This year’s annual Surfer’s Hall of Fame inductions are set for Aug. 2; as always, the location is the plaza at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, directly in front of Huntington Surf & Sport and in the shadow of the large statue of the great Duke Kahanamoku. This is kinda the heaviest corner in the surfing world, as far as corners go.
Ya got Surf & Sport with the Hall of Fame plaza on one corner. Ya got Duke’s restaurant and bar across the street. Ya got Jacks Surf Shop on another corner.
And right there is the famous Huntington Beach Pier, where this year’s U.S. Open of Surfing will open the next day.
To say there is a lot of energy goin’ on at that intersection would be a huge understatement, this place just buzzes with surf vibe. I gave you an overview of the event a couple of weeks ago. Today, I would like to focus on Ilima Kalama, one of the three inductees this year, along with Hawaiian Jamie O’Brien and Huntington Beach super local Jeff Deffenbaugh.
Ilima was born in Hawaii in 1943 and raised surfing the likes of Makaha, the North Shore and, of course, Waikiki. He came to the mainland in the early 1960s and immediately won the United States Championship in 1962. The surf was big and gnarly that year with a lot of wind chop and bump on it.
Ilima was one of the very few surfers in the event who was able to handle the extreme conditions. He was most definitely a great surfer, that was obvious. Beautiful Hawaiian kinda style, smooth and in total control.
Big well-built dude with a lot of power, yet still graceful. Very impressive. OK, this is gonna be my memories of Ilima and how we got to be good pals and have remained so for the past 60 years.
Fast forward to the summer of 1964. I was working for Hobie Surfboards in Dana Point. Hobie had made me the first full-time professional surfer by putting me on salary to do nothing but surf.
As a bonus, he gave me the option to work in the surf shop any time I wanted on an hourly basis, a way to add a bit more income when I wasn’t surfing or it was bad weather. On one particular day, I was doing some time in the shop when Ilima called up to see if his new board was ready or not. He was sponsored for boards by Hobie.
I answered the phone and told him I would check and call him back. I did, it was. The only thing, was there was nobody to drive it from the factory in Capistrano Beach up to the shop in Dana Point.
I would have to go get it myself. I called Ilima back and told him it was ready and he could come get it, to which he replied that he would be there in an hour. No problems, I jumped in my ’57 Chevy Bel Aire station wagon with the curtains in the back, cool vibrasonic radio and racks on the roof for boards, not wanting to mess up the bed I had in the back (for surf trips and as a dating aid), and rushed down to the factory to pick up Ilima’s new board.
It was a beautiful Phil Edwards’ custom-shaped, three-stringer work of art. Wanting to have it all ready for Ilima when he got there, I stuck it on the roof rack and proceeded to rush back to the shop. Unfortunately, the signal by Doheny State Park turned red just as I was getting to the intersection and I had to stop kinda quick to avoid running the light.
And even more unfortunate is Ilima’s new beauty slid off my roof, bounced off the hood and landed in the road sliding across the street. Did I really forget to attach the straps? Yikes. Related links Thankfully no cars hit it and there were only scratches on it, do dings.
I beelined it straight back to the factory and asked them how fast they could repair the damage and make it look perfect. The answer I wanted was “10 minutes.” The answer I got was, “Tomorrow afternoon, if you buy us a six pack.
” My life was flashing before my eyes, how was I going to explain this to the great Ilima Kalama? The dude was like this big Hawaiian war god surf star. He ate kids like me for in-between-meals snacks. I tried to call him and tell him I had been mistaken, but no answer.
He arrived at the shop soon after, and was all happy to check out his new beautiful work-of-art, Phil Edwards special. I meekly and trying to look small and frail (just in case), came up with this story that the factory had called back saying they were wrong, it wasn’t ready yet. But they would put a special rush on it because it was for the great Ilima Kalama.
It would be ready the next afternoon. Closing my eyes and getting set for the big “BAM” when the lights went out. But nothing happened.
He took it in stride and hung out for a little while taking surf stories. What a “super cool” dude he turned out to be. Who knew? I could go on all day with Ilima stories.
The man is a true legend in surfing. I can’t wait to see him get inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame at 9 a.m.
on Aug. 2, and am happy that I get to be there this year and shake his hand. Congratulations Ilima and to the Surfer’s Hall of Fame for a great selection.
Hope to see all of you there. Related Articles.
