Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

NE WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BACKING TO NW IN THE AFTERNOON.
WIND WAVES 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT IN THE AFTERNOON.
SW SWELL 4 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
TONIGHT SW WIND 15 KT.
WIND WAVES 3 FT. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 15 SECONDS.

Looking pretty miniscule out there today...although the 14-15 second period may supply a little bit extra?...here's hoping.

A nice big board might be the call today...needless to say.

The above board is a 15'7" and belonged to Chief Paki in 1830...it only weighed 160 pounds...

The board was ridden at Waikiki in the 1830's by high chief Abner Paki, however Tom Blake estimated that the boards may be much older. He initially encountered the boards in the mid-1920's, covered in red paint and hung by wire, outside the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, were they had been for over 20 years. After several requests to the museum's curator, Mr. Bryan, Tom Blake was allowed to remove the boards and restore them to their original unpainted condition. This proved to be a more work than anticipated - the red paint covered several layers of blue paint, and below that layers of a sand coloured paint. Underneath the layers of paint, worm holes had been filled with a marine deck seam compound and on the largest board the tail section had been replaced with Californian redwood. Blake concluded that the boards were probably already antiques by 1830, when Paki had them repaired to ride.

DESIGN HISTORY

Very large board's use was restricted, by tradition, to royalty. This may have been due to a heirachical social structure, but it would also restrict access to certain surfing locations and to the largest available trees. Although there are reports that willi willi was the preferred timber, the only two examples from this period are koa. As in the case of the Alaia, it's light weight of made it unlikely that willi willi boards would survive until the 20th century. The only other known example, acquired from the collection of Prince Kuhio in 1800's, is imported pine.
There are no contemporary accounts of how the boards were ridden, but it is most likely that the design was specifically for riding large swells on outside reefs, rather than on breaking or curling waves. In 1961, Tom Blake suggested that the Olo may have been ridden prone.

Surfed XX until evening. Complete crap but if you were lucky you would get one that didn't close out. Small as ever...but the weather was fabulous...even a few people out w/out wetsuits. Contemplated leaving...but didn't and should have.