the big board lead the way to the finish of the 880 yard coarse by fully 100 yards." Blake emerged from the water triumphant, and his reputation as an inventive ana keenly competitive waterman grew even stronger.

With this success the hallow board was on its way to revolutionize modern surfing, but not without the usual controversy along the way. Sides were taken on both sides of the boards. "Blake's Cigar" as it was called in Hawaii had set new records in the 100 yard and half mile paddling events of the Hawaiian Surfboard Paddling Championships on Jan. 1, 1930. Longtime Waikiki surfer and paddler Sam Reid recalled the controversy a 1955 memoir he wrote for the Honolulu Star Bulletin.

"It was a hollow victory , for Blake had hollowed out his 16 ft cigar board to 60 pounds weight , compared with an average 100 to 120 lbs.weight of the other 9 boards in the event." The purist demanded that all contests by limited to solid boards while others called it the beginning of a new era in surfing. Reid goes on to say reverberations of the hollow board tiff were heard from one end of the Ala Wai to the other and echoes can still be heard at Waikiki even today, 25 years later. At a meeting of the 3 surfing clubs, Outrigger, Hui Nalu, and Queens, held immediately after the disputed races, it was decided that henceforth there would be no limit whatsoever on the design of paddleboards.

Within a year, Reid said, surfboard builders were experimenting with all sorts of sizes, shapes, weights, and materials, including airplane fabric boards, hydroplane bottoms and converted single sculls. Imagination of design ran wild as he recalled.

Later in 1930 Blake received the first ever patent on a surfboard for his Hawaiian Hallow Surfboard. These 1st models were manufactured by their Thomas N. Rogers Co. in Venice,Ca. and a few years later by the L.A. Ladder co.

At this time too the Hawaiian scene were in full swing. Waikiki was the lap of luxury without a doubt. The tourist industry was bringing thousands of people every month to Waikiki . People from all over the world came to Waikiki, among these were many famous actors, musicians, filmmakers, and politicians.Among these early guests were Edward, The Prince of Wales, who created quite a stir when he stayed at the Moana Hotel and went for a outrigger ride. Also a few years later Shirley Temple, Bing Crosby, and many others were regularly scene at Waikiki. By this time the Beach Boys of Waikiki has become internationally famous not only for the surfing prowess, but also for their music, clowning antics, and colorful names. Who could forget names like Steamboat, Turkey Love, Rabbit, and Blue Molokai. Sarah Parks, the chief beachside and surfing corespondent for the Honolulu Star Bulletin during the 50's recalls some of these legends in her most memorable surfing column. Miss Parks suggested that a bored Honolulu hostess should

"Invite Waikiki's beachboys to partake of your board. Introductions She noted would go something like this: Hostess: Mrs McWorkel, this is Turkey. He'll be seated on your left. And on your right we have another man from the beach, Sally. And have you met Steamboat? And this is Steamboat Jr., and these are Steamboats relatives, Tugboat, Sailboat, Lifeboat, and Rowboat. Of course you've met Dad, and here are Curly, Splash, Rabbit, Tarzan ,Boss, Panama Dave, Blackout, Wata, Zulu, Mungo, Eight Ball, Nose, Scooter Boy, and oh... here comes Dead Eye.

Indeed what visitor to the world's most famous beach, doesn't yearn for the good old days when Da Boys would go out and ride "beeg ones" on their 12 ft and longer redwood surfboards.

By now in California another phenomenon was about to give surfing a big boost, the car had made it possible to range even further to look for the perfect waves, and this ritual was called the Surf Safari. Many a surfer would spend their weekends at San Onofre, Long Beach, or Palos Verdes. Surfers were a colorful and radical group in California's expanding population. These early California surfing pioneers were the ancestors of the Surfing Lifestyle we enjoy today. They were known for their colorful exploits, and for their party animal attitudes. However, these guys were no wannabe posers, anyone could throw a baseball, catch a football, or hack at a golf ball, but who the hell would want to carry the 100 plus pounds wood plank down the 2782 decent steps to Palos Verdes Cove, slip into the cool 50 degree Dec. water during a cold snap in a storm, and actually enjoy themselves. These guys were nuts, purple, and fully stoked. Early Calif. Surfers were he men of legendary stature, it was cold, it got big, and it took every ounce of your strength to surf, and the only thing you'd wish for at the end of the day was for a little more strength and just 1, no 2 more waves, and that's it. Compared to the Hawaiian Brothers who really had it going on in those days, there was very little glamour to surfing in the early California days. But that would change soon enough.

By 1935 Tom Blake was again at the leading edge of innovation. Ever since the beginning of surfing there was one peculiar drawback to board designs, and that was the boards propensity to slip sideways and always at a critical time in the maneuver.

Blakes innovation was to add a small fin at the bottom rear end of the boards. This allowed the surfer to pivot and turn more freely and with more lateral stability. Gone forever were the days of sliding ass, or straight off Adolph. This simple yet critical invention revolutionized surfing both for the spectator as well as for the surfer. Because the board became more maneuverable surfers were able to create more and more exciting rides from a spectator standpoint. The Pacific Coast Surfing Championships became an annual event and was dominated 4 of the next years by Preston "Pete Peterson of Santa Monica. Other Early surfing champs included Keller Watson, Gardner Lippincott, and in 1939 Whitey Lorrin Harrison, and in 1940 Cliff Tucker.

Tucker the 1940 champion said flat that his friend "Peterson was the greatest waterman on the West Coast in those days. As far as I'm concerned he was the best and maybe Whitey Harrison was second best. Tucker recalled that in the early 30's surfing days 'that a man could still be arrested in Santa Monica for not wearing a top",and competition surfing was heavy duty and tough.

"If you were in a contest situation and a guy took off in front of you, he recalled, it was your obligation to show no mercy or decency.You either went right through him or otherwise mowed him down. I guess the only thing that's changed over the years is that nowadays some folks surf that way even without the contest.

As we mentioned earlier one of surfing's early ritual was the Surf Safari. This was not only a Calif. thing because by the early thirties some of the 1st Calif surfers began to make the voyage to Hawaii to take on the Fabled big waves. If you'd look at him today you'd say naah, but our guest Whitey Harrison was one of California's Bad Boys of Surfing. In 1932 at the height of the depression Whitey tried to stow away on a ship bound for Hawaii but got caught and was transported back to San Francisco. He spent the night in the slammer--- and stowed away the next morning. After 2 and a half days hidden in a life boat he gave himself up, but at least this time he made it to the Islands. Meanwhile Pete Peterson had paid his way across but eventually he ran out of money and ended up moving in with Whitey at Waikiki. Later Whitey and Pete stowed away back to the mainland on the USS Republic masquerading as members of a contingent of 1,000 soldiers being shipped back to the states. Thanks to these pioneers stowing away became a surfing tradition right up to the 60's, and Whitey himself made four out of five successful trips in this way.

All during the 30's and 40's there was a constant quest to refine and lighten the old style boards. While in Hawaii Pete Peterson found a solid blond colored wood board on the beach. The size and shape of this mysterious board were about the same as his board but it weighed only 30 to 40 lbs. Apparently it had been made in Florida with wood from So. America called balsa wood. Soon everyone was scrambling to get this new balsa wood and it became harder and harder to get.

In the late 30's Pacific Ready Cut Homes, in California was the first company to mass produce commercial surfboards, and in 1937 hired Whitey Harrison to shape boards for them. These boards were constructed of balsa and redwood laminated together with the newly available waterproof glue. They were 10' long 23" wide and 22" at the tailblock. For his effort Whitey shaped four boards a day and knocked down $100.00 a month. These new boards were known as the swastika model because of the Co. logo. Years later Whitey found out that a guy named Dutch was a Nazi and when the war broke out they dropped the swastika.

Also during the 30's and 40's surfing clubs were recruiting more and more members. The Palos Verdes Surf Club was one of the largest and most prestigious clubs. A little further south the Long Beach Club had formed and too the San Onofre Club had 100's of members.

Wars have always sped up the pace of technology. The period leading up to WWI was one in which chemists searched for waterproof glues and that lead to surfers having a means of holding all the pieces of the board together instead of having to use bolts running from rail to rail. Fiberglass, resin, and styrofoam came out of research during WWII. Preston "Pete" Peterson was the first to build a fiberglass surfboard in June of 1946, with the help of Brant Goldsworthy who owned a plastics company in LA which supplied component parts to the aircraft industry.

The modern surfboard is generally associated with one man, Bob Simmions, but this is not altogether correct. Bud Morrisey, Guard Chapin, Matt Kivlin, and Joe Quigg were just as influential as Simmons and indivdually all these surfers helped to develop the modern surfboard. And during the 40's as expirmentation and design continued to dog technology, surfing hit a duldrum. World War Two was upon us and both Califs' and Hawaiis' beaches were held hostage by barbed wire and anti aircraft installations. Those surfers who stayed behind to carry the tourch of surfing through these years were not only eccentric but totally committed to creating the best surfboards ever ridden. But that too was a problem there weren't many people left to test these new designs since everyone with a pluse was at war.

In his single mindedness to master the new science of fiberglass and resin technology his persistent inquiries in setting fluids and resins led Joe Quigg to become suspected of being a German Spy. Los Angeles was the tech center for the wars efforts and too the center of surfings modern board revoultion and these few Kahuana Shapers who were expirementing with every shape, size and material avaliable to craft a board with were paving the way to THE FABOULUS FIFTIES.

Surfing is often thought of as a male sport, but in fact women have enjoyed surfing since the days of ancient Hawai'i, and in California since the early 1920's. Today, you can find "wahine" surfers in every surfing country. Like the men, they range from amateurs to accomplished professionals, competing for cash prizes and corporate sponsors.

One of the earliest women surfers from California was Mary Ann Hawkins. She was the first of a long line which stretched down in the 60's to Marge Calhoun and her daughters, and naturally to Linda Benson, followed by some of the top pro surfers of today.

The first Australian to ride a surfboard was, in fact, a woman: Isabel Letham, who rode tandem with Duke Kahanamoku when the Duke introduced Australians to board riding at Freshwater in 1915. In the early60's, Australians Phyllis O'Donnell and Gail Couper were very influential for women's surfing.

Surfing among women really became popular with the arrival of the Hollywood movies, like Gidget Goes Hawaiian, or Ride The Wild Surf. Linda Benson did the surfing action sequences for Gidget Goes Hawaiian, and while this is among her more memorable surfing experiences, she was Pacific Coast Women's Champion in 1959, 1960 and 1961. In 1963, at the age of 18, Linda was one of the best-known young women in surfing.

Linda Merrill's surfing style incorporated ballet-like artistry as she danced from the tail to the nose on Hawaiian and Californian waves in the early 60's.

After winning the 1965 U.S. Surfboard Championships, Joyce Hoffman was world champion in1966-67. She grew up right on the beach in San Juan Capistrano, California. Walter, her father, was totally involved in surfing, and Uncle Phillip would go anywhere to ride that perfect wave.

Joyce totally dominated the women's surfing scene in the mid to late 60's. Joyce was honored as one of the original eight inductees into the International Surfing Hall of Fame, which pays tribute to the many individuals who made surfing what it is today.

Joyce and Joey Hamisaki, from Hawaii, were probably the first well-respected women surfers. In 1968, a new lady was on the scene, Margo Godfrey, who surfed with a "tom-boyish" style. In 1975, after 3 years of married life on Kauai, professional contests started and Margo was the first pro woman surfer. She won the W.I.S.A. Hang Ten Championships at Malibu (the first all-women's international pro). Margo's illustrious career of complete domination of her sport was unequaled by any male surfer.

More and more women are being attracted to surfing. The arrival of professional surfing has helped this process; so has the twin-fin board, being small, light and easier to turn than the single fin. But the people who have been mainly responsible for this change in public attitude are the professional women surfers themselves.

Two shining examples of this are Jericho Poppler and Rell Sunn, two ladies who have worked hard at producing this social change. Jericho grew up in Long Beach, California, and Rell in Makaha Beach, Hawai'i. In the mid 60's, they were both regarded as strange, in the almost totally male-dominated sport. Jericho was 1970 U.S. Women's Champion, and 1976 World Champion. She was also responsible for instigating women's professional surfing. Rell. "The Queen of Makaha," began surfing at age 4. She was Hawaii's number one woman amateur surfer for five years, and in 1975 joined the first women's pro tour.

But then, when the growth of professionalism enabled them to travel and give their views to the world, they had little trouble raising genuine public support. They are both very dynamic ladies, and not only have become excellent ambassadors of surfing, but champions for preserving our ocean environment.

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