Comment from Anonymous:
“Across the Atlantic – in a garden shed: Most 84-year-olds would settle for a Saga cruise. But this ancient mariner had other ideas. https://dailym.ai/1G0hD9r”
Note: Anthony Smith passed away in July 2014 at age 88: https://nyti.ms/17DNyxR
Old school. No stinkin SurfTek boards here!
Awesome collection of hand-crafted/shaped by Ambrose surfboards.
Ambrose is south of the main part of Kapa’a, on the main highway.
He’s a wise man.
See earlier post:
A polluting, clumsy, resource-guzzling symbol of over-consumption docked at Nawiliwili, Kauai
I saw a huge number of old school surfboards (turns out there are 200, almost all made by Ambrose) a little south of the main part of Kapa’a, stopped in and met Ambrose Curry III, who has lived here since 1969. Turned out he is a fellow native San Franciscan, so we had lots to talk about. We hit it off on all cylinders and even went out in the choppy reef surf on 2 of his big boards (10′ and 11′) and got knocked around a bit while he pointed out landmarks on the shore and mountains.
Here he is standing next to a 15′-4″ board that is 30-7/8″ wide and weighs 40 lbs. It’s styrofoam with epoxy resin. (I saw some spectacular Hawaiian tandem surfing on TV last night.)
I told Andrew about my trouble riding an air mat and he said the really good mats were made by Dale Solomon and called Pneumatic Surfcraft, no longer available. They had, among other things a very roughened up top deck. He gave me a lot of mat riding tips, so I’m gonna give it another try when I get home.
Boy, was it fun to run into a brother native son, and a surfer to boot.
This explains why there are so many dangerous places to swim in Hawaii — the steep drop-off of mountains into sea.
-From Ted Fleming
“The Hawaiian Islands are a chain of massive volcanoes that stretch over 1,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. Though some of these volcanoes reach nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, more of their height lies under the ocean’s surface. For example, Mauna Kea (on big island of Hawaii — 13,796 ft above sea level) is about 32,000 feet from the mountain’s base to the summit.”
https://pacificislandparks.com/2012/02/18/below-the-surface/
This is a steep, rugged section of land at the end of the road on the north shore of Kauai. I hiked in 2 miles to Hanakapiai Beach and it was tough! This is a mother of a trail, steep and slippery in parts. When I got to the beach, the surf was (sorry to use the word) awesome. 15’+ shore break. Anyone in the water would be more or less instantly killed, if not by the bonecruncher waves, by the rocky (no sand this time of year) shore.
A few observations:
1. There were just too many people on the trail.
2. I couldn’t believe how many overweight people were making this trek.
3. There were also runners — running no less.
At left, part of the trail going up…
This day’s adventure to be continued…
I realize that I am afflicted with over-enthusiasm, especially when it comes to communicating my experiences as i move through life. That said, this was just about the most perfect day I’ve ever had.
I was a water person in earlier years, starting at 4 years of age when I fell in a lake and while underwater until my dad fished me out, enjoyed the experience. In high school I swam competitively and one day after a swimming meet at the great Fleishacker salt water pool out at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, a swimmer named Jim Fisher and I went out across the Great Highway to swim in the ocean. I couldn’t believe it. The waves, blue water, invigoration. I was hooked.
Had my first surfboard ride at age 18, then changed my major at Stanford so I was through every Thursday at noon and able to head to Santa Cruz until Sunday night. I was a lifeguard, taught swimming, and then somehow over the years, drifted away from the beach in comparison with my serious surfer friends.
WELL — I’ve come to this small island of Kauai to get back in the water. Today I was in the ocean 3 times — a little bodysurfing, mostly swimming (the last time in the rain tonight) and in a fresh water pool 3 times..
A barista coffee shop on wheels with wonderful coffee, muffins, and vibes. A hostel on the beach with rates (in this expensive resort area — Kapaa –) of $40/$80 per night for shared/solo rooms. A guy in the country with about 300 beautiful roosters and tangerine, grapefruit, macadamia and lychee nut trees. A day of clouds and sun and clouds and rain. This island like a large boat in the Pacific Ocean. A Mexican restaurant that feels like you’re in Mexico with delicious food and 3 TVs with Mexican soccer games.
I’ll try to get around to writing it up (with photos) before long…
Shot from the Cliff House at Ocean Beach
“’Pamir’ was originally launched in Hamburg in 1905, she had a steel hull, a tonnage of 3020 gross, an overall length of 375 feet, a beam of 46 feet and a loaded draught of 24 feet. Her three masts stood 168 feet above the deck and the main yard was 92 feet wide. She carried a total of 50,000 square feet of sails and could reach a top speed of 16 knots, while her speed on passage was often better than 10 knots.
Pamir, a four-masted barque, was one of the famous Flying P-Liner sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. She was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, in 1949. By 1957 she had been outmoded by modern bulk carriers and could not operate at a profit. Her shipping consortium’s inability to finance much-needed repairs or to recruit sufficient sail-trained officers caused severe technical difficulties. On 21 September 1957 she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores, with only six survivors rescued after an extensive search.…”
