surfing and wave sailing
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Hay Fat Paul, It sounds as though your season is off to a great start! |
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THE PERFECT WAVE |
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I have been recovering from a hernia surgery for the past month and have only surfed once and that was probably not a good idea even though the doc said that he didn't think it would hurt. |
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Olaf: |
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Hey Olaf, heal up and get better! Temporary set backs only stoke the fire to charge harder when you return to the lineup or take the sharp end. Worked a session in on Sunday morning 10/25 after a low passed through overnight. Beach erosion has produced a bumper crop of shallow sandbars that were firing but had some cross chop sickness due to the strong NW wind. Took my share of beatings while trying to pull into these hollow speed walls. Barreled via the back door on several of the six waves I rode. The water is chilling and now wearing my 4/3 suit. On the plus side, crowds have thinned, fish are on the move and the sunrise was beautiful. |
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just got back from a great couple of days in the south bay (poopertubes). perfect for a now every 52nd weekend warrior! head high southie, kinda mushy but fast and perfect glassy a frames from sunrise till about 9:00 a.m.. in true kook style i stayed out way too long (way after any swell went to hell) and paddled for everything that rolled in! i would give up every future day of climbing for half as many surfing (and i LOVE climbing)! |
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Thanks guys, This surgical event has been coming for a while! |
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Olaf Mitchell wrote:s. In the meantime I acquired health insurance again so it was very little out of pocket expense.My favorite news yet! Get well man. |
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Surfing the sport of kings
Why do we use this expression? Well because the earliest recorded history of surfing tells about how Captain Cook discovered Hawaiians playing, quite literally frolicking in the very force that early, western, mariners highly feared - breaking waves! In ancient times Hawaiians of all rank, cast, age and gender would take joy in riding breakers. The myths and generalizations about the Hawaiian Ali'i (royalty) abound. Some true, most (as generalizations) were not. In the Hawaiian language there is a powerful word -'Kapu'. It's meaning is all to often translated in English as 'Forbidden'. This is not true at all, this is a western (Judeo/Christian) twist of the word's true meaning. The true meaning is more aptly translated as 'Sacred'. For example a Hawaiian Ali'i might declare an over fished reef (under his/her rule/management) to be 'Kapu', meaning that it needs to be left alone and given time to heal and rejuvenate itself, not simply 'Forbidden'. You see the true meaning of the word is not as negative as the idea of something simply made forbidden to the masses. Kapu is a very positive and spiritual word in the Hawaiian language. Some Kapu were created by/for an Ali'i personal preference, perhaps guided by a family tradition or other unknown influences. An example of this is some Ali'i would declare themselves 'Kapu Alo' or 'Kapu Kua'. The first being a declaration that the leaders front side is sacred and hence all people would walk behind the royalty. The latter, 'Kapu Kua' meant that they had declared that their backside was sacred and they would walk at the end of a procession with all others out ahead of him/her. So what does the Ali'i and the concept of Kapu have to do with surf? Well yes, sometimes a chief/ess would declare a certain break to be Kapu and only they or their friends/family or what have you, could surf that break. Sometimes there was an obvious reason that was logical, other times it was out of sheer selfishness. (Screw dem crowds, this is MY BREAK! ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As with most haole that arrive in the islands looking for da kine, keelah, world class surf, I was oblivious to Hawaiian culture for many years. However studying and learning the basics of the Hawaiian language was a goal of mine before I ever left the mainland. After a decade or so in the islands I had become saturated in surf, windsurf and the beach bum life style and began to settle down to my studies of Hawaiiana. I was blessed with the teachers I met and came to study from. It was a very Zen way that I met these teachers. I did not go to them with a request to be taught. I never paid in currency for any of my lessons as I met my teachers when I was ready for them. I met them through mutual friends or by (if you will) 'Blind Fate'! Hawaiiana is a term coined by one of my teachers Aunty Nona Beamer Essential it means 'Things unique to the Hawaiian culture'. So what does the general study of Hawaiiana have to do with a surfing thread on a climbing forum? Well if you read this far then there should be no question really. It's like the discussion going on over at the 'Taco' regarding New and Old school climbers. One of the pervasive concepts in delineation seems to be that the New School(more sport oriented)Climbers do not seem to have very much regard for climbing history. Again, what does the study of Hawaiiana have to do with modern surfing? Well, if surfing was first a Hawaiian sport, and if you consider this, Language is the foundation of any culture and... Hawaiian's call the Hula the life blood of the culture... Then don't we who call ourselves 'Surfers' and if we consider ourselves 'Old School' in our approach to the waves and ocean, owe a little tribute too the Hawaiians, their history and culture? If you answer yes then would it not be appropriate to recognize the practitioners of what the culture calls it's 'Life Blood', the Hula? Maybe as modern surfers we don't care about the Hula, and then maybe we might be much better surfers if we studied Hula. I do/did not dance Kahiko Hula. Instead I put my attention too the chants, their words/meaning, the metaphors they contained in their poetry and the delivery of the chants, ie: Hawaiian Chanting. I figured that since there was no Hula with out a supportive chant, that I would start my studies from that beginning and first learn at least the basics of the language and the art of Hawaiian Chanting. As you may have gathered by now, I am an avid student of Hawaiiana. That said: A few posts back (4days ago) I said "I am going off climbing today... I'll post when I get home this evening ;)" I was thinking that I would tell a shore pound story that took place on Makena (big beach) on the south side of Maui. I thought about it because of Gigitte's Shore break/wave story/solicitation. But I could not! I had much more than waves on my mind! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I got a phone call two nights ago from a friend named 'Friday'. Friday is a friend and musical mentor who lives on O'ahu. His father was buddies and team mate on many a surf rescue team with Duke Kahanamoku. Friday called to give me the sad news that one of our most important teacher/practitioners of Hawaiian chant, hula and language had passed away. Uncle George Lanakila Keiki Ali'i Na'ope, 1928-2009 Friday and I spoke for at least an hour. We 'talked story' about the times, our involvement, the direction of things and where we came from culturally regarding our teachers and studies. On a lighter note, Friday and I at one point in talking about people of the past got onto his dad, then Duke Kahanamoku which lead to an amazing comment by Friday. He said that 'In all his (61) years of living in Hawaii that he had never surfed a foam/fiberglass, surf board. He had only ever surfed his good 'ole 'Piper Board'. For those of you who do not know what a 'Piper Board' is, I tried a google search for an image or discription but found neither so I will save that for another story altogether. The next morning I called my father and gave him the news. We discussed (again) how we felt when hearing the news of Genoa Keawe passing away. We felt (at that time) that many of the 'Old School' Hawaiians would soon follow behind her. Sure enough shortly after, Aunty Genoa, Aunty Nona passed and now Uncle George. My dad and I discussed what I call the 'erosional' process and how it relates to the Hawaiian culture. Who will police the younger generation? Do they need to be guided? Did the Kupuna/kumu (elder teachers) leave enough of a legacy that their students now teachering will do them justice in maintaining authenticity within the traditional cultural practices? Or will the culture just continuously degenerate as it is homogenized into modern western culture? Is Hawaiian culture destined to become nothing more than 'Jawaiian rap beats', Japenese girls in cellophane skirts and imported Phillipino shell lei dancing Hula? These are questions that only time can tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This ramble of mine is my own way of paying tribute the (now) late Uncle George Na'ope. I legally should not do this, but I am going upload and link to a few samples of Uncle George's chanting. I hope you listen to them and find that even if there is a language barrier for you, that you can still feel the power of this master chanter. The first one is titled: 'Ho'opuka 'E Ka La Ma Ka Hikina' It is often used as a 'ka'i' or entry chant as dancers make their way to the performance area and take position in preparation for their main Hula/s of their presentation. It is a very spiritual chant that has many deeper metaphors woven into the poetry. My personal interpretation (in a nut shell) is that it is telling that with light, knowledge and wisdom all things are ultimately possible. As well, it speaks (in metaphor) about how we are all temporarily in the physical while occupying a space on the eternal conveyor belt of the life/death cycle. - Ho'opuka 'E Ka La The second one is titled: 'Ku Lanakila' Somewhat of a Big Isle(Hawai'i) nature chant. It talks about the lofty majesty of the two mountains, Mauna kea and Mauna loa. It goes on to pay reference to the uplands above Hilo and the cold winds of 'Lilinoe'. She, Lilinoe physically manifests herself as cold winds and/or chilly, damp, swirling, light rain. Lilinoe is the sister of Poliahu the 'Snow Goddess. It goes on to talk about the cold and drenching rains of 'Kulani' area above Hilo and how this is where the mighty Koa and ancient gnarled Ohi'a trees can be found. In the third verse it speaks reverently about Pele the fire goddess and all of her ohana/family. The final stanza essentially outlines the procession from the union of Mother Earth and Father Sky through the emergence of the various nature gods/ess and finally the propagation of mankind ending with the declaration of respect for the wisdom of the elders. The final line, 'E Ola Makou a Mau Loa' says quite literally "May we all live(propagate/flourish) forever". - Ku Lanakila The third is titled: 'Ka Iolani ' and it talks about a revered Hawaiian Ali'i. In the chant/poem she is compared to some of the beautiful, rare and endemic botanical wonders of Hawai'i. - Ka Iolani The fourth is titled: 'Ulei Pahu '. This chant is very old and was composed before and foretelling of the arrival of foreigners from distant lands that eventually would overwhelm and homogenize the Hawaiian culture. This chant is being performed by Haumana Uniki/graduate students of Uncle George's at the time of recording. - Ulei Pahu The last chant is titled: 'Na Nalu 'o Hawai'i' If you surf you should know the word 'Nalu', pronounced 'Nuhloo'. It is the Hawaiian word for 'wave'. You will here the word 'Kaiko'o' often. Kaiko'o is a tsunami or tidal wave. Again this chant is being performed by students of Uncle George. - Na Nalu 'o Hawai'i ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thak you for indulging me. I could not help myself... I needed to pay some sort of immediate tribute to 'Uncle George' and in my misguided way found myself doing so on a climbing forum and in a surfing thread no less. 'E 'Onipa'a Kakou 'E He'e Nalu, No na Kau a Kau 'E Ola Makou amau loa ~~~~~~~~~ I'll keave you with a couple old(Garage) recordings of my friend Friday singing: - I want to go back to my little grass shack And - Lahaina Luna Aloha Kakou KaleoAloha ;) |
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Once again trundlebum you've,enlightened and entertained me with your very passionate well researched and entertaining journey through the halls of Hawaiian culture,history and customs. |
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Olaf, |
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Jim they were demoing those powered surfboards here a few years ago and I intended to go and see what they were all about but didn't make it to any of the demo sessions. I haven't seen anything like the powered surfboard here on the north shore but maybe there are some of them on the south side. |
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Last time I was in Puerto in '07 it was so crowded I surfed down the beach a lot.. |
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Ok my shore pound story for Gigitte: |
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BTW Olaf: J. Thompson wrote: Big grin. Hey Olaf....I understand reasons why you may not want to use your real name online....but every once in awhile you might mention it...just so experienced guys like trundlebum realise who you are? With regards to both of you...... joshWell Mr. J.Thompson "...experienced guys like trundlebum realise..." That they know a lot of other old geezers and... the digital world has put the 'ole Coconut wireless/grape vine on steroids. ~~~~~~~~~~~ I have had the pleasure of digitally meeting a lot of my childhood/teen age climbing heroes through the modern internet. (If I am not mistaken...) It's been a pleasure getting to know you Jim. |
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A wave that has enough power to really bury the rail on a 6'10" is a beautiful thing...w my dorky Gath helmet haha |
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I'm pleased to see such eclectic posts showing up here! Thanks guys ! |
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Christian: |
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2 recent multimedia/video pieces recently posted on surfline.com that are definitely worth watching: |