november2011

70 SanDiegoMagazine.comNovember2011

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HAWAII

GE TAWAY

the sport they exhibited their

mastery, courage, and power in

big waves, elevating their status

within their society.

When Captain Cook arrived in

the 1778, the ancient culture of

surfing peaked, and then sadly

disappeared for some 150 years as

Hawaiian society was transformed by

the influence of haoles on the islands.

The missionaries’ morality did not

condone the levity of the sport,

though thankfully, some die-hard

native watermen managed to keep it

alive. Interestingly enough, novelist

Jack London descended upon Oahu

in 1907, and greatly influenced the

re-emergence of the sport. Fellow

writer Alexander Hume Ford

introduced him to surfing and

Waikiki beach local surfer, George

Freeth. London fell in love with the

sport and wrote about both surfing

and Freeth as a great waterman.

Freeth’s notoriety and London’s

words helped spread the news about

surfing. In 1908, the Hawaiian

Outrigger Canoe Club formed to

preserve the ancient art of surfing and

outrigger canoeing and Waikiki

became an official surf capital.

Hawaiian native, swimming

champion, and surfing legend, Duke

Kahanamoku, was revered as the

ultimate waterman. He and his friends

became the “Beach Boys” of Waikiki,

and formed their own surf club, the

Hui Nalu Club, which competed with

the members of the Outrigger Club.

Duke’s fame as an Olympic gold

medalist and actor also allowed him

Surfers at Waikiki teach the world about surfing.

Waikiki Beach Waimea Bay, North Shore