Category Archives: General Inter-Island Stuff

Surfer Kimo Hollinger Memorial Paddle Out


Punahou 1958 graduate Kimo Hollinger joined his final surf spot at Aweoweo Beach Waialua where he could see his favorite Mt. Kaala from the waves.
Aloha Kyle

This is the memorial paddle out video for surfer Henry James ‘Kimo’ Hollinger. The paddle out took place at Aweoweo Beach Park, Waialua on Oahu.

Kimo and I saw the heroics and the foolishness of the world through the same lens. We applied common sense and fun to every activity. Kimo could cross between local kine pidgin English and Standard English as it suited his need to hustle mainland caucasian girls. Kimo absorbed his education with a special talent for writing stories about surfing.

Kimo’s daughters Jenna Hollinger and Holly Craft organized a loving get-together and paddle out for their father. They are thankful to all of Kimo’s friends, the family friends, and the wonderful support the family received from both the Honolulu Fire Department and the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department for supporting their endeavor. Aunty Vicky’s son David/Kawika emceed for the family, played ukulele, and sang with his mother. The whole Hollinger ‘ohana should be congratulated.

Special thanks to Bill Brooks for the use of his music on this video and to Tom McClain for his still photos and water video.

Three John Kelly Hydroplane Surfboards

We are honored to present another BRILLIANT video clip from Kyle Metcalf

I heard through the grapevine that three surfboard collectors were meeting at Barry Morrison's Inter-Island Surf Shop in Kapahulu. Each would be showing his John Kelly Hydroplane surfboard. Here is the video of that event.
Aloha Kyle

Kyle Metcalf's YouTube Introduction to this Video Clip:

Born in San Francisco but raised on Black Point in Honolulu after his parents moved to Oahu, John Kelly Jr. bore the mind of his two artist parents, John Kelly Sr. and his wife Katharine. John and his parents were good friends with the Kahanamoku family.
Unsatisfied with how the plank surfboards would not hold into the wall of a wave, by 1937 he designed the Hot Curl surfboard, a board that modified the squared plank design of surfboards of that time by rounding the tail section of the plank. A Kelly finless redwood hot curl board sold for more than $40,000 in one of Randy Rarick’s Surf Auctions.
From redwood to balsa, from finless to added skegs, surfboard design flourished through the 1950s. By 1963 in a quest to take more control over the biggest waves at Makaha and Sunset Beach, Kelly designed and patented a split hull design surfboard which he called the HYDROPLANE. I believe his intention was to give the board the speed to paddle into big waves while giving the same board better turning control once on the wave.
John was one of those early surfers featured in Bud Browne’s early surf films like Gun Ho.
John Kelly authored a 304 page book, 'Surf and Sea', which Matt Warshaw cites as the most comprehensive book on the aspects of surfing ever written up to that time.
A Marine Corps Medalist for diving exploits after WWII, his history is peppered with the social politics of the early 1960s as a communist party member with Pete Seeger, as a cofounder in Hawaii of Save Our Surf (after the loss of Garbage Hole surf break at the entrance to Ala Moana Harbor), and as a graduate of Julliard School of Music. He advocated Hawaiian Sovereignty (John’s wife Marion was Hawaiian) through the 1980s and tirelessly advocated for environmental awareness.
I received word that three surfboard collectors would be getting together at Inter-Island Surf Shop in Kapahulu to compare their three Kelly Hydroplane boards.
Greg Lui-Kwan, Barry Morrison, and Darren Park were surprised to compare the differences in their boards and to see three of the more famous surfboards in surfing history at the same location sixty years after the original board was designed and patented.
Thanks to Michael Leonard for the use of his music on this video.

Mark Martinson Pupukea Paddle Out

The island was flooding with landslides, but a brief window of weather clarity opened at Pupukea for the Mark Martinson Paddle Out. I would have liked brighter light for the camera.

I hope you recognize your friends. I hope you will get a solid flavor of the day if you wish you could have been there.

Aloha Kyle
surftriviaguy.com

Bill Lui-Kwan Celebration and Surfer Paddle Out


Bill Lui-Kwan was a free spirit surfer. He lived his life uncomplicated and unfettered. He was always willing to lend a helping hand and give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.

He was an ambassador of the Aloha Spirit. He made friends easily. He shared stories, played ukulele and didgeridoo, and never missed a sunset.

Surfing was like breathing to Bill. He lived to surf and rode many waves with great style across the Hawaiian Islands and in Indonesia. He loved meeting new people through surfing.

Bill loved his extended family, especially the gatherings and visiting with the elders. He would bring them their favorite plate lunches or weed their yards, whatever they needed.

Bill is survived by his sister PennyAnne Spangler (Eric/Kiki), his nieces Kainoelani, Wailana, and Kianiwai (Calvin Jones) Spangler.

Mahalo to Jimmy Lucas (camera). To Sarah Fox and Bill Brooks for the use of their music. To Kyle Metcalf (camera) for his video edit.

Mikala Jones Rocky Point Paddle Out

August 26, 2023 Rocky Point Paddle Out

Mikala Jones – April 3, 1979 to July 9, 2023

Mikala suffered a mortal injury when his surfboard fin cut his femoral artery while surfing in the Mentawai Islands.

The Mikala Jones Oahu Memorial Paddle Out was held at Rocky Point Rights. Somewhere between 500 and 1,000 friends attended. The family held a private memorial in a house on the beach while the rest of Mikala’s friends waited patiently on the sand for the paddle out. Too young and too soon.

This video is only intended to give you an overview sense of the day. Condolences to the family and his close friends.

Thanks to Michael Leonard and Bill Brooks for the use of their music on this video.

Aloha Kyle

Fwd: Opening Honolulu Surf Film Festival Tom Curren

We have come out of a Covid hiatus to welcome back the 14th Honolulu Surf Film Festival at the Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art.

The opening night began with a reception in the Luce Pavilion which included live music by Temple Waves and a buffet dinner by the HoMA Café.

Halona Norton-Westbrook, the museum director welcomed the crowd back to the only surf film festival in the world that runs for a whole month. Doris Duke Theatre manager Sarah Fang and her committee chose the Sonny Miller classic ‘Searching for Tom Curren’, remastered by Derek Hoffman of Nalu TV, as the opening night film. Special guest surfer Tom Curren was on hand to field questions after the movie. Sarah Fang gathered together Martina Durand, Jon Santos, and Crystal Thornburg-Homcy to help select the films for this year’s festival.

Thanks Sarah Fox for the use of her instrumental music on this video.

Dane Kealoha Pipeline Paddle Out

“Dane’s ashes were added to the ocean at Pipeline second reef. A helicopter arrived from town to drop flowers on the paddlers. A school of dolphins worked its way north through the paddlers some jumping and spinning on the way.”