Surfing in Hawaii  A film by Tilman Büttner

00.23
For centuries, the descendants of Polynesian sailors lived undisturbed on the islands of Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

00.34
That all changed one day in January 1779, when two British sailing boats dropped anchor in the bay of Kealakakua.

Captain James Cook had set sail with the Resolution and the Discovery to find the Northwest Passage. By chance he came across these unknown islands. Thousands of natives welcomed the sailors. 
Boote Hawaiianer

01.03
They were just celebrating a festivity in honor of god Lonoikamakahiki and now it looked as if he had actually turned up in person.

01.15
The expedition secretary noted that the natives came paddling out on flat boards to greet the newcomers and they used the boards to ride the waves for their own amusement. 

01.33
Hawaii - still the ultimate surfer's paradise.

01.55
Waves from the north Pacific come rolling southwards. The reefs around the Hawaiian islands are the first obstacles they hit. The waves turn into breakers and that produces unique surf condition.

02.19
The period from November to February is the high season on the north coast of Ohahu. Surfers from all over the world gather here. Perched on boards short and long, they are all after the supreme kick, sometimes braving waves that rear up to the size of a five-story building before crashing on the shore.

02.45
At first light the coastguards man their posts on Ohahu's Sunset Beach. In the high season hardly a day passes when they're not called out at least once.

02.58
The native surfers are familiar with the hazards but they still drop in on the coastguards to chat about wind and waves. 03.06

O-TON LOVE
03.09
My name is Love Hodel, I`m 29 years old, born and raised in Hawaii, and my occupation is a professional surfer. 

O-TON LOVE
03.23
I just hop in my car or on my bike and I go down to the waves. That`s the first thing I do in the mornings.

03.36
Love is a short-boarder. He surfs on a short, easily maneuverable, pointed board that responds quickly and sensitively. 

O-TON LOVE
03.47
The best thing about the North Shore is definitively the Ocean. You get a three mile strand between the Sunset Point and Pipeline of some of the best surfs.

04.05
For years, Love was part of the professional circuit, taking part in surfing contests almost everywhere. But now his vagabond years are over and the only competitions he signs up for are here in Hawaii.

04.19
Surfing is not just a sport, it's a way of life. And it has a music style all its own.  Dick Dale and the Deltones, the pioneers in this genre, were the predecessors of the Beach Boys.
Tot. Strand

O-TON LOVE
04.43
It`s quite crowded nowadays. A lot of people move from other states or even other countries. So all their energy combine in one tight, small area. You cankind of feel it, you can see it a lot. It`s not like it was years ago - it was really quite,..., not much hostility.

05.05
In the sixties the North Shore had only just been discovered for surfing. A few sleepy hippie communes were all there was. Haleiwa, the small community on Waimea Beach, still has something of that charm. But ever since the big road in from Honolulu was completed, the stream of tourists, investors, and surfing addicts has been steadily growing.

05.36
As his name suggests, Love comes from a hippie family.

O-TON LOVE
05.47
I was going to College, going to a business university at Honolulu.For me it came to a kind of abrupt end as a sponsor came forward and offered me a nice contract lasting for a few years, with a good salary...I just made a decision to put off school and to do what I want, you know, and what I love to do. If I get paid for it, and get considerable advantages...School can always come later.

06.20
For Love kick-boxing with trainer and masseur Kudo is both a fitness work-out and a second-best substitute for surfing when there are no waves worth riding.

O-TON LOVE
06.46
I have a few different sponsors, which is my clothing sponsor, my surf board sponsor and they are my main bread and butter. That rounds up to about 60 000 a year and that`s not including when I make contest earnings which can vary from 100 for a year up to 20 000 for a year. You never know how much you will make.

07.13
Maui, the neighboring island, is the home of this young surfer, who comes from pure Hawaiian stock. 

O-TON KAHEKILI
07.21
Kahekili Kaaa, age 17, from Waiuma, Maui
I go to school on regular days and after school I go and find some surf and I hang around.

O-TON KAHEKILI
07.35
On a weekend, if there is a contest, I get up early and that`s two days spending in the water.

O-TON ROSS KAAA
07.47
My name is Ross Kaa. I`m 47 years old. Kahekili is a very accomplished athlete. He is probably 10 times the athlete I ever was.

O-TON Kahekili
08.14
When I go to school: Hey man, you could be a professional longboarder... They think professionals get free stuff, nice cars, everything, a lot of money...

O-TON Kahekili
But I have surfed against profs, I stay with them, it`s not all that, really... 

O-TON Kahekili
Once in a while there is a good contest for you to earn a lot of money and after that there is nothing. You live just of that one contest.

08.46
Kahekili prefers the old-fashioned but classical long-board, good for smooth, elegant figure-surfing.

O-TON KAHEKILI
09.01
I listed into the marine corps, four months ago and that pretty much kind of changed my whole motivation. Now I just surf for fun, surf for myself. I want to enjoy the surfing as much as I can before I leave.

O-TON ROSS
09.21
Being the athlete that Kahekili is, he had a great future and could making his life of surfing may be a career.

O-TON ROSS
09.39
It was heartbreaking when we heard the news but at the same time there was a lot of pride. We appreciate that he as a young man is making his kind of commitment for a ,military career, for now.

O-TON ROSS
10.03
We are an island people, surrounded by the ocean. To appreciate and respect the ocean is foremost.

O-TON ROSS
10.14
When my paddle board..., whenI cross the ocean between different islands I paddle with whales which is an awesome feeling. Just being on the ocean with these animals and elements. It`s an appreciation that I have developed for life.

10.35
For centuries this life in harmony with nature left its stamp on the indigenous island inhabitants. But the arrival of white missionaries in 1820 soon put a stop to their uncomplicated, idyllic existence. 

10.54
The religious zealots from Puritan England pilloried surfing. Naked men and women on surfboards was synonymous with indecency. The gentle gyrations of the hula dance were also very much at odds with their religious idea of decorum.

11.16
Sugar cane ushered in another new era for Hawaiian society. The missionaries were quick to size up the economic potential. Americans and Europeans established a sugar industry and started making serious money with it during the American Civil War. 

11.38
Native manpower was nowhere near sufficient, so workers were imported from China, Korea, Portugal and many other countries. 

11.50
The great sugar boom is over but the international population mix has remained. Today, pure Hawaiians are very few and far between.

12.02
Surfing survived all the restrictions. Long neglected, it celebrated its great comeback in the forties on Waikiki beach.

O-Ton Woody
12.23
I´m Woody Brown, my age is... I just made the 90..

12.35
Woody still regularly gets out his surfboard, maneuvers it out through the hall, and makes for the nearby harbor to ride a small wave or two. A strange quirk of fate brought him to Hawaii in 1940 and since then his life has been devoted to surfing.  

O-Ton Woody
13.00
I have learned I had a beautiful wonderful women and I had learned about how wonderful love is. That is more wonderful than all flying and surfing and everything. That`s the greatest thing we know on this world is a good woman.

O-Ton Woody
13.14
Couple of days after I came back she gave birth, but she died in child birth.

O-Ton Woody
Boy, I just cracked up. So all of a sudden she was taken away, right when I was on the top of everything. I never flew again. I just cracked up, started to dash around the world and I told God: I can`t live anymore, kill me, get rid of me. 

O-Ton Woody
13.39
And He said:why don`t you go to the South Sea, you always wanted to. I was on the boat the next day. I don`t know what happened to my car, the house, my clothes, I don`t know what happened to anything, I was just gone.So I ended up over here, because during the war, they wouldn`t let you leave the country.

So Surfing kind of saved my life. Because I couldn`t sleep at night. So what I will do, when I get up early in the morning, I go out on my surfboard and I just stay there all day. 

O-Ton Woody
14.09
Lunchtime I dived down to get seaweed to eat. So by evening I was so damned exhausted that I could get a little sleep. So in a way, Surfing, saved my life, in way, you know.

14.34
It was here in Waikiki that Woody's new life began in 1940. He lived right down on the beach and spent most of his time with a small group of native surfers: beach boys, then referred to rather contemptuously as beach bumps, little better than hobos. 

14.58
The group was almost exclusively Hawaiian with only a few "haole" or whites. Translated literally, "haole" means "without life."

15.14
Woody is still well known and well liked. Down on the beach for a walk he meets some old friends.

15.29
As he contemplates the historical photos in Bishop Museum memories begin to surface:

O-Ton Woody
15.40
Oh yes, isn`t that wonderful. This is the town room and the littler store that was along side of the town room and the little stairway going up to my appartment, above that little liquor store.

O-Ton Woody
16.00
This is the first catamaran that I build. Yes , this are all pictures of the first catamaran, the very first catamaran that was ever build in the world in modern times. Since the Hawaiian build their double canoes. I take the tourists out and gave them real rides. 

O-Ton Woody
16.22
Oh yes, they get just a kick when we catched the big waves out on the ocean. And they jeered and hooted and said: the best thing we have done in Hawaii. So all my life I made people happy, that`s a pretty good way to earn your living. 

O-Ton Woody
16.40
That looks like Tom Blake. Now you can see all his old boards. Some of them are his hollow boards, tow of them, the two middle boards, are Koa boards. They are real big and the beach boys could take the tourists out, they were long and good in floating. 

O-TON WOODY
17.23
Oh the Duke. He would take the tourists all time, he was a nice good looking guy. A big, strong Hawaiian guy. So he impressed a lot of tourists: "Now you take care of my daughter, I trust you..." Excellent! So he became very famous this way. And than, he had such a loving attitude - the Aloha Spirit. He was a pure Hawaiian.

O-TON WOODY
17.56
The Aloha Spirit we talk about love for each other, we call it Aloha that spirit. That was there amongst everybody. So even if you were working you were laughing about that. We were all like one.

Ross im Auto
18.15
On the western side of Maui lies the island's tourist center: Lahaina. Ross Kaaa has a job there and drives over every evening. 

O-TON ROSS
18.29
I have been playing professionally for a little over 20 years now and I play the Hawaiian Steel-guitar, which is a Slide guitar and our music accompanies a group of Hula dancers. Our music is a lifestyle like our surfing

O-TON ROSS
18.45
Our music will have a mood setting atmosphere. There are songs that just suit you, there are songs that make you snap your fingers and stamp your feet. It`s something that you can sit down, move your head to the rhythm and sit back and close your eyes and picture a sunset over the ocean.

O-TON ROSS
19.09
It is very reflective about the people of Hawaii.

19.16
Hula used to be celebrated exclusively by men at the religious ceremonies of the indigenous inhabitants as a ritual plea for success in hunting or for fertility. The only accompaniment was a monotonous chant.

The use of instruments like the steel guitar or the ukulele came later with the immigrants. Hula gradually changed into a popular dance and finally became the epitome of the Hawaiian life-style all over the world.

O-TON ROSS
19.46
The commercialisation of Hawaiian music is just gonna promote the Hawaiian music all over the world.

O-TON ROSS
19.57
There are songs of the moon and stars, ,music of travels, from the migration of the Hawaiians to where we are now. The travels of particular gods and goddesses.

20.20
Despite this commercialization, the hula dance also took on greater significance in the everyday lives of the Hawaiians themselves. They rediscover their own language, their native dances and music culture, and many forgotten traditions now.

20.34
Traditions that their ancestors had brought with them from the Marquesas Islands and Tahiti. 

20.43
The Polynesians were excellent sailors and navigators. The sea was their home. Their leisure time was taken up with he`e nalu, literally wave-gliding, said to be the oldest sport in the world.

21.04
Ross Kaaa and his family spend more time on the water than at home.

O-TON ROSS
21.22
The family is really important to me. We are trying to do a lot of things together.

O-TON Kahekili
21.30
In summertime we spend many days down at the beach together. We all surf, my brother, my sister, my dad surfs and paddles and my mum cooks the food at the beach.

O-TON KAHEKILI
22.14
To catch a wave you need a lot of ocean knowledge. What a position is needed before the waves come. The water coordination of the body needs a lot of practice. Once you are on, It`s the easy part. That`s basically walking.

O-TON LOVE
22.38
A wave is like a nonstop moving. It`s not like a hard floor, so like a baseball court or a bike, a steady thing. On the ocean something is moving nonstop.

23.18
The absolute highlight is the barrel ride, when the wave breaks over the surfer's head and forms a tunnel.

23.44
Extreme surfers are always in search of new kicks. Further north, on the coast of Maui, is a surfing area called Jaws. The surfers are towed out to the twenty-foot waves with jet skis.

23:59
In the forties Woody was one of the first to brave the monster waves off the North Shore.

O-TON Woody
24.06
My friend Dicky and I found no waves at Waikiki but at the North Shore , so we decided: Let`s go over there. So we went out there and we were trying to ride these 25 foot waves.

O-TON Woody
24.18
All of a sudden, way out in the blue water come these great grey lines, like a stepladder, going up and up. So we tried paddling like mad to get out but we never made it. 

O-TON Woody
24.36
So we, seeing the first one going to break, we thought: Well, that`s the end. Because they were monsters, I have never seen anything like that. 

O-TON Woody
24.48
We agreed what we would do when we get there, we would go and sit outside in the deep water and wait till we could see where it was save to go in again. And he started paddling inside again. And I shouted: Ey, wait Dicky, don`t , no! All of a sudden he comes up at the back of one of these waves. And he lost his board.

O-TON Woody
25.20
And I thought: Oh no! Two man on one of these little boards. I was exhausted from paddling five miles up the coast. And I was paddling in again. My eye fixed on the sea… And then, my God, here came the big surge again, a blue stepladder out of blue water. So I turned around and started paddling as fast as I could. 

O-TON Woody
25.44
After the big waves were gone I started looking for Dicky. I searched, waved , howled and there was no Dicky. We never did find him. We never found any remains from him. Parts of the board at the strand.

26.11
The last contest of the season for young amateurs takes place at Hoikipa Beach on Maui. 

26.21
Every weekend the same surfers meet up, friends and relatives, one big family reunion.

26.30
Once again, Kahekili has excellent prospects of ending up champion in the open class.

26.40
Five scorers adjudicate the events.

26.45
Ross Kaa is not allowed to rate his son's efforts.

26.52
The sea is rough and choppy, and the surfers really have their work cut out.

27.04
After the start signal Kahekili has fifteen minutes to present a good ride with as many different maneuvers as possible.

O-TON Kahekili
27.16
It is you against the waves and not so much you against the other competitors. That contest the waves put a really good fight. It`s kind of windy and really bumpy. But all in all we all have to surf under the same surf conditions. That`s what I have learned.

O-TON Kahekili
27.41
If you catch a real bad wave you get a bad rythm. You paddle after the good ones where everybody else are and you are waiting there forever.

28.04
At last the right wave comes along. This ride wins Kahekili first place. 

28.18
Father Ross watches the victory ceremony with mixed feelings. Pride at his son's success mingles with sadness at the end of the young man's career. For the time being at least.