I was talking aboyt Ambrose
…ambrose…
keep the government out of making decisions to do with surfing,they will degrade it even futher than it has gone,and that goes for the corporate too. theres a lot of greed and selfishness out there,sad situation.someone once said outlast the bastards,guess i will have to take extra sunscreen into the water now.
ambrose, are you saying you are lower case? i have a friend who spells her first name with all lower case letters, so we always call her lower case ann.
i hope all is well, and your yard didn’t get too much salt water. when iwa and iniki hit, the surge was high enough to send water onto the yards at our beach houses in ewa, and turned the grass brown.
have a good one, and then another after that.
Beware the Crusader!
Beware the Missionary!!
They have one rack minds, won't see past their own agenda!!!
Hi,
I was looking on Google for an old friend's phone number when I came across this discussion. I recognized many of the names mentioned, so I thought I'd chime in. My husband, Brad Alpers, and I lived on the north shore of Kauai from 1972-1982. We built a house on Lighthouse Road, across from what was then the dispensary, in Kilauea. We then moved to Santa Ynez, Ca and just recently moved up to the Mendocino area.
I remember Mark and Pierre as 2 of the best waiters on the N. Shore and worked with them at the Anchorage. I was so young then...Pua and Henry Tai Hook looked after me because I was underage. Some of our closest friends back then include:
Ray Jones
Jim and Shelly Spencer
Jim and Gail Morris
Bar and Annette
Many more...I think that everyone knew everyone else then. It was such a great time in our lives and a truly magical place. I'm glad I was there!
~ C.
Sorry to say this whole sweeper thing was fed heavily from Maui where one of the pioneer companies built and tested prototypes, sponsored some high profile people and pretty much carried the torch of this sick movement; no animosity would have brewed if only they had stuck to racing and downwinders but they actually promoted wave riding from the start and now this thing is out of control ;certain spots are now over run with standup goons, some of which surf as good as regulars; and a really sad thing is some good locals are now standup regulars on every island; how are we ever going to pull this thing back when some of our good brothers have gone rogue?? For the high profiles itʻs all about money…blame it on Laird!!!; and there was the worst propaganda movie about SUPs by Mike Waltze trying to sell the world on this bitchin new sport; I hurl chunks just thinking about how dumb it was; enough ranting already…we need some peaceful solutions real soon…heaven help us all !!!
Howzit tropit,This is Wildog /Mike Williams and I don't know if you remember me but I remember you and Brad and I remember you left Kauai but didn't know what happened to you. Barr and Annette are still on Kauai and own a house in Pville. Pierre has become a great artist and makes tons of money selling his art and right now he is in Capo beach on vacation but still lives on Kauai in Pville. Mark got married to Louise and they live in Haena and Mark still waits tables a few nights at CJ's which was Chuck's til a couple of years ago and he also has become a really good shaper,they bought one of the Berkholtz houses in Haena by the YMCA. Ray Jones is still there and Jim and Gail broke up and she moved back to Chicago and got married and moved back to Kauai but I think they moved away since I hadn't seen them since about 07'. Jim Morris moved to Poipu and still is over there and his brother Steve passed away quite a few years ago.I am trying to remember the Spensers and was Jim in construction and if so he is still there. The old Anchorage is a mediterainian restaurant or was when I left and it has had several owners over the years.How is Brad and does he still have his beard. I worked at the Dolphin and then me and Roger Kennedy bought the Tropical Taco from ( darn brain freeze) and then I opened the one in Kapaa in the Big Save center and Roger has a little restaurant in Hanalei. Yes those were the days and people that have moved there now think it is paradise but they don't know how it used to be. Bags got married and he lives in Haena also. I just moved to Az last year after having Cancer and can no longer surf so I decided to make a different change in my life and I am doing good here in Havasu City. Tell Brad Aloha from me and you can always PM me and I will give you my personal email address.I have to say it is a trip to have you show up here on Swaylocks but it's great to know you are around and Brad too. Aloha,Kokua
1st, I know....this is OT...I apologize.
OMG...talk about going back in time! Yes, Brad and I remember you. I can clearly see you and Roger in the Tropical Taco truck, sweating it out in the Dolphin parking lot...LOL. Damn! Those tacos were good! I'm sorry to hear about your illness, but happy to know that you're doing well now. Arizona...a long ways from from a tropical isle.
YES...Brad still his his beard. I swear, he looks exactly the same, only a little older. Anyone would still recognize him from those days. We left Kauai around 1981-2 and bought some property in the woods, near Santa Ynez, just north of Santa Barbara. We built a house and had a couple of kids. They're now grown and both of them have been to Kauai to see where we came from. My son, Bret, even lived there for about a year. We just recently pulled up roots again and bought some land in the coastal mountains, near Point Arena, CA. We're building a cabin there now, while we rent on the coast. It's gorgeous here...it reminds me of Kauai in many ways.
Brad has been a general contactor for about 30 years. He doesn't surf as much anymore, but he might get back into it up here. There's lots of good waves. It's just that the water is so cold and sharky. We did a lot of sailing and have a bluewater sailboat that we were going to take around the S. Pacific with the kids, but they didn't want to go. It needs to be brought up to SF so that we can sail it around the bay.
We've kept in touch with Jim and Shelly Spencer (yes, he was the cement guy,) and also with Ray Jones. Gail wrote me a few years back, but I've lost track of her. Too bad, she was such a good friend. I also heard that Steve died. The "Bags" that I know is Jeff Badshaw and we see him frequently. He's over in Pacifica, CA. We've also been talking to Mike Cuhna a lot lately. I think about Bar and Annette from time to time. I can still see her silly smile. They were so good to us. They completely did all of the food at our wedding, with others helping, for free. It was such a wonderful gesture.
I'm so glad to hear that Pierre is an artist. I can easily see him doing that. Brad and my son, Bret, ran into Mark down in Mexico...small world. Glad to hear he's a shaper and doing well. (We still have some boards from shapers past: Hambone, Strada, and a few others.) Tell Roger K. "Hi" He was always so funny...he made me laugh. There are many others that I could mention, but it would take forever. (And Ambrose, I DO remember you and the Rice Mill...I was the one that cooked your breakfast.)
Please say hello to everyone. All I can say, is that it was a great time to be there. Kauai totally changed my life's path and I am so glad that it did!
~ Cindy
OK, Ambrose...you're not the only nostalgic poet around here...things I remember:
- Princeville before there was a Princeville, just a big field with a few cows.
-Bridge flooded, playing trivia all night in the Dolphin with Huey
-Red volkswagon (mine) sunk to the roof in Ching's parking lot. (Who dug that f*^&%ing hole there last night?)
-General Delivery line at Ching's...Jenny Ching, RIP
- Denise and Judy (They still remember us, can you imagine that?)
-Bo-Bo bodysurfing naked...among other things
-Best Christmas gift to Ray: nose plugs
-Pau Hana, Rice Mill. Might as well cruise the island in the patrol car with Duane and smoke a bowl
-The mist from 20+ ft. waves rising up the cliffs at the Hanalei Plantation Hotel...on Thanksgiving, (of course.)
-Going outside for the first time in 3 weeks after a looong rain and seeing aaall the waterfalls
-Hanging out at Secret Beach when it was a still a secret
-going for a swim at the Slippery Slide, behind my house, in Kilauea
-Mike Sniff n' Surfer (RIP??)
-Listening to Brad and Taylor play guitar at A Fook's Taro house in Wainiha
-"5 acres" in Haena, (Dole property) where I lived in a 1 room shack for a year.
- Henry Tai Hook looking after me in the bar at the Anchorage
- Not knowing that Pua was pregnant
- The Hashimoto girls all showing me their hula steps before work
- Going to the disco at Club Med with Marcy (She was beautiful, wasn't she?)
- Connie Irons Hamilton tooling around town on her bike
- Pouring a drink over a stupid golfer's head at the Clubhouse while cocktailing there...one of the few times I can remember Tommy Hashimoto laughing hard out loud
- Bodysurfing every day at Pinetrees when no one else was there.
- Swimming out to the Transpac boats to party. (Why am I itching so much?)
- Watching surf movies at Harry's
- My dog walking out on the reef at Anini to greet the cuttlefish fishermen and not being able to get back at high tide
I'll stop now...I'm wayyy off topic. Thanks for letting me say it.
~ Cindy
Howzit tropit, I didn't know that jenny had passed away and that is a shame since she was such a nice lady and always liked to talk. The Bags I was talking about was Jeff Habig that worked at the Anchorage and then went to the Dolphin like Tommy Chamberlin did and he hung with Mark and Pierre all the time. Bobo works for Charlie Cowden at the Hanalei Surf Company and is doing good and boardsurfs now and keeps her clothes on most of the time now since there are just to many people who would go ballistic if they saw her walking through Hanalei with her goat and that was all. Dennis from the liquor store passed away a few years back and it was really hard on those of us that had known him for such a long time but judy still works sometimes but mostly it's their kids who run the store now. Gordon Kinney passed away in 09' from cancer of the liver and then it spread and that was it.Hanalei still has some of it's soul but you just have to find it and it is usually at Black Pot. Randy Sleigh has been diagnosed with cancer of his liver and they gave him about a year and that was bout 2 months ago so he is making the best of the time he has left. You know how it is with us surfers and we never grow up mentally butall of a sudden our bodies remind us that we aren't kids anymore but we are still kids at heart. If you send me your email address I will pass it on to Annette.Sounds like life has been good to you and Brad and I am glad to hear that. Aloha,Mike
Oh yeah…Jeff Habig…I remember him! “Haybags” That’s great to hear about Bobo doing so well…good for her! Sad to hear about Dennis, Randy and Gordon. 
Gordon and his brother hung out with us from time to time. I’ll let Brad know. I’m not positive about Jenny, but I’m pretty sure. She’d be close to 100 by now.
Sure, pass on my addy to Annette and Bar. I’d love to hear from them. I know Brad would too. I also forgot to mention Lynn Johannsen…I hear from her from time to time…Long since remarried…She sounds happy.
Yeah, life is good for us now. We weren’t sure that we could take on the moving and starting over, but in fact, we’re thriving on it. It’s the best thing that we ever did! Brad’s out there building away and I’m in here ordering stuff and making things for the house. We’re both relatively healthy…a little older, moving a little slower, but still going strong. Please give our regards to everyone and take care.
~ Cindy
cindy?
was that the first incarnation o’the rice mill?
2nd or third?
peter and cynthia?
or robbie and jeff and ralph?
or michael the kneeboard guy
and peter…not murray?
memorys good
the points on the distributor
takes a moment.
…ambrose…
cindys are a list
as with michaels
johns,garys,phils,
tims, petes,and all specificly
seperable…
and then there was the sunrise kitchen…
but working at the hanalei plantation hotel was a gift …
Ambrose~
Rice Mill: The Belaskis...Ginny, Stanley Sr., Stanley Jr., Nancy, Sandy. Stanley Sr. baked that awesome bread, Ginny counted the money, Stanley Jr. just screwed around and made everyone laugh, Rita and Sandy waited tables and I was the cook. I believe Annette had the job before me.
(Sunrise Kitchen came afterwards...It was a good place too.)
~ C.
sunrise kitchen was a taylor camp enterprise
on the other side of hanalei.
forgot about the newport belaskis
staring nancy and stanley.
yes another era.
where are they all now?
skip wright has the pictures .
…ambrose…
I think it’s
skipwright photography.com
?
OMG I’m in trouble now. I’m never going to get any work done looking at those pix, Thanks Ambrose. I’ll share these w/Brad.
~ C.
Well...looking at the pix, I see quite a few familiar names and faces, but just a few friends that I really knew well. I think Skip's crowd was a little older than us. I was just a kid when I came to Kauai. (I mean, afterall...I'm only going to be 29 this year.. ;D) That may be why you don't remember me, Ambrose.
"Ratface," I remember him...how does someone get a name like "Ratface" anyway?
~ C.
Oh...one more thing...those pix of Wolfman and Davie remind me that I recently ran into someone that still knows them and their crowd.
This woman about my age and her mom came over to my house for a cheesemaking class (I won't go into that,) recently and she told me that she'd just moved to the Santa Ynez Valley from Sun Valley, Idaho. (Or maybe it was Jackson Hole.) Anyway, we started talking more and we found out that we had both lived on Kauai at the same time and we both knew the Stays. I guess Davie and her clan moved to Sun Valley along with a lot of other Kauai people. I can't remember who else, but there were a few familiar names.
~ C.