No, I'm the haoli Mike Bell, and my brother Dan from Ewa Beach Road. I knew James and Barbara Bell from Papipi road area, though no relation.
The pulies; cold artesian water pumped from way down under ground to water the cane fields. They were great! and there were usually avocado, banana, papaya and mango trees close by, so could cure the munchies when swimming there. There was 1). The Pulie; up above Honouliuli with a small stream that went into a big reservoir. We went almost daily when a bunch of us (Fredy Vogelgsang, Jody V, Kevin Palmerton, Gooney, The Walshes, others) lived in Honouliuli. 2). Toilet Bowl; off of Farrington Hwy, before Makakilo on makai side of road. Big pipe about 10' above the ground pumping water into a reservoir. Years of pumping eroded a big hole on the bottom, and we used to jump in and get pushed down to the bottom (like a toilet). You'd have to cling to the sides out of the impact zone to get out or you would drown. Good fun! but not too smart :-). 3). The Well: On the side of the mountain below Timberline. This one probably the most famous of them all. A lot of us used to cut out of school and go up there and hang out all day when there were no waves. The water was pumped from a big pump house at the bottom of the hill into a round cement holding tank about 15' diameter, then went off into a cement flume that we used to ride in and jump out before it went into and underground tunnel. Mark Gardner was the 1st one to ride into the tunnel. Scary stuff! cause no one knew what would happen. It was pitch black in there once the tunnel turned to the left, so for a while, completely blinded. Then there was a small opening far up ahead that you could climb out through and walk back along the dirt road to the well. If you missed the opening, you were gone. The water dropped off into a dark tube. We all did it. I can't count how many times I did. We were nuts. Oh, and the pump house that supplied water up to the well had an old elevator in it that went way below the ground to these massive pumps. The 1st time I went down was with Scoopy, Robbie MacDonald, Richard Murton and Shirley Rogers. Scared the hell out of all of us, but we kept going. The elevator was the kind with no sides, so you saw the dirt shaft on the sides all the way down (there was a light bulb hanging from the middle). The further down, the louder the pumps got. When you finally reach the bottom it's so loud you can't hear each other talking. A trip. I only did that twice cause I had nightmares that the elevator would get stuck.
Couple other reservoirs right up on the timberline where the pineapples stopped, closer to the Kunia, but you had to 4 wheel drive or ride dirt bikes to get to those, which we did a lot; Paul Shepard, Sid and Jeff Walsh, Albert and Tony-boy Ferrera, Bill Gerad, Nelson Oasay, Ole Winther; we all had dirt bikes and new every dirt road that was up there at that time. Anyone remember the cabin on the top of the mountain? Military built it after Pearl Harbor attack. if you made it all the way to the top (motor cycles or hiking only) you'd look down over Nanakuli on the west side of the island. Very cool spot. We did get Rob's dad's Wagoneer about 1/2 way up once. Smashed the s--t out of it though. Rob's dad wasn't impressed.
And then there was BIG RED.. but that's another story.
About '62, just getting to be able to find my ass in the dark with both hands, mom drops us off at Officer's beach early in the morning, it was huge.
We kept paddling out to the next reef after a few rides, finally we are so far out the quonset huts at Barber's are barely visible, we are at least a half mile to 3/4 a mile off shore and some sets are still breaking outside of us. A set comes at me and I start paddling as hard as I can, the tail raises up the wave and I jump to my feet and side slipped all the way to the bottom and I'm standing inside of the first tube I've ever been in, it's freaking huge 10-12 feet if not bigger.
The spit blew me out onto the face and some how I made the wave, kook the I was, not after much longer the wind did an about face and came onshore hard, the paddle/rides back were tougher than the paddle out, but nearly 50 years ago and it is still one of the mile stones for me.
Every one did it without leashes, if they could, some one would hook a toe on the nose of your board and paddle it back to you, today they'd push it into the white water and make you swim more
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thats nuts jim. never EVER seen o-beach hollow enough to get a head dip much less getting blown out of a gaper. that place mustve really changed. i hated that place growing up, before i got my license i was often stuck surfing there with my buddies who loved the place. once i got a taste of good surf like on the north shore or even the west side its where i wanted to be. especially during winter. if i could hop in with some of the older older guys like vince auld, dale bemis, jon boudreau, mike goines then i would. and coming over that hill and getting our first look at all the whitewash on the outside reefs was always exciting and sometimes terrifying. wed usually meet up with guys like johnny boy, bird mahelona, junior and alika moepono for the pre-surf "extra-curriculars". here i was all of 13 hanging with these guys who were giants in my eyes. usually stoned and nervous as s**t. even rubbed shoulders with cheyne horan and tom curren who was my idol. i paddled out on alot of days i probably shouldnt have and got dirty lickins at off the wall, at sunset, and pipe a few memorable ones. hehe... but i guess thats how you learn. nowadays i usually surf close to home if possible. alot of west side, especially this past winter because it was swell after incredible swell. campbells was totally different back then. we used to camp there as kids and occaisonally scored. ive included a little clip of the right and left all the way down behind the chemical plant. back in the old days this place wouldve been nearly innaccesible so its a good bet the first time you folks have seen it.
Nice video Makakilo! Campbells... Mike Kendall worked for meat packing plant there long ago and used to eat lunch down by the water looking at the waves. As far as I know, no one ever surfed there back then. One morning we drove from Ewa Beach down to an area that Mike said "had some unreal tubes brah" ., It was a big 6' foot, feathering pretty far out side, and there were some unreal tubes, brah. The water coming over the ultra shallow inside reef was moving sideways with the back wash. We walked over the reef, stopping when a wave came in cause you couldn't see the wana/sea urgent through the white water, then walking as fast as possible when the water went out and we could dodge the wana. Finally getting to the drop and jumped in with the boards, fin up, cause there were coral heads and we didn't want to knock our fins off. Then it was paddling through wave after wave after wave. No channels. finally getting to where we thought was outside. surfed a few waves. Nice! fast and steep and hollow. Then the three of us were sitting outside, and we saw feathers way outside of us. everyone cranked their boards around and paddled as fast as we could, but no way. We got hammered! I lost my board on the 1st or 2nd wave; just couldn't hold on to it. Steve lost his on a different wave. Before we both started swimming / body surfing in, we saw Mike make a real late take off on this impossible wave. He made the drop, but the wave was closing out. It had to be solid 8+'. So Mike, being crazy as Mike was, instead of trying to lay down and ride the white water in, he turns right into the closing out wall and gets into the green room. No way out, guaranteed. Then him and his board come sucking over the falls. All of us in the water. All our boards washed up in the rocks. My 1st day at Campbells. I surfed there a few of times after that, but that was the most radical day I ever surfed there.
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what you mean? like an update on what hes up to? hardly see um but i know brother bird is a succesful roofer. still lives nanakuli. very much into god and family. still has a big bright smile and i think still surfing. he and kathy split up a long time ago. neva see her long time but last time i did was in the water and she was still killing it. i know bird got a bad rap in the past but hes way different now. mellowed with age the way we all tend to get.
Nice video Makakilo! Campbells... Mike Kendall worked for meat packing plant there long ago and used to eat lunch down by the water looking at the waves. As far as I know, no one ever surfed there back then. One morning we drove from Ewa Beach down to an area that Mike said "had some unreal tubes brah" ., It was a big 6' foot, feathering pretty far out side, and there were some unreal tubes, brah. The water coming over the ultra shallow inside reef was moving sideways with the back wash. We walked over the reef, stopping when a wave came in cause you couldn't see the wana/sea urgent through the white water, then walking as fast as possible when the water went out and we could dodge the wana. Finally getting to the drop and jumped in with the boards, fin up, cause there were coral heads and we didn't want to knock our fins off. Then it was paddling through wave after wave after wave. No channels. finally getting to where we thought was outside. surfed a few waves. Nice! fast and steep and hollow. Then the three of us were sitting outside, and we saw feathers way outside of us. everyone cranked their boards around and paddled as fast as we could, but no way. We got hammered! I lost my board on the 1st or 2nd wave; just couldn't hold on to it. Steve lost his on a different wave. Before we both started swimming / body surfing in, we saw Mike make a real late take off on this impossible wave. He made the drop, but the wave was closing out. It had to be solid 8+'. So Mike, being crazy as Mike was, instead of trying to lay down and ride the white water in, he turns right into the closing out wall and gets into the green room. No way out, guaranteed. Then him and his board come sucking over the falls. All of us in the water. All our boards washed up in the rocks. My 1st day at Campbells. I surfed there a few of times after that, but that was the most radical day I ever surfed there.
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eh ewabeachrd. thanks. i think this spot (link below) is the spot youre talking about. hehe... yeah you guys prolly attempted it on a northwest swell. no channel, mostly closeouts. the secret is big south swell, high tide and you can get it like this. theres a certain place for paddle out too or else youll get buss up. do you still live in hawaii? still surf? id be glad to meet up with you next swell for a surf out there, though it can be finnicky which is why its never crowded.
Thanks for the offer. Nice to paddle out with someone who know the lay of the reef, especially in crazy breaks like that! But no, not living in Hawaii now, but maybe take you up on that one of these days. Living on a different island now, Bali. and do as much outer island traveling as possible, but mostly dirt biking now days (didn't break enough bones when I was young, I guess). But just got 3 of my boards in and plan to get back in the water soon; especially after reading these great blogs on old Ewa Beach days. Thanks for the flash-backs! How's life on Bolo-head Mountain these days?
Hey EwaBeachRd, you and I must have know each other. Gooney, Kevin Palmerton, Snoopy Palmerton, Mike Volgeljesang, and others were all good friends when were high school age. Kevin went to Kamehameha, but I think he got kicked out during his senior year. He and Cal Eaton were classmates.
I used to hang with Snoopy during the summer messing with his dad’s Fiats. Then we’d drive down to Johns and surf. Another good friend was Mike Neid, he had a hot little sister named Jenny. Mike, Snoopy, Dale Okamura and others were a year ahead of me in school, but we were all good friends. All part of the Shark Country ohana.
A couple of crazies that I was friends with are Dale (RIP), Ron Arioli, David (roadblock) Ontai, and Rex Thompson. David and Rex lived down my street and David went to Kamehameha with us. His dad and my dad went to Kamehameha back in the day. David got kicked out in his senior year, just like Kevin. One thing we all had in common was little league baseball, we all played when we were kids.
The west side of Campbells has an unreal left and right that can be intense. Funny how we get spoiled by the sand at Ewa Beach and Barber’s. You gotta learn how to get in and out at Campbells. The Makakilo guys like Wofford had that place wired.
I am always interested in how the characters from the past make out as time tolls!
Those periods where young guys are peaking with their surfing makes them feel indestructable - then they have to get on with life - like the rest of the planet.
@ M.F.- unreal! bird will flip when i tell um. eh, i hope youre well and managing a surf now and then sir!
~~~~malama pono~~~~
"Those periods where young guys are peaking with their surfing makes them feel indestructable - then they have to get on with life - like the rest of the planet.
Makakilo, we must have known each other, but probably an age difference. Kevin Palmerton and I rented a house together in Honouliuli. I saw Snoopy/Eugene a lot back then (also Bill Pakini and Ernest Akana, Cal, and a lot of other Kam boys from those days). Snoopy was working in the meat packing plant in Kakaako area in town then. I heard he passed away a few years ago. RIP. But the Scoopy that went down the pump house elevator was the popolo surfer and good friend Scoopy Brenan, not Palmerton. I saw I got the name wrong earlier. Gooney, Ron Arioli, Mikey, Rex and Alvin (our parents were best friends. Frannie, Rex's mom, worked with my mom when my parents had the bowling alley restaurant),... We all hung out together and surfed almost daily. We had the yellow 2 story house on EBR, and my mom "Ma Bell" would run up stairs, check the waves, go back down to inform whoever was calling to see if outside reef was pumping, which usually meant Lots was breaking.
Steve Wofford is an old friend. He had a sister, Sharon?. Can't remember the younger brother's name. The Akionas, Billy, Frank and Brian were Makakilo boys. We all hung out a lot together. Also Kane and Chan Ki'imi lived Makakilo. Campbell's was you guys back yard. When we could get transport (more than a few times I "borrowed" my dad's Rambler Station Wagon when he car pooled to work), we surfed Mi'ali Point, Makaha, Yokahamas, and didn't start surfing Campbells until later.
@ ewa beach road: unreal! yeah im 38 years old. steven them is like 10-12 years older i think. stevens younger brother jamie died unfortunately several years ago under pretty bad circumstances. i took a couple of pizzas and a cold pack over to sharons house... oh maybe 6 months ago. we laughed alot. played and sang a ton of great old songs and im sure kept her neighboors up later than they wouldve liked. shes good fun that sharon. she lives down in kapolei now btw.
campbells actually is a deeply flawed wave most of the time. usually closing out or something screwed up. that and the coral heads and shark rumours (mis-information) keeps everyone away. but on a certain swell and a certain tide i swear g-land makes an appearance, and im usually out there by myself wishing someone would paddle out.
but hell, not likely to impress you with anything campbells can do. not when youre living in bali! youre surrounded by endless perfection and thousands of reefs to explore! just gotta deal with those feral and not so feral aussies aye? hahaha! i know because i have a bunch of aussie friends and every one of em has made several indo trips. good on 'em!
Yeah, I saw something on TV one day about Snoopy and that he had a massive stroke while in the hospital. He was all messed up.
I remember the Popolo guy, but I didn’t know his name. When we were in elem school there was a really dark guy we called blackie who used to surf with Wofford a lot. The other Popolo guy is a different guy who would come out to shark country once in a while. I always wondered what happened to him. There was another Popolo guy who used to glass Gooney’s boards, I thought his name was Butch.
Were you hanging with Kevin around 1976? He came by the house where Randy Nii was living across the A-frame church and gave us something he called hash buds that put us all to sleep. He was driving that Porsche 914 back then. Bill Pikini is on the Big Island now.
Ma’ili Pt, Makaha, Yokes, and Kea’au were the west side spots we surfed a lot. Tim Tucker used to surf at Kea’au a lot too.
You guys are killing me with all these memories! thanks.
I'm 56 now (never thought I make it past 25!), so pretty big gap there. But hey, Ewa Beach was a small place and everyone seemed to know everyone. I used to have big, wild bodinki blond hair. I was hard to miss in Ewa Beach in those days, I guess.
Someone told me Billy moved to the Big Island. Tim Tucked rented a room in my Tantalus house in the late 70's. He was commercial diving oil rigs in the North Sea then, so there 3 months, gone 3 months-schedule. He and my brother were close friends. Not sure he heard about Dan dying recently, and don't know how to reach him.
Kevin had the yellow 914 when we lived in "The Honouliuli Hilton"; a big, old quonset hut by Ahsing Park. Kevin and I split $50 per month rent / $25 each. After I moved to Town and Kevin married Mokie and moved out, Jake Gaynor and the Arherger brothers (John "The Weasel" and Henry) moved in. The house was on stilts that had been eaten away by termites and it fell about 1' on one side. It was renamed "The Tiltin' Hilton" after that. There could be a book written about those Honouliuli days! but probably best, not. :-/
