The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-09-28
FORD WAS THE
kOKUA MA|kA|
By Alexander Hume Ford.

There are long rolling pillows on
both of our coasts where surfboard.
triding may be INDUCED in. 1t has been
done at Atlantic City, and is being
taught by Hawaiian youth in south.
ern' California, but it is in Hawaii
that the waves run best and longest
and where the enthusiast may indulge
both summer and winter.
AT Waikiki the great waves begin
to form mile out at sea beyond the
outer reef. 1t is just before they
break for their long foaming run that
the expert seeks to catch the binow.
If successful he gently slides down the
! foaming hill of water until near its
base. and here he keeps the bit of
board, TO be carried at express speed
toward the beach. The wave dies, but
! always another forms, and the trick
| is to carry the board over from one
| to another; this requires much prac.
| tise, but there are those who, when
| there is half storm brewing, catch
the first wave far out, pass over to
the next, and sometimes guide the
board safely before the third or inner
| line of breakers to land high and dry
| upon the beach.
The surfboard of the old Hawaiian
was usually of native mahogany,
twelve feet long perhaps, for often
two stood upon the one board. The
surfboard of today seldom exceeds
eight feet in length and is more often
nearer six. On the smallest of these
boards. e., one six feet long and
| eighteen inches wide-the heaviest
man may stand, if he knows how, while
the force of the wave is behind him;
but in quiet waters child may sink
| it.
Before the big waves can be caught
the water where they form is twelve
feet deep-it is necessary to develop
muscles in the arms and shoulders that
will propel the board at speed for
a second at least, equal to that of the
forward motion at the base of the adj
vancing billow; if this is accomplished,
the board is lifted up and carried for
ward at binding speed, and it then
becomes matter of strength in hold
ing on and skill in balancing the frail
plank, for even the most expert may
slip.
If the rider is confident enough, he
may start his own board by standing
beside it and giving it a forward
shove, at the right moment, just as
the wave is upon him. Many, many
times probably he will roll over, but
at last the knack of balancing comes
to him, and he is ready to try to stand
upon his board while it is in full for.
ward motion, not such n difficult feat
after all, in the small surf where the
waves are not more than two or three
feet high at most. His real trials com
mence when he deserts the shadows
and strikes out for the deep.
The Supreme Moment.
1t takes muscle and endurance, lying
upon a bit of planking with only an
inch or two of the bow above water
to paddle mile out to where the waves
form. There is half a minute of VIC
lent, then several seconds of supreme,
effort, the board begins to rise upon
the wall of water, and then comes the
fight to keep it from floating above the
crest and sinking back in the rear-of
a lost wave. Even ON the summit of the
billow all is not lost; few powerful
strokes you give with your face fiat
on the board, then as you feel your
feet slightly tilt upward, down come
the arms in twinkling until the hands
grasp the board amidship in a grip OF
iron, the feet are drawn up to the cen
ter of the board with n quick, convul
sive motion, and you leap to your feet
erect and balanced-if you fail, the
board flies from under you and is toss
ed in air. But if the wave is yours
there is thrill like none other in all
the world as you stand upon its crest
and look down into the hollow, green
valley below you. As the wave curls
and is about to break, the strongest
foot is put forward to beat the bow
down in a slanting direction and 0
quick turn given to the whole body
so that the board swerves and descends
the hill of green on the bias.
Today Judges of the Supreme Court
in Hawaii, with their wives and daugh,
tiers, ex-Governors and their families
and the greater portion of the promi
nent business men are surfbOard en-
thusiasts, while the schoolboys anG
. girls of Honolulu, now that they have
spacious grounds near the beach fol
their separate lighthouses, canoesheds
and surfboard racks, spend much tim,
in the water, and at the recent surfing
, carnivals in honor of the visit of tn,
American battleship and later of th'
cruiser fleets, practically every priz'
!, offered for those most expert in Ha
waiian water sports were won by white
boys and girls, who have only recently
mastered the art that was for so lonl
believed to be possible of requirement
only by the native.born, dark-skinned
Hawaiian.
At the Christmas contest, for the
third time n white boy, now fourteen
years of age, won the medal given "a
the most expert surfboarder; he came
in hundred yards before a monster
roller standing on his head
The white man and boy are doing
much in Hawaii TO develop the art OF
surfriding Games and feats neveI
dreamed of by the native are being
tried. Nowadays the small white boy
/. anchors an inflated bladder where thu