Web Log

Mini History of Surfing

by guest writer Paul Grafton

November 15, 2004

From the Journal of Captain King, Cook's Voyages, March 1779, three months after the death of Captain Cook: “Whenever, from stormy weather, or any extraordinary swell at sea, the impetuosity of the surf is increased to its utmost heights, they choose that time for this amusement: twenty or thirty of the natives, taking each a long narrow board, rounded at the ends, set out together from the shore. As soon as they have gained the smooth water beyond the surf, they lay themselves at length on their board, and prepare for their return.”

Captain King's journal entry is the first description of he'e nalu, the Hawaiian word for surfing, ever recorded by Western man. The ancient Hawaiians, however, left us more accurate evidence of their sport. Petroglyphs of surfers, carved into the lava-rock landscape, and chants that tell the stories of great surfing feats, carried a symbolic lore throughout the generations. Some of these chants date as far back as 1500 A.D., which leads us to believe that surfing may have begun long before this time in the Polynesian culture.

In 1907, California land developer Henry Huntington asked Irish Hawaiian George Freeth to give a surfing demonstration at the opening of the Redondo-Los Angeles railroad at Redondo beach. Freeth was also the first person to create a shorter surfboard by cutting the large 16-foot design in half. His introduction of surfing to the spectators on the beaches of California ignited a revolution in both surfboard design and wave-riding techniques.

Now a century later, surfing has grown to be a force all over the world. In the last few years, Central American has become a “hot spot” for newly discovered waves. While Costa Rica has been known for years as a surfer's haven (see pictures from Jaco and Domincal), other nations such as Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua have also become prized for their excellent and uncrowded surf. Last May, I visited Morro Negrito Island in Panama and surfed fun lefts off a smaller island. One spot, “Nestles”, was known for crunching those who didn't come through it's hollow barrels. A surf camp has been set up by a married couple (one from Panama and the other from San Diego) to host surfers from across the globe.

The surf spot La Libertad (see pictures from El Zonte) on El Salvador's coast is considered by most to be the finest wave in Central America. So far it has remained uncrowded because most surfers feared the political conditions in El Salvador. Until recently, the only international surfers seen there were a handful of hardy Australians. As it stabilizes politically and as the many serene, empty line ups are discovered, Central America will take its rightful place in the world of heavenly surf.

Under My Wheels: The Soundtrack

November 14, 2004

This is a tribute to some of the more memorable roads that have passed under our wheels. Let me take you to Eastern Nicaragua - yes, the part that was hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Well, they are in the process of repairing the main road from Chinandega to Somotillo. The process goes like this, first rip up the entire 60 km of road so that it is a rocky, dusty, hot, dry road for miles. Then slowly over the next several years bring in the dirt, gravel, cement and machines necessary to repair the road. And lastly, on a good day, start some repairs. Our experience of this road came through sore butts, dusty lungs and a constant haze. In fact, that 60's song Purple Haze kept popping into my mind spontaneuosly. Sometimes we would ride with our eyes closed as monster trucks sped by kicking up yet another cloud of dust. Marin swears she just coughed up the last dust last night. The only bonus of riding this road was meeting our friend Christine in Somotillo and helping with her adult English class in the evening.

Next vote for most excellent riding experience was San Salvador. Roads packed with exhaust spewing buses and trucks choking the main roads. Dodge the open manhole cover, swerve around the bus, watch out for the pedestrians and the motorcyle gang. Definitely a heavy metal city for me, yet Marin had From Such Great Heights by Postal Service running through her head, perhaps she needed the calming effect to counteract the utter adrenaline and chaos.

So the music continues as we now pedal the mountains of Guatemala, something rhythmic comes to mind to help with the intense hill climbs. Marin prefers hip hop tunes for this road - the lines of which she can yell out at particularly steep parts or when someone yells, “gringo” as we pass.

Words of the day: tope - speedbump (mostly used in Mexico), polvo - dust

Question of the day: If the radius of Marin's tire is 13 inches, and she rode 243 miles in Nicaragua, how many times did her wheel go around? (Helpful formulas: Circumference = 2·PI·r, 5280 feet = 1 mile)

Choluteca, Honduras

November 13, 2004

Our quick days biking through Honduras only gave us a brief hint of the country - crossing two borders in two days was exhausting. In our short time, we were fortunately able to meet up with an impressive woman, Marta Corrina Carranza, in Choluteca. She is in charge of the Central American Solar Energy Project (CASEP) in Honduras. CASEP's mission is to promote the construction and use of solar cookers, and to support community based projects in order to empower women, improve living standards, and defend threatened forests. The cooperative also has projects in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Marta showed us the solar ovens that communities are using - these ovens allow families to cook food and at the same time reduce the need for firewood, a main cause of deforestation. The project that Marta works with also has an infant and child nutrition program and leadership training for women. If a community decides it would like a solar oven the people must write to CASEP requesting an oven, explaining why they want it and how it will be used. The organization will then bring all the supplies to the village and assist the women with building their own solar oven. In exchange, the community must feed and house the CASEP women for the 20 days it takes to build the solar oven. We visited the town of Orocuina and saw solar ovens at work - they were being used to boil water (for purification) and to cook beans for dinner. The central meeting building was filled with posters about infant health and pictures of young children. The women in this town have been growing soy to supplement the nutritional needs of their chldren and earn a bit of extra income. Thanks to Marta and Tirsa for sharing their spirit of passion and dedication with us! To learn more about this organization, go to https://www.solaroven.org.

Sandinistas - The Party That Knows How To Party

November 08, 2004

Sunday was election day in Nicaragua. Everything shut down on from Saturday to Monday, no liquor was allowed to be sold from Friday midnight until Tuesday morning, and people stayed home from work on Monday, the day after the election. In every city the two main parties (the Sandinistas (FSLN) and the Partido Liberal Constitucional (PLC)) were dueling for the positions of mayor, vice mayor and representatives. The voting age here is 16, which makes sense when one considers that 72% of the population of Nicaragua is under 30 years old, making it a very young country. This is also a hold over from when the Sandinistas were in power, as they were primarily a youth movement.

We were staying in San Marcos on Sunday, election day, and at 1am there was suddenly a huge noise as the election results were announced. The Sandinistas had won! A band began to play, fireworks were set off, people marched through the streets singing the Sandinista Party songs, and a huge party erupted which lasted until 4am. The next day in Leon, we arrived to find that the Sandinistas had won there, too, and were putting on a huge dance party in the center of town to thank the people for their votes.

While many people will remember the idealistic reforms of the Sandinista revolution of the late 70's, the current party (and the PLC) seems mostly focused on providing the basics in their cities such as road repair and better garbage service. In fact, many people said they did not bother voting because the two parties were nearly the same and neither of them represented their ideals. Sound familiar?!

Rivas, Nicaragua

November 05, 2004

The humid rainforests of Costa Rica have given way to rolling, grassy hills, and multiple volcanoes. Our first day riding in Nicaragua was beautiful - Lake Nicaragua (the largest lake in Central America) with two volcanoes rising from its depths, was off to our right for the entire day. The rolling hills and dry temperature reminded us of California in the summertime, and a cool breeze from West let us know that the ocean was not far away.

We pass through towns with cobblestone streets and horse-drawn carriages mixed in with the motor traffic. The people we meet are good-natured, helpful, and friendly. One man was even joking, trying to get me to go faster up a hill by saying that my friend was so far ahead of me. Everyone from cowboys on horseback to truck drivers or mothers seem willing to talk about their lives and often have questions for us about the USA.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Central America, and there are many problems because of extreme poverty. While some of the larger towns such as Granada and Leon have beautiful colonial architecture, the everyday pueblos that we bike through have houses made of metal sheeting, adobe or brick, often with sheets of plastic covering holes. Running water and electricity are not a reality for all or even most Nicaraguans. You can look at our feature of the week to learn about foreign aid projects in Nicaragua that are trying to address some of these needs. We will also be looking at projects implemented from within Nicaragua.

Gallo Pinto

November 03, 2004

Check the recipe for Gallo Pinto - you can access it from the “Costa Rica” page, or here is a direct link.

Costa Rica Has No Army

November 02, 2004

“What, no army? How can Costa Rica get away with that? Why doesn't somebody just take them over? Who is really backing them?” These are some of the questions I faced while talking with a class from Santa Barbara Middle School in California. I didn't have all the answers but promised to pursue the questions during this trip.

In 1949 Costa Rica abolished its army. Now, let me put this into perspective. Other countries in Central Americal such as Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatamala have been involved in intense civil wars with thousands of people massacred. And until 1988 Honduras was a major staging ground for the Contras (remember the Iran-Contra affair). Costa Rica was largely left out of these struggles. Perhaps one reason for this stability came from the new constitution written in 1949 which guaranteed free and fair elections, established the vote for women and blacks, abolished the army, and forbade presidents to run for successive terms. Once this stability was established, countries such as the US were more likely to invest their resources in the country. In the 1960's the US helped Costa Rica with countless development projects, one example being the construction of sturdy bridges along the main highway (see picture).

Instead of supporting an army Costa Rica chose to invest its energy and funds into universal healthcare and free primary education. Currently Costa Ricans enjoy the hightest standard of living in Central America and have a life expectency of 76 years, the highest in Central America except Cuba. Oscar Arias, former president (from the Partido de Liberation Nacional), was even awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his peacekeeping efforts in Central America.

Question of the Day: Where is the United Nations center for Peace Studies located?
Word of the day: paz - peace

Quepos, Costa Rica

October 31, 2004

We have made it halfway through Costa Rica and are now following a coastal route. This means we have been on the beach for the past four days - a nice break after last week's mountainous terrain. The waves are excellent and surfing is a huge sport in this area. Costa Rica has a lot more tourism than Panama, so people here are more accustomed to seeing gringos around. Because of this, we do not get as many friendly hellos and good luck wishes as we did in Panama. Stay tuned for some interesting facts on Costa Rica's national parks, and check out our Feature of the Week on sea turtles.

Here are some Spanish words that are uniquely Costa Rican:
Tico/a - a Costa Rican
mae - man, dude
pura vida - pure life, the Costa Rican equivalent of “it's all good!”
gallo pinto - an excellent breakfast dish of rice and beans

Faces of Panama

October 26, 2004

As we leave Panama, we would like to share with you some people who made this country so special to us. We'd like to thank these kind people for allowing their pictures to be shown on our website. Goodbye, Panama!

Spanish Classes

October 25, 2004

See if you can translate these signs and sayings!

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