The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum’s Quarterly Newsletter

Volume 2 – I ssu e 3 F a l l 2009

WW aa vv ee LL ee nn gg tt hh ss

Alexander Alexander Alexander Alexander Hume Hume Hume Hume FordFordFordFord and t and t and t and the story he story he story he story hehehehe told told told told By Athena Sasso The Hawaiians called him simply “Hume.” Alexander Hume Ford (1868-1945), magazine editor, playwright, photographer, unabashed campaigner and founder of Hawaii’s Outrigger Canoe Club, traveled widely in the Pacific Rim and promoted Duke Kahanamoku and George Freeth to an American audience. But he may best be remembered as the “guy who turned Jack London on to surfing.”1 If he is remembered at all. Duke Kahanamoku, with his Olympic and world-record stardom and surfing demonstrations, is widely considered to have been the ambassador who introduced surfing to the Atlantic Coast of the United States. But the real credit may lie with Ford. Recent research has raised the prospect that Ford, a native South Carolinian, was an earlier influence on surfing on the East Coast than was the Duke. Prominent surfing historian Joseph “Skipper” Funderburg, author of “Surfing on the Cape Fear Coast,” has come upon several early twentieth century postcards that prove what many global surf historians had only surmised - that surfing on the American East Coast was taking place in isolated pockets prior to Duke Kahanamoku’s surfing demonstrations in 1912 and 1916. Bearing dates as early as 1909, the postcards depict North Carolina’s Wrightsville Beach resorts and show young boys riding prone on boards whose “. . . plan shapes are almost identical to the ones seen in photographs of boards in Hawai’i at the turn of the millennium.”2

But what accounts for the similarity?

By the early 1900s when Ford settled in Honolulu, the sport of

surfing had been all but lost. The Hawaiian population had been decimated in the second half of the nineteenth century by diseases brought by Europeans, and if that weren’t insult enough, the Calvinist missionaries among them considered sports a waste of time and the pathway to moral depravity. But Ford loved to surf and was possessed by a passion to revive the neglected Hawaiian sport of kings. In May 1907, Ford introduced himself to Jack London, who was vacationing at the Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach. London’s wife, Charmain, described Ford as an enthusiastic spokesman for surfing “for the benefit of Hawaii and her advertisement to the outside world,” and she characterized him as a “genius” at “pioneering and promoting,” who “swears he is going to make this island’s

pastime (surfing) one of the most popular in the world.”3 – Continued, page 3

Ford founded the Outrigger

Canoe Club in 1908, a place

where Aloha prevails and “where the sports of old Hawaii

shall always have a home.” Mission statement

www.outriggercanoeclub.com Compliments of Outrigger Canoe Club

Enjoy the Ride

Wave Lengths Published quarterly by The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum Where possible, the editor has given credit for photographs Please advise when additions or corrections are in order

athenagsasso@aol.com

Judging a three-day paddleboard and tandem contest was not the way I had envisioned spending my Labor Day weekend. I had it all planned out, just the right balance of effort and zombie time. But when my friend Matt Bellina called and asked if I could help, I said “yes” – with more vigor than I felt. So for three days, I got up earlier than usual and came home parched and sunburned. My body was sore from the effort and my mind was spent from the strain of focusing on many heats, trying to judge fairly and accurately the contestants who were all working even harder than I was. It was exhausting. But I was having a great time. It was just the right balance of work, relaxation and play, about what I had envisioned for my weekend in the first place, as it turns out. The tandem – a panorama of gymnastic artistry – and the stand-up paddle featured athletes from around the world. I was happy to work with Matt, Melody DeCarlo, Kathy Anderson and Lance Maki, people who also got the “yes” gene. Maybe people say “yes” because it sets off some kind of endorphin-type reaction. It’s okay if volun-teering seems more like play than work. Chant and repeat: “Volunteering at the beach still counts. Volunteering at a surf museum still counts. There must be a hundred different ways to care about the quality of the story we pass on to the menehunes. I’m just glad doing it is so much fun.

See you in the water, Tony

THE COCOA BEACH SURF MUSEUMTHE COCOA BEACH SURF MUSEUMTHE COCOA BEACH SURF MUSEUMTHE COCOA BEACH SURF MUSEUM www.cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org

Sean O’Hare ◘ President Emeritus John Hughes ◘ President

Melody DeCarlo ◘ Vice President Bill Tweedie ◘ Sec.-Treasurer

Marketing Director Tony Sasso ◘ Executive Director

Editor ◘ Athena Sasso Membership ◘ Marie Hughes

Program ◘ Sharon Wolfe Cranston

Webmaster ◘ Jeff Cranston

You can help!You can help!You can help!You can help! Museum Volunteers, Here are a few fun and important museum activities you can help with: Museum Docents We're getting increased traffic in the Museum lately and will soon have a new exhibit up. Please consult your schedule to see if you can help out with some open docent shifts. We provide a docent at the museum from noon to 2 p.m. every Saturday, and docent training is available. We currently need volunteers for all the Saturdays in November, 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. If you can help with any of these shifts, email Jim Dale at jdale12@cfl.rr.com.

Event Staff If you can help with the C2C Paddle Challenge on October 17, please contact John Hughes at mjsurf@bellsouth.net. Exhibit Change-Now through Sept. 19, 2009 If you can help with exhibit change out or the Big Board Show opening, call Tony at 321-258-8217.

Lance Maki and Jacqueline

Remrey were among the tandem

contestants at the NKF Surf Festival

For a little context, earlier that month, Ford and George Freeth - who taught Ford to surf - had traveled the islands with a 28-member U.S. congressional delegation whose ostensible mission was to determine whether Hawaii could qualify for future statehood. Freeth acted as the delegation’s lifeguard, while Ford worked the politicians. Meanwhile Ford, barely more than a beginner himself, offered to teach Jack London how to surf, and the next day he and Freeth kept London out

Compliments of Joseph “Skipper” Funderburg

long enough to get him hooked on surfing and crisply sunburned. London described the experience in “The Cruise of the Snark” (1911): “Ah, delicious moment when I first felt that breaker grip and fling me. On I dashed, a hundred and fifty feet, and subsided with the breaker on the sand. From that moment I was lost.”4 London’s magazine article “Surfing: A Royal Sport,” published in October 1907, introduced the Western world to the sport of surfing on wooden boards. In 1908, Ford founded the Outrigger Canoe Club, the first formal organization with a mission of preserving surfing. Ford petitioned Queen Liliuokalani for use of a tract of land on Waikiki to popularize old Hawaiian water sports and to provide a place to surf for the children of the mauka, the people who lived in the hills and had no seaside of their own. With a fifty-year lease at $50 a year, the club was founded with a grass shack for a locker room and an open-pipe shower

Outrigger Canoe Club - www.the-daily-dose.com

with a coconut thatch shower curtain. Although Ford's club was for the mauka, when it opened it was restricted to haoles, white people from the mainland. So Ford urged the Hawaiians to start a club of their own. They organized the Hui Nalu Club, whose best swimmer was Duke Kahanamoku, and began to compete with the Outrigger Canoe Club. Kahanamoku’s world-record performances at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics paved the way for native Hawaiians to join, but when the Duke was invited, he remained loyal to Hui Nalu, stalling for nine years before finally becoming a member. After establishing the Outrigger Canoe Club, Ford continued to promote surfing through various events, his writing and photography. He was one of the first photographers to capture action surfing shots, “perhaps, the first photographs of surfing ever to appear in magazines (St. Nicholas and Colliers).”5 And after Freeth moved to the mainland in 1907, Ford began promoting Duke Kahanamoku as “Hawai’i’s ‘Champion Surf Rider,’”6 years before the Duke gained fame as an Olympic swimmer. Ford’s promotion of surfing extended wherever he went, it seems. In 1908, while in Australia assisting with trade agreements between Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Ford introduced surfing to an Australian named Percy Hunter, who just happened to be the head of the New South Wales Immigration and Tourism Bureau. By the time Ford visited again in 1910 - nearly five years before Kahanamoku went to Australia for the first time - “there were already several surfboards stashed at Manly Beach.”7 Continued, page 5

Join the Cocoa Beach Surf MuseumJoin the Cocoa Beach Surf MuseumJoin the Cocoa Beach Surf MuseumJoin the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum

and help preserve surfing history. Members receive a quarterly newsletter and special invitations to

museum events. New memberships include a museum T-shirt and member discounts.

(Check One)

STUDENT 25.00 ______

SURFER 30.00 ______ STOKED 50.00 ______ OHANA (FAMILY) 60.00 ______ KAHUNA 100.00 ______ PATRON 500.00 ______ CORPORATE 1,000.00 ______

Name ______________________________________________________________________ Street ______________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip________________________________________________________________ Phone ( ) __________________________________________________________________ Email ______________________________________________________________________ T-Shirt size (Circle One): S M L XL XXL Please mail your membership form and check to: The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum P.O. BOX 321453 Cocoa Beach, FL 32932-1453

________________________________________________________

Museum Members can join Surfrider at a discount!

Check One: Regular ($15.00) _______ Student ($10.00) _______ Family ($35.00) _______

Ford’s promotion of surfing

What Surfrider Chapter are you interested in? (see http://www.surfrider.org/chapters1.asp for a list of chapters)

__________________________________

Photo – Debbie Tweedie

The earliest known record of Ford’s promotion on the East Coast was in 1919, when he showed movies of Hawaiian surfing to the boys of Charleston’s Crafts School, South Carolina, and met with them to form an aquatic club. Surely a bit of evidence exists for Funderburg yet to unearth, proving the odds that Ford’s passionate campaign is to account for the images in those postcards. If after you’ve read this article - and more of the excellent resources listed below - it is still Duke Kahanamoku and not Alexander Hume Ford who springs to mind when you think of the origins of modern surfing, perhaps that would have been fine with Ford. He viewed his job as doing the talking, and it is clear he got what he wanted.

~ ~ ~

Sources: 1-7Gault-Williams, Malcolm, Legendary Surfers Volume 2: Early 20

th Century Surfing and Tom Blake

(2007), http://legendarysurfers.com/blog/ahford.doc.pdf

Sutton, Horace, Country Club in Hawaii, Sports Illustrated (Nov. 12, 1956), http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1131458/index.htm Borte, Jason, Waikiki, http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/surfaz.cfm?id=939

Special thanks to Joseph “Skipper” Funderburg for bringing to our attention his discovery of the Wrightsville Beach postcards. Funderburg is the author of “Surfing on the Cape Fear Coast,” Slapdash Publishing (2008). He has been writing about surfing for 40 years and is recognized as the Cape Fear Coast’s preeminent surf historian. We hope you’ll seek out a copy of his book and read more about him. http://www.carolinabeach.net.

Postcard dated before Duke’s post -

Olympic exhibitions. Compliments of Skipper Funderburg.

Boy with surfboard

Third Annual Balsa Bill Third Annual Balsa Bill Third Annual Balsa Bill Third Annual Balsa Bill and Ocean Natural Paddleboard Challengeand Ocean Natural Paddleboard Challengeand Ocean Natural Paddleboard Challengeand Ocean Natural Paddleboard Challenge On August 9, they came to compete in the Third Annual Paddleboard Challenge behind Balsa Bill’s shop in Satellite Beach. Volunteers became compe-titors as their heats were called, and blended back into the role of volunteers just as easily when the heat was over. They strained for supremacy in the water and in the sand - for the North vs. South Tug of War. Winners in their divisions were Greg Schmidt, John Huffman, Bruce Bennett, Eric Carson, Chip Bock, Steve McLean, Jimmy Woodard, Jay Yerkes and Bill Tweedie. South defended its tug-of-war title. Full results are posted at http://www.balsabill.com.

Debbie Tweedie

Balsa Bill and Nola, thank you for your hospitality. Volunteers thank you for your time and energy. Son of the Beach, thank you for lunch! Proceeds of the event were donated to the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum and Surfrider Foundation, Cocoa Beach and Sebastian chapters. Don’t miss Balsa Bill’s movie of the event at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37-hj1kHdI. It features still photography by Debbie Tweedie, videography by Doug Mordaunt, music production by Jay Yerkes, and music by the Surf Chasers. Next best thing to being there, which was pretty darn cool.

CBSMCBSMCBSMCBSM recipient of loans and donations recipient of loans and donations recipient of loans and donations recipient of loans and donations

The museum is the grateful recipient of surf history from Leigh Thomas of Altamonte Springs and Mitch Varnes of Boards Sports Management in Indialantic. Mitch has graciously donated to the museum memorabilia from his personal collection. These items, which will be on display in the coming months and years and available for archive, are an important part of the record of surfing history at Sebastian Inlet and on the Florida East Coast. In addition, Mitch has also loaned to the museum several collectible boards, such as the personal, signed surfboard of four-time women’s ASP world champion, Lisa Andersen, and a personal, signed board of 2001 ASP world champion, CJ Hobgood. Mitch has also loaned a 2nd Doctors Lawyers Weekend Warriors poster signed by all four of Florida’s world champion surfers – Kelly Slater, Lisa Andersen, CJ Hobgood, and Frieda Zamba. It may be the only existing item of surf memorabilia signed by all four. Some of these items are currently on display at the museum. Leigh Thomas donated a Hobie Traditional Longboard with Costa Azul fin in memory of Ted Baker (1964-2009), Surfer and Friend of the Ocean. We appreciate the generosity of these donors.

~ ~ ~

Debbie Tweedie got this shot at the NKF Surf Festival on Labor Day weekend, where Matt Bellina directed the paddleboard and tandem events. Lance Maki was a main sponsor of the tandem event. A number of CBSM members and Waterman’s Challenge regulars volunteered

and competed, making a great showing for the locals! So many of you in fact, we don’t have room here to list here all the local competitors who walked away with honors. You can see all the results and more at http://www.easternsurf.com/fightclub_090809/index.

html.

Desiree Meehan

EVENTSEVENTSEVENTSEVENTS

1st Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m.

COCOA BEACH SURF MUSEUM VOLUNTEER MEETINGS at the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum located inside the Ron Jon Watersports building. If you would like to volunteer or are interested in museum

activities, stop by. 3rd Tuesdays, 6:00 p.m.

SURFRIDER FOUNDATION MEETINGS The Cocoa Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation holds its monthly meeting at the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum, inside the Ron Jon Watersports building. September 19, Saturday 7:00 - 9:00pm - Cocoa Beach Surf Museum

EXHIBIT OPENING "THE BIG BOARD SHOW" Live surf music by The Aquanuts, food and beverages will kick off our display of surfboards spanning the entire history of East Coast surfing. Some very significant boards will be on loan to the museum from private collections including Roy Scafidi’s collection. The full exhibit will run until late October. The exhibit will continue with a smaller rotation of select boards through December. October 17, Saturday

C2C PADDLE CHALLENGE The Third annual CAUSEWAY TO CAUSEWAY PADDLE CHALLENGE is on again at Lee Wenner Park in Cocoa. Twenty-two miles round trip. Have you tested yourself lately? Paddleboard, SUP, and other craft. See details in this edition. December 2, Wednesday

CBSM/SURFRIDER HOLIDAY POTLUCK Bring a dish and get in the holiday spirit.

December 12, Saturday

COCOA BEACH CHRISTMAS PARADE The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum will participate. Check http://www.cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org for updates.

C2C Paddle ChallengeC2C Paddle ChallengeC2C Paddle ChallengeC2C Paddle Challenge By John Hughes

Our third annual Causeway to Causeway Paddle Challenge (C2C) is scheduled for October 17th. This will again be a 22-mile non-trophy event, but we will track participants’ finish times. All paddlecraft are welcome to attend. Sign-up will start at 7:00 a.m. and we will start promptly at 8:00 a.m. Entry fee is $20. This will include a nice sun-blocker paddling jersey, raffle items and lunch. The challenge will start at Lee Wenner Park at Cocoa Village (at the base of the SR 520 Causeway bridge). The course will parallel the Intracoastal Waterway in the Indian River and continue south for 11 miles to the bridge at the Pineda Causeway (SR 519). Turn around will be just before the bridge at a Manatee No Wake Zone sign which will also be marked with a buoy. There will be a maximum of four hours for paddlers to reach the turn around point. Any paddlers not meeting the four hours will exit the water at POW-MIA Park adjacent to the turn around. Also, any paddler who wishes to can leave the course at that point. Anyone exiting there will be provided a ride back to Lee Wenner Park. Escort boats will follow the paddlers and escort stragglers to the finish line. There will be water on board the boats for paddlers, but plan on bringing sufficient water for yourself. A hydration pack or equivalent is recommended. Also reef shoes are recommended for water entry and exit. If you will be entering this event, please e-mail us your shirt size so we can order the proper amount. If you wish to order additional shirts, send us those sizes as well. This event is being organized by the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum. All proceeds will benefit the operation of the museum and its community programs. There is plenty to do in Cocoa Village if you wish to bring your family (http://www.cocoavillage.com). There are numerous restaurants and stores as well as a large park & playground. An arts & crafts fair is planned that weekend in Cocoa Village, and there are also several drinking establishments for that after-race beer. Those participating in the challenge can eat for free, family members can eat for a $5 donation to the museum. In order to have enough food, please

provide the total number of participants and family members you will have. We need to have these numbers no later than Friday, October 12. For more information: jhughes@cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org or http://www.cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org; 321-720-8033

~ ~ ~

Slater named sportsperson of the year

In August, Kelly Slater became the first two- time winner of the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, competing against the world’s best action sports finalists in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, X-Games, cross-country mountain biking and kiteboarding. The other surfer vying for the award was Stephanie Gilmore. Slater previously won the award in 2007, and surfer Layne Beachley won in 2004. Since the award’s inception in 2000, surfers have won more times than representatives of any other sport.

~ ~ ~

www.laureus.com

NKF Tandem Finalists - Debbie Tweedie L-R: Pauly Chambers and Kristl Apeles (Hawaii), Rico Leroy and Sarah Burel (France); Clay and Kristen Huntington (San Onofre), Christian Bartsch and Aimee Marcia (Hawaii)

Get Your Mind in the Gutter © Tom Fucigna, Hobe Sound FL

The true art of surfing and the science of water quality are similar in many ways, because both have their roots in how water moves from one place to another and how it changes along the way. They are twin studies in transport and alteration: surfing tracks changes in shape, and water quality traces differences in physical and chemical parameters. As pollution from inland or offshore sources winds its way to the coast, we’re in the soup together. The idea that anything that seeps into our groundwater or sluices down a creek, canal or pipe somewhere could eventually end up in our eyes, ears, nose or mouth should provide a motivation to either seriously consider this topic, or just not think about it at all. I propose the former. A wave check will probably never become a wave changer, but considering how we impact water along its downhill or subterranean routes to the shore and taking small, everyday actions to preserve and enhance water quality can certainly influence what’s in the soup. How we use and treat water in our everyday lives impacts our oceans.

Can’t wave my hand and change the motion of the ocean

Can’t turn the tide tomorrow or calm the wind today Got no hold on fetch

no grip on crest or trough But I’ve got my fingers

in how water changes along its way

Moving from our bathrooms to our backyards rolling from our driveway to the sink

it only takes a moment to recognize our alteration It’s good to take a minute to just step back and think

Inlets are outlets

and drains are the routes for the stuff that goes in

to find its way out into places we play

and things that we drink and worse can get better if we take time to think

Get your mind in the gutter Get your head in the game When water enters our lives it doesn’t come out the same

We’re part of the cycle We’re key to the scene

So remember where it’s going and watch where it’s been

We may cast a glance around the world

seeking answers to pollution but one part of the cure’s obvious

As we scour the globe we’re all part of the solution there’s something in the water

and it’s us

For some ideas, check out http://www.epa.gov/water/citizen/thingstodo.html Art by Elora Fucigna, age 12

Freddy Goes To FloridaFreddy Goes To FloridaFreddy Goes To FloridaFreddy Goes To Florida By Sarah Foster - Nosara Animal Care, Costa Rica Last month I received a call from the Gilded Iguana about a dog who had been attacked by a Rottweiler and a bull terrier at Guiones Beach. The poor pup had puncture wounds from head to toe. This dog had adopted a group of tourists for the day who were visiting from Satellite Beach, Fla. Among the group were Cocoa Beach Surf Museum members Tom Maughn and Bill and Debbie Tweedie. They were on a mission to catch as many waves as possible before they headed home. Once they realized they had a new friend, they named him Fred and continued on like he was their own. Late in the day Fred grumbled at some dogs passing by, letting everyone know this was his new family and no one else’s. This rapidly erupted into a fight he could not win. The bull terrier grabbed him, locked his jaw and shook. Quick thinking brought someone to pull both dogs, attached to each other, into the water and submerge them until the terrier released his jaws. Fred was rushed back to the hotel and everyone did what they could to comfort him and to make the bleeding stop.

Fred survived, got neutered, vaccinated and nursed back to shining health. A week later I received an email from a couple who were part of Fred’s entourage that day (Tom and Jeanne Maughn). They had been so worried about Fred’s well-being they hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since. Hoping I could help them do it, we got Fred’s travel documents at the vet stating he had been vaccinated for rabies thirty days prior to his trip. We paid a small fee to the SENASA bank account at BCR. We bought a pet carrier appropriate for his size, with a water dish and comfy, absorbent blankets. We booked our flight and paid $150 for Fred at the airport, and away we went. Fred and I arrived to a welcoming party put on by his new family, friends and neighbors. I had the chance to meet the community of people who would now be part of Fred’s life. I left Florida knowing this lucky dog had it made. He has a beautiful new home (with doggy doors to go in and out to the fenced-in yard!), two (friendly) boxer terrier buddies and some of the kindest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. http://www.nosaraanimalcare.com