us too as kids,early 60’s,would stand on tanker and use a coconut leaf as a sail,and go for kilometers on the lagoon.we had never heard of windsurfing.Privateer,Hawaiians and Tahitians used bow and arrow,however not for warfare,only as a sport by chiefs,killing rats or for distance shooting .
just found this on the property,a meter deep,it was used to make medicines,ra’au rapa’au,
Aloha,…
Ambros may have unlocked the key,…Tom Stone believes it lies all within us locked in our DNA, it’s just a matter of us recognizing it’s manifestation.
For me being Hapa, it apparently creeped out,…I took the board below out at Velzyland,…hard as hell to paddle, with the density of the koa, I floated above the board, constantly trying to keep her tucked under me. Upon several take offs and introductions to the reef, my blood finally became the sacrifice needed apparently. Since the koa’s forward motion dictated I just angle and GO. The fastest uncontrolled rides I’ve ever experienced,…as I told Tom, later,…“.the ancients were incredible”.
Pictured quiver of Bob Kalani Russell’s ,…a board made for my God son Thomas,…and my board…all made by Kalani.
Aloha, Randy
E Kava,…this one’s for you.
I’ve over 150 pics, glass slides, stereo views and images from 1883 to 1926…this is late 1880’s magazine article on Maui.
Aloha, Randy
Tom Blake, sailboard 1931
Aloha, Randy
OOOH YEAH !
if we were talkin cars,
this is where the rubber
hits the road.
since we are talkin’
spirit,science and
molecular memory
this is where we are
likely to be gettin’somplace
not dictated by marketing
but by the quest of ‘real surfing’.
hardest to ride?..yep.
challenge to your skill and understanding?
yep.
every board unique? most definately.
every board with a mind all it’s own?
ask the board if you can go,if it says no
dont argue , just wait.
perfect for a hundred nimrods
in a pack at a close out beachbreak
doing an imitation of a magazine photo?
Nope.
you decide your own personal evolution.
at what point do we cop to
what is a surfboard?
Now or Later
who knows more about riding what kind of equiptment
what ever you ride is gonna limit your scope of awareness.
Communing with the spirit of a tree.
A spirit longing for the sea
struggling to get tall enough
to see over that ridge
to watch the sunrise over the ocean.
To take that former living material
for a swim,liberating it from gravity
for an instant at a time…thrilling.
To say the least,is an art form.
To ride the most humble craft
for the most reward .
where you wanna be?
weightless and alone
with the spirit of the ocean
taking an old friend for a swim.
Or perhaps strutting the arena
with a white mass manufactured Icon
to dominate the line up.
…ambrose…
life is choices…
Ambros,…
It humbled me,…and made me strive to be more patient,…letting the wood be the driving force.
An exhilarating lift that “mana” that was reminiscent of that first ride when I was hooked as a child.—there is no other that compares.
that’s why we surf,…that’s why we share,…giving respect, getting respect.
Aloha, Randy
those are AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. I am inspired.as I have never ever been as inspired with foam and fiberglass cloth.
I have carved wood and stone with metal adzes,bowls,kava bowls,tikis, and helped on canoe making in the 60’s also with metal adzes…but I grew up surrounded by the old stone adzes,now i am inspired to try a papa he’e nalu with the old stone adzes.i know it is very slow,a friend of mine started with the stone on a canoe,but it was taking too long,so he switched to the metal adzes.the adzes are amazingly beautiful.I have seen a huge one,it was not used hafted,but tied to a rope swung over an overhead branch,and in this way the tree was felled.Hawaii was famous for the huge koa trees.Fiji for the ifilele trees.On an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago,an adze was found and the stone traced back to a quarry on Mauna Kea,Hawai’i.
Kava,…I’ve pics of some stone adzes, with Tom using them to shape the rails and outlines of a koa,—it’s in a foremate not accepted by Sway’s,…I’ll try and change the foremate.
please keep the info coming the adzes from Hawaii to the Tuamotus is incredible also the medicinal pounder find is incredible how did you conclude that it was for medicinal? Found one once by the ocean ,brought it home but had some dark dreams returned and buried it the dreams went away powerful to say the least and i am not easily taken by the unseen.To hold ancient tools is somethimg you can feel the energy of the maker sometimes,others please post this is Hawaii and the south pacific that you will not read in books
privateer,that pounder is smaller and different shapes than those made for food production.I know what you speak of about the power of stones and returning them.When i was asmall kid,a pair of stone tiki were stolen from my grandparent’s place.They were returned within days.Same story with an uncle .A large stone tiki from The Austral Islands(can’t remember which island) was moved to the museum across the road from our place.The people from that island told the French Administration not to do so,but they moved it anyway.ALL the people who touched the tiki died within a couple of months.This was early 1960’s.Again,that tiki was moved to different location when it was decided to build a hospital in that spot.Again,some people died soon after moving it.one man who showed his contempt by pissing on it died within a couple of days (in a car crash if my memory serves me right).Another time,my father and I and a Marquesan man from Nuku Hiva were hunting wild boar in this narrow valley.The dogs caught one,and in his excitement,the Marquesan guy ran across a stone platform of an ancient temple(Marae in Tahitian Heiau in Hawaiian).My father and I went around it,knowing better.The next morning,he had a very red handprint around his throat.We teased him about his wife choking him,but he swore it was not.The ancient priests (Kahuna) could pray Mana into the stone.They could levitate,and knew teleportation.They practiced trepanation.They very much wanted to learn how to raise people from the dead( for the chiefs) and to be reborn,as the missionaries told them Christ had done.So they embraced Christianity,but soon realised that the missionaries could not do it,so they took their esoteric knowledge to the grave,rather than to reveal it to the uninitiated.What has been recorded is only tiny fragments of their knowledge.What I am disclosing is family knowledge,I do it to tell you about the great knowledge that they had,and has gone with them to the grave.Hawaiians say " Ua manomano a lehulehu ka 'ikena a ka Hawai’i ",great and numerous is the knowledge of the Hawaiians.Aloha all, go catch some waves and thank the Polynesians.
Awe AMCIII - I feel the gifts of my forefathers (especially the handy cowboy,carpenter, mastercraftsman) all the time…
Little, if anything, like making and enjoying ones own creation… With the help of the ancestors, and the current “Ohana.” like you and “Uncle” Dale…
Aloha Randy,mahalo for the pics.Is that koa?where does the koa come from.it’s beautiful.Have you surfed one? I would love to try one,maybe one day you guys come to Maui,send me a P.M. Aloha,a hui hou