ancient hawaiian surfboards

85Ancient Hawaiian Surfboards - Chapter 3

Ancient

Hawaiian Surfboards

Chapter 3

LEGENDARY SURFERS - Volume 186


Above: Board comparisons courtesy of Finney and Houston.


Depending on your source of information, the ancient Hawaiian surfboard – or papa he’e

nalu (pa-pa HAY-ay NA-lu)1 – came in two-to-four basic types. For the sake of inclusion

and to differentiate between the two different commoner’s boards, I consider there to be a total of

four distinct boards and plan shapes of pre-European contact Hawaiian surfboards. Listed in order

of length, from longest to shorest, these are:

• The paipo (pipe-oh) or kioe – a body board, or belly board, from 2-to-4 feet long, usually used

by children in the prone position;

• The alaia (ah-LAI-ah) – a mid-sized board, usually 8 feet or longer;

• The kiko‘o (key-CO-oo) – a mid-range board larger than the alaia, but not as big as the biggest

boards. The kiko‘o’s length was between 12 and 18 feet. It was good for bigger surf, but was hard to

handle.

• The olo (O-lo) – a very long surfboard reserved for royalty that could be as long as 18-to-24

feet in length.2

“It is significant,” wrote Muirhead, “that boards greater than five feet in length were found

only in New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawai`i, and it is in Hawaiian chants alone that we find frequent

reference to the positions of sitting, kneeling, and standing...”3

There are additional Hawaiian terms for different types of surfboards, including: paha (PAH-

ha), pu’ua (poo-OO-ah), and papa he’e nalu (pa-pa HAY-ay NA-lu – literally, “A board for sliding

waves”).4 There were also special terms for handling surfboards, including ha’awi papa he’e nalu,

which meant to loan a board with the understanding that it would be returned. Boards were

apparently loaned but rarely given away.5

Early European accounts of the late 1700s and early 1800s mention long boards specifically in

only two island groups – Hawai‘i and Aotearoa.6 The boards in New Zealand were described as

reaching six feet in length, but only nine inches in width!7 Boatswain’s mate on the Bounty, James

Morrison wrote that boards of “any length” were used in Tahiti. Four-foot boards were known in

the Marquesas, but in Melanesia, Micronesia and Western Polynesia, boards were only a few feet

long – a maximum of four feet.8 Reed bundles were ridden prone off the coast of Rapa Nui.9

“The Hawaiians, however,” wrote Finney and Houston, “possessed boards sometimes eighteen

feet long, two feet wide, five inches thick, and which might weigh a hundred and fifty pounds. Such

boards are still preserved in Honolulu. They were buoyant enough to support the rider and allow all

the riding positions: prone, sitting, kneeling and standing... This variety of skills, on long boards,

together with the widespread participation of all classes was unequaled in any other Pacific island

group.”10


Hawaiians were not the only Polynesians riding Pacific surf. “Tahitian surfers,” wrote Finney

and Houston, “came the closest [to the Hawaiians]... that both men and women and particularly the

chiefs of Tahiti enjoyed the sport, suggests its high development there.”11

William Ellis, one of the few Europeans to view surfing in both Hawai‘i and Tahiti in the 1800s

noted of Tahitian surfers, however, that “Their surf-boards are inferior to those of the Sandwich

Islanders (Hawaiians), and I do not think swimming in the sea as an amusement, whatever it might

have been formerly, is now practiced so much by the natives of the South, as by those of the North.”12

Nevertheless, the development of surfing in both Tahiti and Hawai‘i was more likely part of a

connection as opposed to a parallel development. Many legends describe voyages between Tahiti

and Hawai‘i. The legend of Mo‘ikeha (see Chapter 5), a Tahitian chief who later traveled to the

island of Kaua‘i and lived and died by the famous surf break of Maka‘iwa is a good example.13

Archeological discoveries even support the theory of a pre-modern era of contact between the two

groups. While it’s probable that surfing came to Hawai‘i via Tahiti, the reverse is certainly possible.14

To confuse the matter further, although it is logical to assume that surfing traveled with the

Polynesian migration, this is not at all certain. “One might ask,” concluded Ben Finney, “whether

the sport developed first in some central area and spread from there to the rest of the Pacific, or

whether it arose independently in several island groups. It is difficult to say conclusively.”15

The Father of Modern Surfing, Duke Pua Kahanamoku (1890-1968) told the co-writer of his

autobiography, World of Surfing, that “Two kinds of boards were used to ride the forward slopes of

high waves; there was the shorter one called the alaia, and the longer one termed the olo.”16 Duke

no doubt discounted the paipo for the same reasons bodyboards, today, are not included in discussions

of surfboard design. Bodyboards require riding waves in prone position versus the stand-up riding

possible with larger boards. As for Duke’s lack of mention of the kiko‘o, these boards are sometimes

thought of as either being a shorter olo or a longer alaia board.17

For the most part, the two main types of boards were the olo and alaia and they were both used

under different surfing conditions and by different classes of people. According to Abraham Fornander

(1812-1887) in Hawaiian Folk Lore, the alaia averaged 9 feet long. It was best suited for kakala, “a

curling wave, terrible, death dealing.” That is, a wave that broke quickly and had a hollow curl

section to it. The olo, averaging 18 feet long, was ideal for opuu, “a non-breaking wave, something

like calmness.”18 Waves like this are typical at Waikiki on days when the surf is not big.

The average length of the olo and alaia, however, are mostly speculative. No one knows for sure.

On display at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, in Honolulu, there are two olo boards made from

koa – not the usual building material for this size Hawaiian surfboard. The boards belonged to

legendary surfer High Chief Abner Paki. Duke Kahanamoku wrote that Paki, “was reputedly a 300-

pound man, six feet four inches tall, and had prodigious strength. He passed away in 1855, but he

had used those long olo boards during the early missionary days.”19 One board is over 15 1/2 feet in

length, with a thickness of 6 1/2 inches, and weighs 160 pounds. The other one is 14 1/2 feet long,

with a 5 3/4-inch thickness in the middle, and a weight of 148 pounds. Each of the two boards

required at least two men to move it to the museum. According to analysis done on the boards –

primarily by early Twentieth Century surfer/innovator Tom Blake who restored the boards in the

late 1920s – they are older than Paki, pre-dating his birth in 1808.20

In their landmark history of surfing, Surfing, The Sport of Hawaiian Kings, professor Ben

Finney and writer James Houston, noted that in both the olo and alaia, “the top and bottom were

convex and tapered to thin rounded edges, so that either side seems to have been suitable as a riding

surface.”21 Thirty years later, Finney and Houston added that this common feature between the

boards in their lenticular cross-section meant that both top and bottom of the boards were convex,


tapering to thin rounded edges. Otherwise, the two boards were “radically different in form… [and]

in function.”22 It should be noted that the kiko‘o also shared this convex characteristic.

Three different kinds of wood were generally used for the four types of Hawaiian surfboard.

The kiko‘o, alaia and paipo boards were made from either koa, a fine-grained hard wood (Acacia

koa), or ulu (breadfruit), a soft wood (Atrocarpus altila). Although Abner Paki’s two olo boards were

made of koa, Duke Kahanamoku noted that usually the “olo boards were constructed from the

much lighter wood of the wiliwili.” This more preferred softer, lighter type of wood (Erythrina

sandwicensis) was also used for outrigger canoes.23

The Olo

The olo was the more impressive of the Hawaiian boards and is considered by most historians

to have been reserved exclusively for the ali‘i, the Hawaiian ruling class, in accordance

with the kapu (taboo) system. Twentieth Century surf pioneer and innovator Tom Blake, however,

believed “that while the wili wili board of olo design was reserved for the use of the chiefs, the koa

board of olo design was not restricted to the alii (chiefs), but was for general use because of the

scarcity of wili wili wood and plentiful occurrence of koa.”24

The kapu system helped assure the ali‘i their position of privilege. This class system, like other

Hawaiian laws, applied only to the common people – the maka‘ai-nana. Used in relation to surfing,

it prohibited commoners from using the onini (o-NEE-nee) and owili (o-WE-lee) types of olo boards,

both of which were made of wili-wili.25

The kapu system held other restrictions, as well, as we noted in Chapter Two.

In the cross-section, the olo was thicker than the alaia and could weigh up to around 160 pounds.

Some early European writers described boards that were even heavier. These Europeans claimed

surfboards up to twenty-four feet long, “a size,” Finney and Houston understated, “which would

make their handling and paddling a remarkable feat in itself,”26 and weigh the boards in at well over

200 pounds.

The longest olo in the Bishop collection (one of three) measures just over seventeen feet and is

approximately 16 ½ inches wide, 5 ¾ inch thick and weighs more than 150 pounds. The board came

from the collection of Prince Kuhio, Hawaii’s delegate to the U.S. Congress immediately following

annexation in the late 1800s. It is made from imported pine.27

The other two olo boards at the Bishop were the two owned by high chief Abner Paki.

Presumably, the olo was designed and shaped for moderate rolling swells which hit in only a

limited number of surf spots in the Hawaiian Islands – the most notable being Waikiki, on the south

shore of O‘ahu. The olo ride could be very long, but maneuverability extremely limited. During the

late 1920s, Tom Blake and Duke Kahanamoku built 16-foot redwood boards according to olo

specifications, testing them at Waikiki. The riding styles they found necessary to maneuver their

replicas helped reconstruct what we now know of the earlier olo riding technique.

“An olo’s length and bulk allowed it to catch a swell long before it broke and much farther out to

sea than was possible with shorter boards,” wrote Finney and Houston thirty years after Duke’s

and Blake’s discoveries. “Once on the wave, a surfer could slide with ease until long after the wave

had crested and begun to flatten out, while fellow-surfers, having lost the swell, would be paddling


back to the kulana nalu. An olo might even catch a wave that began to peak but never broke, as

often happens at Waikiki when the swell is weak. Once on a wave, however, with the ride’s angle set,

the surfer had difficulty making fast turns, especially when the wave grew steep. Also, the huge

board was hard to paddle through broken waves and sometimes had to be carried by canoe around

the rushing waves to the breaking place.”28

John Papa Ii wrote, “The `olo is thick in the middle and grows thinner toward the edges. It is a

good board for a wave that swells and rushes shoreward but not for a wave that rises up high and

curls over. If it is not moved sideways when the wave rises high, it is tossed upward as it moves

shoreward.”29

In the Hawaiian Annuals of 1896 there is the following account of ancient olo surf riding, by a

native of the Kona district of the island of Hawai‘i and translated by Nakoina, another surfer. “In

riding with the olo or thick board on a big surf, the board is pointed landward and the rider mounting

it paddles with his hands and impels with his feet to give the board a forward movement and when

it receives the momentum of the surf and begins to rush downward, the skilled rider will guide his

course straight or obliquely, apparently at will, according to spending character of the surf ridden,

to land himself high and dry on the beach or dismount on nearing it as he may elect. This style of

riding was called kipapa. In using the olo great care had to be exercised in its management lest from

the height of the wave if coming in direct the board would be forced into the face of the breaker

instead of floating lightly and riding on the surface of the water in which case the wave force being

spent reaction throws both rider and board into the air.”

The Kona native and Nakoina confirmed the olo paddle-out procedure. “In the use of the olo,

the rider had to swim out around the line of surf to obtain position or be conveyed thither by canoe.

To swim out through the surf with such a buoyant bulk was not possible, though it is sometimes

done with the thin boards, the alaia. The latter are good for riding all kinds of surf and are much

easier to handle than the olo.”30

Tom Blake wrote in his book Hawaiian Surfriders 1935, originally published as Hawaiian

Surfboard, that he found the late 1800’s Kona native’s description of pre-European contact surfing

to be the best he ever read. Blake, however, found fault with some of the dimensions listed in the

account and raised a question about materials. “That writer says the olo board of wili wili was ’two

or three feet wide.’ This makes the board too wide to paddle comfortably and also too wide to give a

good performance. The width of the olo board was from one to two feet wide, instead of from two to

three. I also infer, from that error, the writer to be unfamiliar with the wili wili, or chief’s board. It

is also evident from his writing that the olo, or long thick board, was not made of koa and ulu, but of

only wili wili. Therefore, Paki’s boards of olo design and made of koa are an exception and not the

rule. They really are too heavy to please the average surfrider.”31 Having said this, Blake went on to

point out, however, that 1930s surfer Northrup Castle had a board weighing more than Paki’s.

Castle’s was in the 200-pound range “and he likes it.”32

Owili (o-WE-lee) and Onini (o-NEE-nee) are the two names given to the thick olo board made of

wiliwili.33 These were of particular interest to Blake who, in part due to his research into the old

Hawaiian boards, went on to invent the hollow board. Blake pointed out that wiliwili is, “a porous

light wood like balsa. In fact, wili wili is Hawaiian balsa, just as koa is Hawaiian mahogany, of which

there are sixty-seven different kinds in the world. An alaia designed board of wili wili would not be

strong enough. Therefore, the olo type was about six inches thick maximum, down the center of the

board, and made of convex top and bottom so the edges beveled off to about one-half inch all around...

Duke Kahanamoku’s answer to the reason for the old wili wili boards being reserved for the chiefs

is that it was a very scarce and valuable wood. Therefore, the chiefs had wili wili boards for the same


reason that a man has a Rolls-Royce automobile today, that he is wealthy and can afford it.”34

Because of the olo’s limitations, it’s tempting to dismiss it as simply a curiosity, something

mostly the ali’i rode but never in really large surf. Yet, this somewhat ignoble status for the royal

board is open to a good deal of speculation. Both Duke and Blake rode their olo replicas at Castle

break and Papa Nui (outside Cunha) on big days. Also, it is no accident that the big wave boards of

today are quite narrow and, compared to all other surfboards, very long. “Perhaps in its extreme

length and narrowness,” Ben Finney speculated in 1960, “lies the secret for riding the as yet untested

fifty-foot monsters that crash into Kaena Point on Oahu. With modern boards, which measure

eleven feet or so, one might catch one of these waves, but only just before it crested, and when the

wave broke, the rider would almost certainly be killed. Some experienced surfers believe that a long,

narrow olo-like board might solve this problem. It would enable the rider to catch such a giant wave

while the swell was still comparatively flat, whereupon he would stand, take an angle, then ride

across out of the wave before it reached its critical steepness and crashed over him.”35

No one has tested this theory of basing big wave surfboard design on traditional templates. This

is probably due to what we’ve learned about big wave surfing since the 1930s and especially after

the mid-1950s. It appears there is a length too short and a length too long for boards in big surf.

Were Finney’s speculations ever proven to be true, however, it would indicate that the ancient

Hawaiians surfed waves as big as those attempted by modern hellmen, today. Finney, himself, admits

this speculation is on the wild side and that, “between the biggest surf and the low easy swells of

Waikiki, there were not many waves suited to the big olo boards. Consequently, limited

maneuverability usually restricted their use to those few suitable areas with ample space for their

characteristically long rides. Waikiki is such an area. But Waikiki’s combination of long, low swells

and sandy shore is not common in Hawaii. Along the Kona coast, for example, one finds more

often... rocky terrain... with steep walls of water breaking closer to shore. These latter conditions

seem to have allowed only the use of the smaller alaia.”36

The Kiko‘o

The kiko‘o was similar in shape to the olo, but shorter and used freely by commoner and ali‘i

a like. It is most often considered to be a long alaia.

The Hawaiian chronicler John Papa Ii (1800-1870) is the primary source of information on the

kiko‘o. “The kiko‘o reaches a length of 12 to 18 feet,” wrote Ii, “and is good for a surf that breaks

roughly. This board is good for surfing, but it is hard to handle. Other surfers are afraid of it because

of its length and its great speed on a high wave that is about to curl over. It can ride on all the risings

of the wave on its way until they subside and the board reaches shore.”37


The Alaia

Compared to the olo and kiko‘o, the alaia was shorter, broader, less convex and more plank-

like in its thinness. Legendary Hot Curl surfer John Kelly observed that, “Today’s guns

and light short boards have basic features including shapes, contours and breakaway edges handed

down from or similar to the ancient alaia boards.”38 The largest alaia boards in the Bishop Museum

collection range from 7-to-12 feet long, average 18-inches in width, and are from a half-inch to an

inch-and-a-half thick. Alaia boards were used by the common people, but the ali’i were also known

to ride these shapes. One particularly representative alaia board was collected by J. S. Emerson, in

Kailua, Hawai‘i, in 1885, and later donated to the Bishop. It is made of koa, is six-and-a-half feet

long, a little over a half inch thick at its center, and weighs eleven pounds. The bow end is curved in

a convex shape and the stern end is cut off square. Its widest point toward the bow is 14 3/4 inches

and the narrower stern end is 10 3/4 inches.39

Another alaia in the Bishop quiver is Princes Ka‘iulani’s board numbered 10400, of which

esteemed Hawaiian surfer Wally Froiseth made a replica in 2001.40

“On 10400,” admitted Betty Kam of the Bishop Museum, “the recorded information is brief.

This is said to be the surfboard of Princess Ka`iulani. This item, as well as many others, came to the

Museum from the Estate of Archibald Cleghorn, father of Princess Ka`iulani.”41

“I measured the thickness at the center,” Wally told me, describing his measurements for the

template, taken from the original alaia, “which was 5/8th of an inch and the edge is a half-inch. The

tail thickness was 3/8th of an inch. Center of the bow was 1/8th of an inch. So, I made a little

template with 1/8th of an inch curve. You know, so that I would come up with a ¼-inch on the edges.

A little more than an eighth.”42

According to the Kona native translated by Nakoina in the late 1800s, the alaia board was

sometimes called an omo.43 It was the preferred shape for steeper, faster-breaking surf. “The board’s

thinness and shorter length,” wrote Finney and Houston, “gave it much greater mobility on the

sheer faces of fast surf. The technique of sliding at an angle to the moving swell, which alaia surfers

had obviously mastered, was called lala.”44 The alaia ranged from a child’s board of approximately

six feet to about twelve feet long for adults. The adult board was about one-and-a-half inches thick

through the center, leveling off on both top and bottom to about one-quarter inch at the edges. The

comparatively small size of the alaia board made it easy to handle in waves that wall-up quickly and

form tubes or hollow sections in the process.45

“The alaia board,” wrote John Papa Ii, “… is 9 feet long, is thin and wide in front, tapering

toward the back. On a rough wave, this board vibrates against the rider’s abdomen, chest, or hands

when they rest flat on it, or when the fingers are gripped into a fist at the time of landing. Because

it tends to go downward and cut through a wave it does not rise up with the wave as it begins to curl

over. Going into a wave is one way to stop its gliding, and going onto the curl is another. Skilled

surfers use it frequently, but the unskilled are afraid of this board, choosing rather to sit on a canoe

or to surf on even smaller boards.”46

The alaia – like the other Hawaiian boards – is a round-nosed plan shape, with a squared-off

tail. It is very thin; thinner than most surfers, today, can imagine a surfboard to be. This thinness


presents its own challenges, as underscored by Kelli Ann

Heath, when she rode Wally Froiseth’s Ka‘iulani replica in

small Queen’s surf, in 2001. “Riding this board was like

trying to surf a snowboard in the water,” Kelli Ann recalled.

“The board had no buoyancy, so when I laid down on it, the

board would sink. It was very challenging to get enough

momentum to catch a wave, so I had to be pushed into the

waves, which were less than a foot high. The trick was to

stand up very quickly, and even then, I could only ride the

wave for a short distance before it would sink. It took me

several tries just to get to a halfway standing position.”47

“One instantly dashed in,” a non-native observer

reported, after seeing a Hawaiian surf rider on a seven foot

alaia board at Hilo, in 1878, “in front of and at the lowest

declivity of the advancing wave, and with a few strokes of

the hands and feet established his position; then without

further effort shot along the base of the wave eastward

with incredible velocity... his course was along the foot of

the wave, and parallel to it... so as soon as the bather had

secured his position he gave a spring and stood on his knees

upon the board, and just as he was passing, us... he gave

another spring and stood upon his feet, now folding his

arms on his breast, and now swinging them about in wild

ecstasy in his exhilarating ride.”48

The alaia shape made it possible for ancient riders to

avoid getting worked on close-out sets and kept them from

pearling, despite the thin edges. “It was the board most

suitable along the frequent rugged coasts,” wrote Finney

and Houston, “and it is no wonder that most of the ancient

boards remaining (ten of thirteen in the Bishop Museum

collection [in 1965]) are of the alaia type.” As to who rode

these boards, Finney and Houston believed that, “whereas

the olo was reserved exclusively for the ali’i, it seems obvious

that the commoners had no such exclusive rights to the

alaia. The greatest number of early reports tell of surfing

alaia style, and many legends mention chiefs surfing along

rocky shores where an olo board would be difficult to handle.

These two board types, then, allowed the separation of chief

and commoner if desired, but never to the point of depriving

the ali`i of the faster and more hazardous surf.”49

Alove: Koa alaia, 8-feet, 4-inches. Collected by Arning in 1887, Hilo, Hawai’i.

Photo courtesy of Mark Blackburn.


The Paipo

The Hawaiian paipo board was the ancient equivalent of today’s bodyboards or “boogie

boards.”50

Examples of the Hawaiian paipo exist at the Bishop Museum and as specimens L-120-373 and

P5019 in the Oceanian Collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University

of Pennsylvania.51

Oceanian Collection Board L-120-373 was obtained by Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), who

appears to be the first surfboard collector in the continental United States. Peale, a naturalist and

painter, served aboard the Peacock under the command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes during the

Wilkes Expedition to the Hawaiian Islands and South Pacific. The Peacock was in Hawai‘i between

September 30th and November 23, 1840 and also between June 14-21, 1841. It was during this time

that L-120-373 was collected. The board was donated to the University of Pennsylvania in 1856.52

L-120-373 is made of either breadfruit or wiliwili. It measures 12 1/2" at the nose, 9 1/2" at the

tail and is 56 1/2" long. Its bottom is convex, with shaped rails, nose rocker and slightly concave

deck.53

The other board in the University of Pennsylvania Museum is P5019. Its origins are sketchy. All

that really is known about where the board came from is that it was a gift to the museum by Dr.

Judson Daland in 1918. It is constructed of California redwood, is 16 1/2" at the nose, 12" at the tail,

and is 65 3/4" long. Its shape is similar to the board in the Bishop Museum photograph collection of

a Hawaiian native in loin cloth, holding a shortboard horizontally. Waikiki and Diamond Head are

in the background and the photo was taken in the late 1800s.54 It’s possible it may even be the same

board.

The first written description of paipo surfing was made by Lieutenant James King, anchored at

Kealakekua Bay, off the Big Island in 1778: “...a diversion most common is upon the Water, where

there is a very great Sea, & 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 plank about their Size and breadth,

they keep their legs close on top of it, & their Arms are us’d to guide the plank...”

Wood Types, Collection, Shaping and Ritual

Of the three main types of wood used to make ancient Hawaiian surfboards – wiliwili, ulu,

and koa — commoners were, “denied the use of the lighter, and more satisfactory, wiliwili

wood for the making of surfboards,” confirmed Duke Kahanamoku. “They had to settle for the

heavier, less buoyant, koa wood. It stood to reason then that the alii became the greatest surfers of

those times. They certainly had every advantage. A man’s board became a mark of his standing in


society – sort of a status symbol.”55

Tom Blake quotes another source as substantiating that the olo – specifically the owili – was a

“very thick surfboard made of wili wili.”56 Confusing the matter somewhat, Brigham, in Preliminary

Catalogue, wrote that “Surfboards were usually made of koa, flat with a slightly convex surface,

rounded at one end, slightly narrowing towards the stern, where it was cut square. Sometimes the

‘pa-pa’ (surfboard) was made of a very light wili wili and then made olo (narrow). In size, they

varied from three to eighteen feet in length and from eight to ten inches in breadth, but some of the

ancient boards were said to have been four fathoms long.”57

“In ancient times,” Duke Kahanamoku made a point of saying, “the Polynesians lay great spiritual

importance to their surfing. The stages involved in selecting a proper tree, cutting it down, preparing

the wood, treating it, and finally launching it as a finished surfboard, added up to a process that was

fraught with labor, complexities and ceremonies.”58 This was confirmed by the Kona native previously

mentioned, who testified in the late 1800s that “Before using the board, there were other rites or

ceremonies to be performed for its dedication. As before these were disregarded by the common

people, but among those who followed the making of surfboards as a trade, they were religiously

observed.”59 He went on to describe the selection process:

“Upon the selection of a suitable tree, a red fish called kumu, was first procured, which was

placed at its trunk. The tree was then cut down, after which a hole was dug at its root and the fish

placed therein, with a prayer, as an offering in payment thereof. After the ceremony was performed,

then the tree trunk was chipped away from each side until reduced to a board approximately of the

dimensions desired, when it was pulled down to the beach and placed in the halau (canoe house) or

other such suitable place convenient for the finishing work.”60

Duke Kahanamoku agreed. “After proper blessings and incantations by the kahuna (priest), the

tree was brought down and then trimmed of its branches preparatory for the final shaping. With

only the assistance of stone or bone tools, the natives painstakingly shaped the wood into the desired

proportions, then hauled it to their helau (canoe shed),61 where the prolonged, exacting work really

began.

“Days of tedious scraping and cutting followed in order to obtain the wanted shape, depth,

width and length. They strove for perfect balance, and sought to make the board fit the individual

for whom it was intended. Each board was veritably custom-built and tailored to suit ‘wearer.’”62

“Coral of the corrugated variety termed pohauku puna, which could be gathered in abundance

along the sea beach, and a rough kind of stone called oahi, were the commonly used articles for

reducing and smoothing the rough surfaces of the board until all marks of the stone adze were

obliterated,” related the Kona native of the late 1800s.63

Duke put it this way: “After countless hours of chipping with stone or bone adzes, the board

gradually took on the desired shape, and was then smoothed and polished by hand to the slickness

that promised minimum traction and maximum maneuverability. The wood was then rubbed down

with rough coral to erase the adze marks, and finally it was polished with ‘oahi stone rubbers, all in

the same way that the hulls of canoes were polished.

“Kukui nuts were then gathered and burned to a soot, and subsequently made into a dark stain.

When applied to the wood, it brought out the fine grain and made the board a thing of shining

beauty. In some instances the boards were stained a dark color with the root of the ti plant (moke

ki). In others the natives resorted to making a stain from the juice of banana buds and charcoal

from burnt pandanus leaves. In either case, when the stain became thoroughly dried, a preservative

of kukui oil was rubbed in by hand, giving the surface an even glossier finish.”64

A little more detail was provided by Thrum in the Kona native’s account as translated by Nakoina.


“As a finishing stain the root of the ti plant (Cordyline terminalis), called mole ki, or the pounded

bark of the kukui (Aleurites moluccana), called hili, was the mordant used for a paint made with the

root of burned kukui nuts. This furnished a durable, glossy black finish, far preferable to that made

of the ashes of burned cane leaves, or amau fern, which had neither body nor gloss.”65

Nathaniel Emerson, in a 1892 article entitled “Causes of Decline of Ancient Polynesian Sports,”

mentioned the protective finish of the canoe and surfboard. “This Hawaiian paint had almost the

quality of lacquer. Its ingredients were the juice of a certain euphorbia, the juice of the inner bark of

the root of the kukui tree, the juice of the bud of the banana tree, together with a charcoal made

from the leaf of the pandanus. A dressing of oil from the nut of the kukui was finally added to give

a finish.”66

Tom Blake was told by Cottrell, who witnessed this procedure, that a surfboard made of wiliwili

was sometimes, “buried in mud, near a spring, for a certain length of time to give it a high polish...

the mud entered the porous surface of the wili wili board acting as a good ‘filler’ for sealing up the

surface. When the board was then dried out the mud surface became hard and was polished and

oiled to a fine waterproof finish.”67

Board Consecration and Ceremonies

As evidenced by the care taken in wood

selection and preparation, surfing was

significantly more than a popular recreation.

In fact, surfing was, “a rather serious affair.”68

This was especially true when it combined with

other vital elements of Hawaiian culture. “In

this sense,” wrote Finney and Houston, surf

riding “was connected with the ancient religion

of the islands. Although surfing was not

specifically a religious observance, it was like

other aspects of Hawaiian life, integrally

involved with the gods and spirits of the day.”69

Religious importance was bestowed upon

all aspect of surfing – he’e nalu (Hay-ay NA-

lu).70 For instance, surfboard dedication

ceremonies did not end with the production of

the finished product. Duke Kahanamoku

related that, “With the board ultimately ready

for launching, the native kahuna administered

more rites, dedicating it with special prayers.

By the time the surfer took the board into the

water, it had taken on a personality and

significance which enlisted reverence from its


owner. After use in the surf, the board was always left in the sun until wholly dry, then rubbed well

with coconut oil, and hung up inside the hale (house). In fact the more exacting surfer even wrapped

the board in tapa cloth to further protect and preserve the wood.”71

It is probable that the dedication and rituals surrounding surfboards were similar to the dedication

of canoes, especially if the board belonged to a chief. According to David Malo, translated by Emerson

in 1898, “The building of a canoe was an affair of religion. They took with them to the mountains as

offerings, a pig, coconuts, kuma (red fish), and awa. Having come to the tree they sacrificed these

things to the gods with incantations and prayers and there they slept. The kahuna alone planned

out and made the measurements for the inner parts of the canoe. The inside was finished off by

means of the adze (made of lava or other stones). The ceremony of lolo, was consecrating the canoe,

in which the deity was again approached in prayer. This was done often after the canoe had returned

from an excursion at sea.”72 When one considers the vast distances Polynesians sometimes traveled

in their canoes, the dangers of the journey and the need for all possible good fortune in completing

them, no wonder there was great solemnity in their consecration.

No matter how good the board and how auspicious the ceremonies conducted around it, as

Finney and Houston remind us, “Once completed, a board is of little use to the surfer unless the surf

is running. When the ocean was flat the Hawaiians took measures to address the return of rideable

waves. If a group of surfers wanted to address the ocean, they might gather on the beach, find

strands of pohuehue (beach morning glory; Ipomoea pescaprae), swing them around their heads

together and lash the surface of the water chanting in unison.”73 One such surf chant was recorded

by Thrum, in the Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1896:

Ina‘a ‘ohe nalu, a laila aku i kai,

Penei e hea ai:

Kumai! Kumai! Ka nalu nui mai Kahiki mai,

Alo po‚i pu! Ku mai ka pohuehue,

Hu! Kai ko‚o loa.

(If there is no surf,

invoke seaward in the following manner:)

Arise! Arise, you great surfs from Kahiki,

The powerful curling waves.

Arise with pohuehue.

Well up, long raging surf.74

Even though “Some Hawaiians will swear that the ancients could make the surf rise with such

a chant and using a vine to whip the water,” Tom Blake attributed successful kahuna surf making

more to, “their power of keen observation of the weather signs, which take on certain definite

characteristics before the big surf. Such as seeing the iwa, a species of albatross, flying over land.

They come in from the sea to escape storms, which often accompany the coming of big surf... Also a

powerful surge is given by the small swells before the coming of big waves. Big surf, that is fairly

continuous, seems to run in cycles every five or seven years. Undoubtedly, the ancient kahunas who

wanted to make big surf had nothing much else to do but study these prophetic signs of coming surf

and were, no doubt, far superior to anyone today in interpreting them.” Blake added, writing in the


1930s, “Some beach boys today, occasionally make kahuna for surf, but usually miss and get chided

about their powers.”75

It’s questionable whether or not a pohuehue chant could work for us today, in Duke and Tom’s

day, or in the Hawai‘i of long ago. More certain, however, is that “wave sliding” – he’e nalu – is

thousands of years old and the boards – papa he’e nalu — we ride, today, are direct successors to the

olo, kiko’o, alaia and paipo.

THE ENDThe End of Chapter 3: Ancient Hawaiian Surfboards

Ancient Hawaiian Surfboards - SourcesChapter 3 Endnotes

1 Blake, 1935, pp. 17-18.

2 Finney & Houston, 1966, p. 32.

3 Muirhead, 1962, pp. 1-2.

4 Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 32.

5 Cralle, Trevor. The Surfin’ary: A Dictionary of Surfing Terms and Surfspeak, ©1991, published

by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California, p. 168.



8 Finney & Houston, 1966, pp. 32-33. See also Morrison, James, p. 226. See also Finney &

Houston, 1996, p. 24.




12 Ellis, William. Polynesian Researches I-IV, London, published 1831. Quoted in Surfing, The

Royal Sport of Hawaiian Kings, by Finney & Houston, ©1966, p. 33.

13 Gault-Williams, Malcolm. “Moikeha at Makaiwa,” Kauai Magazine, Spring 1995, ©1995 by

H & S Publishing, Kapa’a, Kauai. Peter Buck has Moikeha at 1250 A.D.

14 Finney and Houston. See also O.B. Patterson, in Surf-Riding, ©1960. Patterson claims,

however, that surfing originated in Hawaii, p. 120.


16 Kahanamoku, 1968, p. 19.

17 Kahanamoku, Duke with Brennan, Joe. World of Surfing, ©1968, Grosset & Dunlap, New

York, NY, p. 18.

18 Fornander, Abraham. Hawaiian Folk Lore, quoted in Hawaiian Surfriders 1935, by Thomas

E. Blake, ©1983, Mountain and Sea, Redondo Beach, California. Originally titled Hawaiian Surfboard,

by Thomas E. Blake, published in 1935 by Paradise of the Pacific Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, p. 17.


Used by permission.

19 Kahanamoku, 1968, p. 18. See Finney & Houston, 1996, Paki picture on page 44.

20 Kahanamoku, 1968, pp. 18-19. See also Blake, 1935, pp. 37-38.

21 Finney, Ben R. and Houston, James D. Surfing, The Sport of Hawaiian Kings, ©1966, C.E.

Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, p. 48. See also diagrams in Kahanamoku, 1968.

22 Finney, Ben R. and Houston, James D. Surfing, A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport,

©1996, Pomegranate Artbooks, San Francisco, p. 42.


24 Blake, 1935, pp. 17-18.

25 Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 48. See also Kahanamoku, 1968, p. 18. Duke has the heaviest

board at 174 pounds.





28 Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 48-49. Kulana nalu (Ku-LAH-nah NA-lu) refers to the spot

where a surfer paddles to catch a wave; the take-off spot; usually the most distant line of breakers

[Surfin’ary, p. 167, ref. F&H].

29 I‘i, John Papa quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 41.

30 Blake, 1935, pp. 46-47.

31 Blake, 1935, p. 47.

32 Blake, 1935, p. 47.

33 Surfin’ary, 1991, p. 168 references F&H.

34 Blake, 1935, pp. 17-18.

35 Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 49-50.


44 I‘i, John Papa. Fragments of Hawaiian History, translated by Mary Kawena Pukui, edited by

Dorothy B. Barrer, ©1959, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. Quoted in Lueras, Leonard. Surfing,

The Ultimate Pleasure, ©1984, Workman Publishing, New York, NY, p. 41.

45 Browne, Bud. Surfing The 50’s, a videotape collection of the best of his films of the 1950s,

©1994. John Kelly narration.


47 See Gault-Williams, Malcolm. “The Ka‘iulani Board.”

48 Kam, Betty. Email to Malcolm Gault-Williams, April 4, 2001

49 Gault-Williams, Malcolm. Interview with Wally Froiseth, May 30, 2001.

50 Hawaiian Annuals, 1896. Kona district native translated by Nakoina. See Blake, p. 44.

Pronounced O-mo. It is possible there was some confusion between references to the alaia and the

olo and that “omo” is a mis-translation of olo.


52 Blake, 1935, p. 17.

53 I‘i, John Papa quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 41.

54 Heath, Kelli Ann. Fax to Fran, July 28, 2001.

55 Caton, John D. Miscellanies, published in 1880, Boston, pp. 243-244. Quoted in Finney and

Houston, 1966, p. 50.


57 Newell, Skip. “Paipo, It’s Not How Long You Make It…” from Surfing, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan/Feb


1970, pp. 56-59.

58 The Surfer’s Journal, “Collector’s Corner: Indiana Seymour in the Temple of Oceanian,”

Volume 4, Number 3, Fall 1995. See photos of L-120-373.

59 The Surfer’s Journal, Volume 4, Number 3, Fall 1995.



62 Young, Nat. History of Surfing, ©1983, Palm Beach Press, 40 Ocean Road, Palm Beach,

N.S.W. 2108, Australia, p. 31. See also Hawaiian Annuals 1896, in Blake, 1935, p. 45.

63 Kahanamoku, 1968, p. 22. See also Andrews, in Blake, 1935, p. 48.

64 Blake quoting Andrews, 1935, p. 48. Andrews also offered two other names for surfboards: o-

ni-ni, a “kind of surfboard,” and pa-ha.

65 Blake quoting Andrews and Brigham, 1935, p. 48. A fathom is a measurement of 6 feet,

usually used in stating water depth.


67 Thrum, Thomas G. “Hawaiian Surf Riding,” Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1896. Kona

native translated by Nakoina, from a Hawaiian manuscript, pp. 106-113, quoted in Blake, 1935, p.

46.

68 Thrum, quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 41. See also Blake, 1935, p. 45.

69 Halau is the correct Hawaiian spelling for long house, as for canoes or hula instruction;

meeting house.



72 Kahanamoku, 1968, pp. 20-21.


74 Emerson, Nathaniel B. “Causes of Decline of Ancient Polynesian Sports,” The Friend, L, viii,

published 1892, pp. 57-60. Quoted in Blake, p. 45.

75 Blake, 1935, pp. 45-46.


Above: Surfer/Innovator Tom Blake with his quiver of boards, late 1920s.

Blake was the first person to help restore the original Hawaiian boards in

the Bishop Museum collection, mid-1920’s. The board directly in back of

him is an olo replica made from redwood. On Tom’s right are two alaia

replicas made from redwood and pine. The other boards are non-

traditional Blake-innovated hollowboards.

ancient hawaiian surfboards

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