A Brief History of Surfing.

In 1779, in the captain’s log of the ship HMS Discovery, Lt. James King wrote:

"But a diversion the most common is upon the water, where there is a very great sea, and surf breaking on the shore. The men sometimes 20 or 30 go without the swell of the surf, & lay themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about their size and breadth, they keep their legs close on top of it, & their arms are used to guide the plank, they wait the time of the greatest swell that sets on shore, & altogether push forward with their arms to keep on its top, it sends them in with a most astonishing velocity, & the great art is to guide the plan so as always to keep it in a proper direction on the top of the swell, & as it alters its direct. If the swell drives him close to the rocks before he is overtaken by its break, he is much praised. On first seeing this very dangerous diversion I did not conceive it possible but that some of them must be dashed to mummy against the sharp rocks, but just before they reach the shore, if they are very near, they quit their plank, & dive under till the surf is broke, when the piece of plank is sent many yards by the force of the surf from the beach. The greatest number are generally overtaken by the break of the swell, the force of which they avoid, diving and swimming under the water out of its impulse. By such like exercises, these men may be said to be almost amphibious. The women could swim off to the ship, & continue half a day in the water, & afterwards return. The above diversion is only intended as an amusement, not a trial of skill, & in a gentle swell that sets on must I conceive be very pleasant, at least they seem to feel a great pleasure in the motion which this exercise gives."

In the early 1800’s the Calvinist missionaries arrived to the islands and brought everything from oppressive religious beliefs to disease. The negative impact their presence had on Hawaiian culture caused surfing and other cultural activities to severely decline and almost die out altogether. It wasn’t until the early part of the 20th century that surfing began its renaissance. It was during the same period that Jack London visited the Hawaiian Islands and, in the company of journalist, Alexander Hume Ford, met a young, enthusiastic and talented surfer named George Freeth. Freeth introduced London to surfing, spawning Jack London's story titled "A Royal Sport: Surfing in Waikiki" first published in 1907 and later, in 1911, integrated into "The Cruise of the Snark", where London writes:

"As I write these lines I lift my eyes and look seaward. I am on the beach of Waikiki on the island of Oahu. Far, in the azure sky, the trade-wind clouds drift low over the blue-green turquoise of the deep sea. Nearer, the sea is emerald and light olive-green. Then comes the reef, where the water is all slightly purple flecked with red. Still nearer are brighter greens and tans, lying in alternate stripes and showing where sand beds lie between the living coral banks. Through and over and out of these wonderful colors tumbles and thunders magnificent surf. As I say, I lift my eyes to all this, and through the white crest of a breaker suddenly appears a dark figure, erect, a man-fish or a sea-god, on the very forward face of the crest where the top falls over and down, driving in toward shore, buried to his loins in smoking spray, caught up by the sea and flung landward, bodily, a quarter of a mile. It is a Kanaka on a surf-board. And I know that when I have finished these lines I shall be out in that riot of color and pounding surf, trying to bit those breakers even as he, and failing as he never failed, but living life as the best of us may live it."

At some point early in the 20th century, Freeth traveled to California at the invitation of railroad magnate Henry Huntington, where he showed Californians the sport and amazed onlookers with how well he rode waves. About that same time, Hume Ford was working in Hawaii to raise awareness of the lost cultural activity, and was instrumental in the founding of the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Club of Waikiki. Meanwhile, native Hawaiians were joining the forces to form the Hui Nalu surf club, of which young Duke Kahanamoku, an Olympic swimmer and surfer was a founding member.

Surf culture grew slowly up until the 1950's and ‘60’s when it exploded - spawning such notables as Woody Brown who, along with designing the first catamaran, revolutionized surfboard construction and Rabbit Kekai who was well known for his “hot-dog" riding style. It was also during this time that big wave surfing at Sunset Beach, Makaha and Waimea gained traction. Never to be left behind, Hollywood also latched onto the surf scene producing surf specific movies and music bands such as Dick Dale and The Beach Boys emerged. After the 60’s surfing was entrenched in mainstream society to some degree and it would never look back.

Today, surfing is increasingly becoming accepted as a mainstream sport, especially in places like Australia. Surfers have gone from being perceived as social outcasts and miscreants to highly conditioned professional athletes who earn quite respectable livings. Surfing is big business, companies like Billabong, Reef, O’Neill, Rip Curl and the list goes on are now listed on stock exchanges and gross well into the tens of millions each year.

At the end of the day, there's no doubt that Hume Ford accomplished his goal as surf promoter. Surfing, once only the sport of kings, has reached the masses and they’ve responded in greater numbers than anyone could have ever imagined.