Kimo Hollinger's look at Pop Aikau, and the Aikau family, ran in the November 1977 issue of SURFER Magazine. This version has been slightly edited. * * * The invitation read, “Come Help Us Celebrate the First Birthday of Gerald Kelii Aikau.” I thought to myself, “Wow, another luau at the Aikau’s. Are you ready for it?” I decided I was. I telephoned Pop and asked him if there was anything I c...
Robert Bone's story about Eddie Aikau's memorial service ran on the front page of the April 2, 1978, issue of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. * * * The sun shone, the wind blew, and the relentless blue-and-white surf crashed against the steep sand of Waimea Bay while they honored Eddie Aikau in speeches, flowers, songs, and prayers. Yesterday’s hour-long funeral service for the Hokule'a crewman ...
John Christensen and Harold Morse's article on the capsizing of the voyaging canoe Hokule'a ran on the front page of the Star-Bulletin on March 18, 1978. * * * The second Tahitian voyage of the Hokule'a—one that was to span 3,000 miles and an estimated 30 days—ended only hours after it began when the vessel capsized in rough seas. Fifteen of the 16 crew members were plucked shivering but safe ...
John Christensen's feature on Eddie Aikau ran on the front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on March 23, 1978. Aikau was last seen six days earlier, paddling away from the Hokule‘a, a replica Polynesian voyaging canoe, after it capsized at night in the Molokai Channel in heavy seas. AIkau went looking for help but was never seen again. * * * The search for Eddie Aikau has ended, but for “P...
Nick Holt reached out a few months ago asking for suggestions on how to get some old Super 8 home movie reels digitized. He was mostly excited about some long-lost Honolua Bay footage shot by his then-teenaged New Jersey-raised father during a family vacation in Maui, in 1969 or 1970. We're still waiting to see that, but in the meantime Nick has digitized and posted a few reels of his dad and frie...
A Letter from Matt Warshaw, Executive Director of Encyclopedia of Surfing Surfers, surf culture aficionados, fellow travelers—the 2023 EOS fundraiser is ON and if you want to skip to the business end of this message, click here to donate. Last week we pushed the big red launch button on EOS 2.0, and bringing that new and massively upgraded version of the site to life pretty much sucked all our ...
"Along the Miracle Mile," a regular Honolulu Star-Bulletin feature by writer Margie Stone, covered the lighter side of Waikiki. This edition of Stone's column ran on July 12, 1958. * * * When Waikiki's waves are up, as they were last week, everyone on the beach knows the only place to find the Kukea family—out where the big swells start to rise. These Kultras—a fire department captain, a hou...
After winning the Makaha International Surfing Championships two years running, Ethel Kukea and four other Hawaii-based surfers were invited to compete in the 1957 Peru International contest. Anne Lamont and Betty Heldreich were able to pay their own way to Lima. Kukea and the two male surfers—Rabbit Kekai and Conrad Canha—turned to the public in order to raise travel expenses. The Honolulu Advert...
Pauline King's article on Betty Heldreich ran in the April 15, 1957, edition of the Honolulu Advertiser. This version has been slightly edited. * * * In two and a half years, Mrs. Ronald Heldreich went from surfing novice to winner of the women’s international surfing event held on March 23, in Lima, Peru. "I’ve flown gliders and airplanes and participated in all kinds of sports, but I’ve fou...
Helen Covell's article ran in the May 10, 1964, edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. This verison has been slightly edited * * * "Girls can't ride surfboards"—or so the boys say. But we can, and we've got the top girls to prove it. The boys say we aren't strong enough. We lack balance and gracefulness. We are too scared of scars to tackle the big waves. Boys don't give us much encourage...