Princes of Surf

This might be one of those times when a thousand words would do a better job than one photo. One hundred and thirty years ago, three princes from Hawaii visited Santa Cruz and introduced surfing to the world beyond their islands. This 1885 visit helped shape the unique surfing cultural identity of this area. While they were here the princes crafted surfboards from local redwood lumber, and when they returned home they took the boards with them. Today these boards came back to Santa Cruz, on loan from the Bishop Museum in Hawaii.

There was much hoopla for a couple hours downtown. A cavalcade of about forty woodie station wagons escorted the very large moving van that held the crated boards. Two extremely long wooden shipping crates were carefully unloaded and wheeled into the museum, where they were to be opened in front of an elite audience of museum benefactors. A small crowd lined the street, an interesting juxtaposition of policemen, museum workers, surfers, car enthusiasts and just plain curious folk. The woman in the bright turquoise dress was somehow affiliated with the celebration, although I couldn't find anyone who actually knew her story. She never took her eyes off the crates, and continually sang and chanted--clearly deep into a ceremony, perhaps to insure safe passage of the precious cargo.

The boards will be accessible for public viewing starting next week. And the classic cars will be displayed all day Saturday at Woodies on the Wharf, the annual auto show and celebration of all things woodie.

(Notes from local newspaper article on 6/26: 

More than a century ago, three Hawaiian princes surfed Santa Cruz's San Lorenzo River mouth--the first instance of the sport on the US mainland--riding "o'lo" boards shaped from Santa Cruz redwood. When the princes returned to Hawaii around 1890, they took the nearly 20-foot 200-pound boards with them. For decades two of the three original boards were forgotten deep in a Honolulu museum...
The motorcade was greeted at the museum by Antioch resident Kumu Kaui Perlato, a Hawaiian hula teacher who chanted blessings in her native tongue, meant to wake and welcome the spirits of the surfboards.)