Top of the day to you Surfers. Just wanting to wave a little hand our there to all the riders. Been thinking of Ewa Beach back in 1962, when there was a gigantic swell out at Sand Barr beyond the Outside Reef. I remember Kenny Kohler taking off on a 12 foot wave yelling, “YeeeeHaaaa.” Mike Kendall came paddling out over the swells heading into shore with Douglas Kingsley behind him. We stayed out until it got dark, and by the time we paddled in we couldn’t see our hands in front of our face. Spooky Yah!
Hello Troy, I remember we being together for the Hendrix concert…my future wife was in seattle I was just out of the army…and getting back into surfing…what a concert! We certainly had some good days-Guy
Guy Kamaka-And everyone else. That time in either August or Early September is burned in my memory bank! I was 15 and a Hawaiian fellow was renting boards at Barber’s! For some reason he grbbed me around 4:00 p.m. and wanted me to watch his boards and rent then for 1 hour! Well, he didn’t come back until 6:30! My Dad left me at the beach cause he was pissedoff at me for watching the man’s boards. So you, who I barely knew at the time offered to let me stay the night with you! We left our boards in the quanset hut in the parking lot and walked to your house. You went in to ask your folk’s if I could spend the night and your Dad said “No way, no haole’s I don’t know are spending the night in this house”! To your credit Guy you said we’ll spend the night on the beach then get our boards in the morning (Monday morning) and go surfing. We slept alone by the machine gun pillbox, and woke up when the sun was coming up! We looked out and everywhere we looked were MONSTER waves! I remember us taking off and you going left and me right! I remember on one wave you took off and got to the bottom of the wave and it was 3 times as tall as you! I say that because how many times in Ewa Beach has it gotten that big? Very few! And that was in Aug. or Sept. in 1963! 50 years ago! And we surfed alone that day for hours and I remember it like yesterday Guy Kamamka. And just think Guy, if my Dad wouldn’t have left me at Barbers that day, neither of us would have surfed that great day. I can see you now Guy ripping bottom turns and climbing and dropping! What a day we had. And of course I remember you getting R&R from Viet Nam and we went to Jimi Hendrix at the Waikiki Shell ! There is another memory not to ever be forgotten. To everyone out there Guy Kamaka was a War hero in Viet Nam as well as a great surfer in the 60’s in Ewa Beach as well as other places in the Islands! Troy Mize
About the Mano’s, funny that I never saw one out at Shark Country, or O Beach… BOT- whoee -I saw some nui hammerhead at Iroquis Point, always at higher tides. There was a crew that fished off the cement pier at night, they caught big ones. One time around '68-9 word was out they got this giant. We went down and sure enough there was this monster laying there. It had been out for awhile, looked to be around '13 easy. Some tourists came along and started gawking, taking pictures and this haole guy said “take a picture of my arm in his mouth” I said, “Brah- you don’t wanna do that”… He went ahead anyway, and just after he got his arm in, the shark did a small little twitch- the guy freaked and pulled his arm out too fast and totally shredded the inside of his wrist- straight to the hospital. I saw 2 big grey’s at the Cove once, high tide. It was always spooky coming back in from the sand bar once the tide came up. Feedlots was, well just insane to chance. I used to keep my feet up near the tail of my board- LOL.
Guy was the very first person I knew of that built his own surfboards, one of his personals had about a 2" balsa center stick, volan glass job and his knee patches were ovals about 18" long on each side of the stringer. So he was my earliest influence on building my own surfboards, my shapers tree root is Guy Kamaka
If you were looking, you would see a shark fin every time you surf at SC. Last year a small shark jumped out of the water while Cal Eaton, his son and myself were out. Just the 3 of us and really nice overhead surf. It looked like it was about 4-6 feet long, so we just stayed out.
Harry! Absolutely! Saw mano at SC, EL, Cambells, Johns, Coves all while growing up there. from the fifties to the seventies (moved to Maui). Always saw white tips and black tips, hammers up to 13’. Tigers 6-10 and BIGGER!! Remember my dad and uncles went diving outside Pearl Harbor and the outside reef. He recalls my uncles being startled and jumping on the boat telling my dad to go quickly. Pop says when he went to start the engine he saw the tail portruding 3-4’ past his keel. As he went to the bow to pull the anchor the head was forward another 2-3’. Pops boat was a 16’. That Mano was right under his boat at least 20’ tiger. When they left it followed them for awhile. Needless to say they came in shaken. Mom always believed it was our “Aumakua” warning them. When we did our maiden journey to outside reef in 63’ I never told anyone that story. I did see a 10-12 tiger that day that went directly under my board on the inside of the outer reef. It was real clear and easy to see the bottom. I saw his fin from about 20 yrds away comming at me. As he was passing under me he rolled sideways and I could see his eyes looking at me. So yes Mano, nui ka mano o Puuloa! And yes Harry, Cal did share that story with me recently. Said the waves were good so you guys stayed out.
Cleigh Eaton Cal Eaton brother
E Na Mamo O Pu’uloa, mai poina na la 'ae 'oia! Desendants of Pu’uloa (Ewa Beach) remember the days of your youth!
Empty Lot shark story: The regulars were surfing a good sized swell at EL one day and there was a lull between sets, so everyone just sitting on their boards looking out for the next set. When the 1st wave came in outside of where we were sitting, everyone started paddling out, and as the 1st wave stood up getting ready to break, this big shark went swimming sideways right through the wave. Everyone saw it; you couldn't miss it! and everyone turned around at and rode that same wave to shore. I remember Glen Mizanaka getting the right shoulder and actually surfing the wave, but I think the rest of us were laying down riding the white water in. I remember getting to the beach at Robbie McDonald's house where we used to hang out in the shade of the sea grape tree, and the gang there didn't see the shark and were wondering why the hell everyone caught the same wave in! Must have looked pretty funny, really. Only one guy was still out in the water, sitting way outside on his big tanker. Can't remember his name now. He was a real kanaka and always surfed the outside wearing a white t-shirt? We tried to wave him in, but he just stayed out there. He later said the shark was is amakua, so he wasn't afraid. He had the waves to himself for at least a couple of sets before we all got brave enough and started paddling back out again. That's not the only time I saw sharks in EB waters, but it's one of the most memorable! Cheers! Mike B
When I would dawn patrol at Lots, I would see almost everytime, in the same place, the same shark. At least I was pretty sure it was the same shark. About 6-7 feet, just outside, would make his presence known only once or twice with a splash. Closest encounter I ever had with a big boy was at Nanakuli tracks, lineup with Skippy (Spil), Herb Pruse and some others (Verdadero?), we all knew each other. Herb had a classic 10 foot tanker and the rest of us on short boards. Herb started paddling toward me and called out "Jackson!" Spil asked "how big?" Herb said "bigger than my board!" We all paddled in and waited, then a new guy showed up and paddled out, oblivious to what had happened. After we saw that he was okay, we went back out.
But oh man, the tigers that would sometimes get caught up in the nets laid out around lots and Ewa Beach park -- huge! Or, you just saw a big hole in the net where it went through.
Troy and Guy, do you guys remember the Rainbow Bridge concert on Maui. Here is a picture of the crowd in front of the stage. See if you can recognize anybody you know. It’s funny how things change, but the love of music stays with you forever. There is a time and a place for many wonderful and refreshing thoughts that will keep you young forever, and the secret is to never let them go.
Until the next perfect wave rolls in, naky.
One summer we were out at Yokohama Bay, ke kai was so nice and crystal clear there. Loved the way Makaha didn’t have a ripple and Yoks would be spitting standup tubes. We surfed for about an hour and were sitting in the lineup & out of nowhere came a big tiger in that clear water moving toward Ka’ena. We just froze and it cruised right on by. Living near the harbor channel was a garrin’s for shark sightings. There was a break that only happened rarely. We knew it as “Harbors”. It was right next to the channel at Pearl Harbor, West side. It was a bowl that looked a bit like Ala Moana, and broke on big Souths with a bit of West swell in it. Our boards always had annoying oil spots here and there on the deck. An oldtimer said don’t be huhu, respect because it was from the Arizona. We also had heard the stories of the first drydock built at Pearl, which was mysteriously destroyed at the turn of the century near it’s completion. It took a year to get to the bottom of the rubble, where they found the remains of a huge shark. The next one they built they brought in the Kahuna’s to bless it. Maika’i Ka Mano Nui O Pu’uloa.
Naky- I can’t recognize anyone cause the photo is to blurry! But I know my brother Chris Mize, Dave Ponds, and Kiki Cherry were there at the “Hendix Movie”! They were living on Maui at the time. Troy p.s. They lived pretty close to where it was filmed.
KE, Pipeline 1969
I used to go to Bishop’s landing on the Hickam side and look right into the tube on the Ewa side peeling along the side of the channel, it was one of those waves that you marvel at, mind surfing it as it ran along the reef, perfect, never dropping a section
I used to mind surf that perfect 6" wave that broke along side the launch when we came into dock from Hickam side. I dreaded Kona winds for 2 reasons: it brought onshore winds, and the KC135’s took off low right over our house… good God what a noise. I swear the geckos fell from the ceiling…!
Oct 5, 1968 HIC
K Emerson and fender duo sonic, Ewa Beach, 1968
I moved to Ewa Beach in 64. We lived in the house on the left side of the seawall. In 69 we moved to 91546 Pohakupuna Rd. Can’t count how many times I surfed Shark Country, Johns and the Cove. Such awesome times! Hung out at Kimo Farms with Mikey Volgogesan and others. My name is Michael Nied and I live in Vancouver, WA… Mahalo
Slackken- If that is your poster and it’s real, that is worth a small fortune my friend! That is a great poster! How many of you fella’s out there went to the Hendix concert in either Aug. or Sept. of 70? I took Charlotte Dupuis of Ewa Beach ( the coolest lady I ever knew in my lifetime) and 2 other people. we had tickets in the 4th row in the middle right! I had a perfect view of Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass)! Mitch had a row of beers next to his hi-hat and drank them all and had several more replenished! It was the best concert I ever saw and heard. I believe about 3 or 4 weeks later we learned of Jimi’s death! I was heartbroken and still am over his death! I still play to his music to this day, and he’s in my mind the greatest and most innovative guitar player that ever lived ( and that’s just my opinion)! And thank’s for showing that fantastic poster. Troy