The Sun’s radiation heats the upper atmosphere, sending the energy toward the earth’s surface and finally mixes with the planet’s counter-rotational currents, creating jetstream flows. The winds flow over the ocean’s surface creating friction that spawns chops, pushing up the seas forming perfect bands of open ocean swell. Pushed on by gravitational forces, the swells speed away from the winds that they came from, moving across the deeps until they feel the drag of the shallows near the coast. As the swells rise up out of themselves, they peak, curling into the liquid dreams that we surfers ride (Kampton 4).
Surfing is not a sport, and no true surfer would ever claim otherwise. Yes, it requires all the essential elements of a sport; strength, discipline, balance and most of all practice but unlike a sport, surfing isn’t a competition. True, even most surfers refer to it as an “extreme sport”, but the truth is, we do so because it’s impossible to create a word that completely describes surfing. It is an experience in its own class, a spiritual conquest quest, searching for the perfect wave. Surfing has come a long way since it was first conceived (roughly 1500 years ago).
From the Polynesian “watermen” and Hawaiian Kings, to the European takeover in Hawaii and surfing’s American debut in the early twentieth century and all the way through present day, surfing has had a rich history. Over the decades, surfing has fit in to a number of roles in society, but whether we surfers are seen as beach-bums or heroes (as of late), we still surf only because we love it, because the ocean’s calls us, because nothing else on this planet can create the sensation felt by riding a wave.
Surfing: A Kings Sport To most, surfing is often described as a Hawaiian art-form, and rightfully so, Hawaiians apparently have been surfing for over a thousand years, but most experts will tell you that surfing began in Ancient Polynesia somewhere between the eighth and ninth centuries. Because the historical records of these ancient civilizations were carved into stone and bone, much of their culture has weathered away and little of their history is known.
Nonetheless, we have an understanding of how surfing evolved from these South Pacific tribes. The Polynesians were true voyagers; they knew the sea as the natives of Australia knew the land. They had perfected the science of celestial navigation and frequently made thousand mile journeys, hitting their target destination perfectly. The Islanders braved the ocean by rowing large canoes made from forest hardwood. They stabilized them with outriggers, enabling the boats to keep from flipping while paddling into the surf.
These crafts were propelled by wind being corralled in sails made from pandanus leaves, or when sailing into the wind, they could be rowed with small paddles. The islanders were accustomed to long journeys at sea seeing as these boats were primarily used to venture out on their regular trading routes with other islands, or even on long explorations. It was on these Expeditions that the Ancient Polynesians are believed to have discovered and inhabited hundreds of remote islands, including present day Easter Island and of course Hawaii.
It isn’t clear how the Polynesians actually discovered surfing, but we can all conjecture. Assuming that these ancient people were familiar with paddling in the ocean, they surely understood that while paddling with a swell, one could feel the next wave building behind them. As the wave begins to peak, it pulls you down, and then draws you up, then allowing one to fall along the face of the wave, skipping forward across the surface.
It seems to be the best guess that surfing started much like that, a fisherman catches a lift to shore from a day out at sea, stops paddling, and enjoys the ride (Wardlaw 15). No one can determine when the practice of actual surfing (standing on a wooden plank, riding a wave) came to be, but by 1778 surfing had become the center of Hawaiian culture. Polynesian historian Ben Finney notes that “in 1778 Captain Cook was the first European to record an encounter with Hawaiian surfers.
According to Finney, Cook observed that surfing took prescience over the everyday tasks of Hawaiian life, “So great were the natives’ love for surfing, that when the surf was up, the houses in the village remained empty and daily tasks such as farming were left unattended while the whole community enjoyed themselves in the ocean” (Kampton 5) Ultimately, it was this European discovery of Hawaii and surfing, which lead to the decline of Hawaiian’s culture and to surfing’s “Dark Age”. The European settlers saw surfing as a distraction from the tasks that must be done every day to maintain a successful civilization.
The islands were taken by Captain Cook and were used as a trading post, manned of course by the people who had lived there in peace, isolated from the rest of the world, for more than eight hundred years before. Hawaii remained occupied (and surfing remained buried except for the extremely devoted) by the Europeans for almost one hundred twenty years until the islands were annexed by the United States in 1898. It was about this time, that two American writers made the journey to Hawaii to explore the islands.
In the year 1900 Mark Twain and Jack London visited Waikiki Beach and observed a few of the locals riding massive wooden planks as the surf pushed them toward the shore. Both being microcosms of the newfound adventurous American spirit of the turn of the century, they were fascinated. Soon after, London and Twain composed a series of extremely enthusiastic articles endorsing the sport, which were published throughout the islands and the mainland. The articles took America (Hawaii included) by storm.
The two savvy American writers, sparked the rebirth of surfing in Hawaii (Surfline. m). Duke Kahanomoku was a teenager during this surf revival, but nonetheless was among the first pioneers to actively progress surfing into the mainstream. During the early 1900s many American tourists left their homes on the mainland, venturing out into the Pacific, towards this newfound American (tropical) territory, making Hawaii an overnight hotspot for vacationers. “The Duke” used this sudden attention to expose the rest of America to his art of (which his ancestors had perfected a thousand years ago) of riding waves.
He and London, along with a few local surfers, founded the Outrigger Canoe Club in 1908, which gave lessons on surfing on boards, or in outrigger canoes, to any tourist that would try it. It didn’t take long for the hype of surfing to reach the states, and soon thousands of tourists each year would flock to the islands to engage in this new phenomenon. Surfing was reborn, more stoked* than ever (Kampton 7). America Hangs Ten If there were a “Surf Mecca” on the mainland, it would certainly be the sunny coasts of the Golden State.
California is the door between Hawaii and the rest of the United States, and it would only be fitting for it to be the epicenter of American surf culture in America. It was the Irish-Hawaiian surfer, George Freeth who first brought surfing to California in 1907. Hired by Henry Huntington’s Pacific Electric Railroad Freeth’s job was to perform surfing exhibitions in Southern California as a promotional stunt for the railroad. People from all over California rode the Huntington Railroad to the coast to observe as Freeth sliced his way through the waves of present day Malibu.
Surfing didn’t attract many new participants, but the American people were steadily become more aware, and interested, in this Hawaiian pastime (The Endless Summer II). By the 1930’s there were roughly eighty “capable” surfers in California (which made up around ninety percent of the country’s surf population), not exactly the boom that one would expect. True, America was fascinated by surfing and the surf culture, but in the midst of the Great Depression, few Americans had the time or financial security to craft a hundred-pound board and spend half the day waiting for a swell to ride.
Surfing remained an underground activity, only performed by its true, loyal followers. Surfing didn’t start to grow until after the Second World War, but the country’s improved economical status had little to do with the emergence of American surfing. Although the war had actually hindered surfing for years, as much of the surf population (which was male dominated) was drafted, the new materials introduced during wartime spawned great technological advances in surfing.
During the post-WWII era, resin, fiberglass and Styrofoam were used to create stronger, faster and lighter surfboards, which were far easier for people of all ages to ride (Surfline. com). Surfing goes “Pop” While strolling down a southern California Beach in the summer of 1956, a resident surfer nicknamed “Tubesteak” came across a young girl who wanted to learn how to surf. Tubesteak offered to teach the girl in exchange for her sack lunch. She caught on quickly and was soon adopted into Tubesteak’s group of surf-buddies.
The group gave the teenager a peculiar nickname, a hybrid word combining “girl” and “midget”. “Gidget” relayed her surfing experience onto her father who composed his daughter’s accounts into a book, which sprang directly onto the Best Seller’s list. In 1959, the rights to the story were sold to Columbia Pictures for 50,000 dollars (Kampton 18). During this period, with the cold war coming to a boiling point in Vietnam, American movie directors sought a film topic, that was safe, and that wouldn’t provoke political backlash from the audience. Surfing, was considered a “safe” topic.
Directors portrayed the world of surfing as an adolescent growth period; as sort of a gateway leading into adulthood and the world of responsibility. The surf world was conveyed to the vast American public (most of whom had never even seen the ocean) as a happy, preppy, world where young Americans would have beach parties every night, while dancing and frolicking in the sand with no worries at all. This image was extremely attractive to American’s, especially to young people. The movie “Gidget” reshaped surfing’s image into the glamorous, fun-loving culture that we see represented in the late fifties and early sixties.
Gidget” was the typical teenager living in California. She spent all of her time at the beach surfing and getting into trouble. The movie (and equally popular TV series) connected with American teens, and made the beach the place to be, and surfing the thing to do (Kampton 25). Surfing and beach culture quickly became the “it” in California. Spurred on by countless movies, surfing had become bigger that “The Duke” himself could have ever imagined. Surfing, once enjoyed only by those who respected the waves and loved the ocean, had now been swallowed by American commercialism.
As surfing grew larger in the early sixties, many Californian surfers who had surfed their whole lives felt a great deal of resentment towards the “Surf Explosion”. One such surfer, California resident Tome Wert explains, “Surfing is a life changing experience. It’s not about the movies or the girls. It’s about harnessing the power of nature, and respecting its grace and beauty. None of that ever occurred to these groms’* that were infesting our beaches. ” Wert goes on to say, “It was like this part of our lives that was sacred to us, was being taken away.
They didn’t want to be surfers like us, they all wanted to be Gidget and Moondoggey” (Wert, Personal Interview) Riding the coattails of Gidget’s success, CBS broadcasting decided to televise the first actual surfing contest. Fifty surfers competed for a thousand-dollar prize, while the event was broadcast to 50,000,000 Americans nationwide. The success of this event opened many eyes to the potential of surfing as a market in itself. Corporate sponsors flocked to hold their own surf contests, capitalizing on the power that surfing had quickly gained with the American population.
With the entry of corporate sponsorship and a television audience, surfing became a product that could be marketed and consumed (Maurer 9) The commercialization of surfing and the market potential for this sub-culture created many debates among the surfing population. Was surfing really a competitive sport? Were “outsiders” exploiting the very soul of surfing? Was it acceptable for surfers to take advantage of the financial opportunities that came with being a “professional” surfer? Or should they refuse, and fight for the spirit of their beloved sport.
Many surfers did give in to the financial temptations of the commercialized sport, but there was an equally strong backlash within the surfing community. Many surfers dropped out of the competitive ranks and practiced the art of soul surfing. A term still used to describe many of the world’s best surfers today. These “soul surfers” of the mid-early sixties took to the surfing that celebrated the pure, non-competitive nature of the sport: they simply surfed because they enjoyed the experience of riding waves (The Endless Summer II). Vietnam: During the mid-sixties, surfing hit a decline in American culture.
The conflict in Vietnam forced the majority of the “new” surf culture to enter the draft, depleting the once thriving industry. But according to true surfers, this wasn’t such a bad thing, “It freed up the beaches,” says Tom Wert, a surfer during the era. “Most of the groms’ who had been poisoning the soul of our sport were shipped off to Nam. Most of us who truly loved to surf just stayed behind and did anything possible to avoid the draft” (Wert, Personal Interview) Surfing competitions still took place, though their emphasis and marketability were on the decline.
It was during the era of the Vietnam conflict, that surfers were held under the stigma of beach bums, which refused to take part in mainstream society. Tom Wert remembers, “Surfers tried to do what people wanted them to, but we just didn’t fit in. We didn’t care about the money; it didn’t cost money to live on the beach, but during the winter, when it was too cold to surf, we went and got jobs” This social expulsion of surfers was not only the result of their “lack of contribution to society” but maybe even more so the result of them not contributing to their country’s cause.
Many Americans noticed that surfers weren’t too eager to go fight for our country (Wert, Personal Interview). Certainly not all surfers were “draft dodgers” but there were instances of surfers avoiding the draft just as there were for any other social group. What separated the surf “draft dodgers” from the rest of America, was the fact that they got away with it without breaking any laws. When people surf for a good portion of their life, they start to develop calcium deposits on their feet and knees from the constant friction of skin, salt and the board.
In many cases, these “surf bumps”, can become so large that one cannot wear Shoes as Southern California surfer Ren Adam recalls, “Many of my buddies were rounded up by the FBI for dodging the draft, and sent to Arizona for a physical. I didn’t have to go because I was enrolled at USC. Since we had been surfing so much for the past five, six years, none of them could wear their boots with all the surf bumps on our feet. So they all came home about a week later. ” It was difficult for those who were shipped off to Vietnam, to leave knowing that the “surf bums” who hadn’t worked a day in their lives, were allowed to stay home .
It was common for people during this time to inaccurately attribute the motives of surfers’ distaste for the war, to the Anti-War movement taking place in northern California in Berkley. This notion couldn’t be further from the truth. Although surf culture was often confused with the counter-culture of the sixties, surfers in general had no political intentions behind their resistance. Adam explains, “We really didn’t care about the war, we just wanted to stay home and surf” (Adam, Personal Interview) Today: Surfing in it’s Prime
In the time since Vietnam, surfing has come back to mainstream America, but in a less fanatical way. Surfing is now a respected activity and even has an “aura” about it in society. One can still find surfers living on the beach unemployed (and proud of it) but the stigma of a “Beach Bum” has long since faded from the minds of Americans. Surfing has gone mainstream. Many will argue that commercialism is still depriving the sport of its true meaning, but in this day and age, everything is a product, so why not embrace it (Quicksilver Board Co. has grown into a multi billion dollar company).
Today, surf icons have even become household names. We now have surf heroes; surfers who are considered role models by children and parents alike. Not only has Surfing been accepted as a part of American (and especially Californian) culture, but many surfers have embraced the idea of competitive surfing. Surf superstars such as Kelly Slater, Rob Merchado and Tommy Curren (just to name a few) have made the professional surfing circuit a thriving success, by endorsing the true, non-competitive spirit of surfing within the competitive nature of surf contests, “We all just go out and have fun.
It’s not about the money anymore, it’s gotten to the point where every surfer on the pro tour is financially stable from their sponsors. So there’s no need to get bent about trying to top each other. ” Says six-time world champion Kelly Slater (Hansen, The Argus). Although competition has evolved and now embraces the true values of the surfing world, there are still many surf heroes who still stick with soul surfing. Even though these surfers don’t compete, they still earn money.
Many of the best surfers in the world are “soul surfers’ and are being paid to travel all over the world searching for the ultimate ride (Kampton 121). The art of surfing has come a long way since the ancient Polynesians first rode waves in their outrigger canoes. Surfing has gone through many phases, but still remains a sport which can be matched by no other. There is no substitute for the sensation one is hit with when they are propelled forward by forces seeming to rise from depths of the earth. Surfing is a way for us humans to return to our wild roots.
We did come from the wild, and surfing satisfies that craving to return to our origins. Surfers return to that wild environment when they feel the crushed sea shells beneath their feet, when the lip of a wave pours onto their head as they ride down its glassy slope or even when they get checked by mother nature and wipeout*. It seems that in an age of great technological advancement and progress, in an age of escalating tension and pressure to succeed, surfing has returned to its roots, riding waves because we love it.
Grom- Originally referred new surfers (usually in their late teens and early twenties) who were attracted to the surfing boom in the late fifties and early sixties. The word has since been used to describe neophyte surfers who aren’t even good enough to get out of the way of the rest of us who are trying to surf. *Stoked- Excited, emotion felt after riding a wave. *Wipeout- to fall off your board, usually being engulfed by the wave afterward and thrown around the ocean floor by the swells.
