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Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 5 of 6: The Roots of IPD: How Bob and Bill Hurley Revamped an Idea from the 1980s and Turned

Apr 8, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 5 of 6: The Roots of IPD: How Bob and Bill Hurley Revamped an Idea from the 1980s and Turned It Into Surfing’s Newest Old Brand

The Roots of IPD: How Bob and Bill Hurley Revamped an Idea from the 1980s and Turned It Into Surfing’s Newest Old Brand   Bob Hurley’s new brand IPD (International Pro Designs) has been generating a bunch of buzz in the surf industry. But as we mentioned in a blog, IPD actually isn’t new at all! The “brands” started in 1982 when Bob Hurley was looking to create a guild of surfboard shapers who would share ideas and work toward a better future for surfboard design. Unfortunately, not many shapers at the time were willing to share their ideas, so it...

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Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 4 of 6: Folded Napkins and Unconscious Habits

Apr 6, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 4 of 6: Folded Napkins and Unconscious Habits

Folded Napkins and Unconscious Habits For the longest time, my wife used to ask me “Why do you always take the napkin that is under your glass napkin and fold it in half?” To be honest, I didn’t know the answer. I just naturally did it, usually without thinking. But then one day, I was watching a Japanese TV show that talked about all of the many different habits of Japanese people. In one segment, they featured the people and customs of Okinawa, where I grew up. Wow, did that show reveal a lot of things to me! After watching it,...

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Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 3 of 6: Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Brian Martinez

Apr 4, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 3 of 6: Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Brian Martinez

Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Brian Martinez   When and why did you initially get into surfing? The first time I ever attempted surfing I was 12 years old. Since I was a grom I had always been involved in dirt bikes and skateboarding. Being out of Las Vegas, Nevada you didn’t really have the chances to surf unless you made the 4 and half hour drive to California. My parents and I had been spending a few days in San Diego at the time on holiday and my father rented out some old beat up soft tops...

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Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 6: How the Jet Stream and Ice Pack Affect Swell for the South Shore

Mar 21, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore March 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 6 : How the Jet Stream and Ice Pack Affect Swell for the South Shore

How the Jet Stream and Ice Pack Affect Swell for the South Shore   We surfers spend most of our time riding waves and thinking about riding waves, but not too much time thinking about where those waves come from. Although it might seem obvious in hindsight, many of us are unaware that swells are the direct result of the movement of wind on the surface of the water, and that those winds are affected by huge, global factors such as the Kelvin wave along the equator, the north and south jet streams, and even the ice mass down by...

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Hawaiian South Shore February 2022 Newsletter Part 2 of 2

Feb 20, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore February 2022 Newsletter Part 2 of 2

  Caring for Your Boards on Day Trips and Bigger Adventures   For many of us who live close to the ocean, surfing is a daily activity. This means that our boards get transported a lot—from the garage to the car, from the car to the water, and back home again. All of that transportation can subject our surfboards to a number of risks, including weathering and exposure to the elements, bumps and dings, and who knows what else! This is why it is so important to transport your surfboard properly on the way to the beach, and to take...

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Hawaiian South Shore February 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 2

Feb 15, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore February 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 2

  Why It’s Important to Always Respect and Listen to Our Lifeguards Photo By Adventure of Jess A couple of videos were posted on Instagram recently of people getting themselves into situations that they should have avoided in the water. One guy who was stuck on a ledge at Lekeleke Bay and getting hammered by big sets only survived because firefighters helicoptered in to rescue him (just in time, too!), and two other guys who were clearly not prepared for Pipeline were trying to paddle out but got told off by a lifeguard. While these videos are good for a...

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Hawaiian South Shore January 2022 Newsletter Part 2 of 2

Jan 26, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore January 2022 Newsletter Part 2 of 2

  Traditional Tofu in Okinawa and Kalihi Growing up in Okinawa, tofu was a major part of my diet—and it also exposed me to some interesting experiences! I remember visiting some relatives on a small island called Henza that is connected to Okinawa by a land bridge. I stayed there for a few months, and remember that you had to park your car in a neighborhood parking lot, and then walk into the village because the roads were really small the houses were really close. It sort of felt like a National Geographic scene, and it was an interesting place...

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Hawaiian South Shore January 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 2

Jan 17, 2022

Hawaiian South Shore January 2022 Newsletter Part 1 of 2

 The Firewire Omni   Double-enders have always been a weird little niche in the world of surfboard shapes—almost snowboardish in design, with noses and tails that are difficult to differentiate between. Tomo loves unique, innovative designs, so it’s no surprise that he’d come up with his own version of a double-ender. What is surprising, however, in our world of cookie-cutter shortboards, is how popular the Omni has become. Ever since Slater tore the Surf Ranch apart on the disc-shaped board during the WSL’s test event, the Omni has been a solid staple of the Firewire/Slater Designs quiver. The Omni features...

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Hawaiian South Shore December Newsletter Part 2

Dec 21, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore December Newsletter Part 2

The Attempt to Translate Sperm Whale’s Clicks and Find a Way to Communicate With Them I recently discovered Hakai Magazine, which presents a bunch of interesting content about coastal science. One of the articles that really stood out to me was about project that is working to interpret the sounds made by sperm whales with artificial intelligence and then communicate back to them! Photo Credit to projectceti.org Named Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), the program began in March of 2020, but was inspired by a group of international scientists who were working together at Harvard in 2017. They noticed that the...

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Hawaiian South Shore December 2021 Newsletter Part 1

Dec 9, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore December 2021 Newsletter Part 1

Why We Need to Stop Eating Parrot Fish? (Part 2) Photo by Samson Bush We recently released an article about the important role that parrot fish play here in Hawaii, and why it is important that they not be overfished. A lot of people responded to the article, some adding more information about the parrotfish (uhu) and others asking further questions so that they could better understand the issue. We were really stoked to see how interested everyone was in this topic and decided to do a bit more research based on some of the questions that we received. One person noted...

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Hawaiian South Shore November 2021 Newsletter Part 2

Nov 9, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore November 2021 Newsletter Part 2

How Sugar Causes Inflammation and Messes With Our Bodies Photo by Valeria Boltneva  As many of you know from my blogs and newsletters, I’ve been struggling with some joint pain over the past few years, mostly from injuries that I’ve picked up from surfing and other activities. I actually have a number of friends who are in the same situation, and we often chat about our injuries and pain and how to do away with it. The other day I was chatting with a friend in the water, and he mentioned that his acupuncturist told him that one way to reduce...

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Hawaiian South Shore November 2021 Newsletter Part 1

Oct 29, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore November 2021 Newsletter Part 1

 How to Deal with a Wipeout The surf media spends a lot of time focusing on huge wipeouts in XXL waves—and for good reason. These wipeouts are dramatic and terrifying, and at times dangerous and life-threatening. But most people will never surf waves that large or experience wipeouts of that magnitude. Indeed, the majority of wipeouts that people take are in the under-triple-overhead range, yet they can still be stressful and even dangerous. This is why it is so important to learn how to wipeout properly and in the safest possible manner. The first thing to keep in mind when...

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Hawaiian South Shore October 2021 Newsletter

Oct 6, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore October 2021 Newsletter

Thunderbolt & Firewire Surfboards Price Increase As most of you know, the global supply chain has been an absolute mess over the past year, between the COVID-19 pandemic, material shortages, the Suez Canal blockage, and huge backlogs in deliveries. Not only has this resulted in a shortage of finished products such as surfboards and other gear, but it has also affected the companies producing that gear, since raw materials have been in short supply. At the same time, super low interest rates and numerous rounds of government stimulus has seen the economy doing much better than expected, but the downside...

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Hawaiian South Shore September 2021 Newsletter

Sep 2, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore September 2021 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2021 The Future of Wave Pools in Hawaii When you think of wave pools and the places that “need” them, you don’t often think of Hawaii. After all, we have one of the best swell windows on the planet, and enjoy consistent, large swells from the north all winter and waves ranging from surfable to epic from the south all summer. Considering how much surf we get naturally, it wouldn’t make any sense to build wave pools here, right? Not so fast.  As it turns out, there are four (yes, four!) potential wave pool projects currently in development...

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Hawaiian South Shore July 2021 Newsletter

Jul 12, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore July 2021 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER JULY 2021 Ala Moana: The South Shore’s Performance Surfing Center If Waikiki  is the center of longboarding and surf lessons on the South Shore, the Ala Moana is the local, shortboarding zone. Located just west of Waikiki, Ala Moana features a high density of quality reef breaks stretching from Kewalos all the way through the beach park to Magic Island, and then across the channel to Bowls and Kaisers. Whether you are looking for rights, lefts, barrels, turns, or even an exclusive bodysurfing wave, Ala Moana has it all.   In addition to lots of waves, Ala Moana also...

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Hawaiian South Shore May 2021 Newsletter

May 10, 2021

Hawaiian South Shore May 2021 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER MAY 2021   Sweet Potatoes As you all know, I love food and checking out different dishes and flavors, especially those that originate in Japan. At the same time, I am also always looking for ways to make my diet healthier and more nutritious. One way I have found to do both—eat healthier and more delicious—is through sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes aren’t actually potatoes at all. Instead, they are a nutrient-dense root vegetable with way more vitamins than normal potatoes. They are particularly rich in vitamin A, E, and C, carotenoids, and other antioxidants. They are also high in...

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Surfboard Tail Designs – What’s the difference between them?

Jan 5, 2021

Surfboard Tail Designs – What’s the difference between them?

A note from HSS owner, David Kelly... In our Oct 2017 newsletter, Spencer Chang said that the MR Super Twin is by far the best board he's ridden—and that says a lot, because he's purchased a number of boards from us over the years. He said he liked the way the swallow tail felt. That reminded me of the Hayden Untitled I once rode. It was a friend's board, and I remember it actually had way too much float for me. The first wave I took off on was overhead, and I thought I was going to get pitched. But...

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Nov 7, 2019

Hawaiian South Shore November Newsletter

Sukeroku BentoThe Sushi Dish You’ve Eaten Without Knowing! One of the best things about traveling is trying new food—and nowhere has better food than Japan. Sushi is the first thing that pops to mind for most people when they think of eating in Japan, but what many people don’t know is that there are actually a number of different types of sushi. Two of the most popular are combined in something called a sukeroku bento—a dish you may not have heard of before, but have likely seen dozens of times in Hawaii. A sukeroku bento is the classic sushi sampler...

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Oct 10, 2019

Hawaiian South Shore October Newsletter

Paul Naude and the History of Vissla Many people know about the brand Vissla—it has gone from being a boutique cottage brand to an industry staple over the past five years—but few people know the story of how it started. But The Surfer’s Journal recently ran an article about Paul Naude that gives a great history behind the brand. I suggest that anyone interested in Vissla or surf history in general take a look at the article—but if you don’t have time, here are Cliff Notes!* Paul Naude grew up in Durban, South Africa, and was part of the Shaun...

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Aug 14, 2019

Hawaiian South Shore September Newsletter

The Value of Naps Most people know that sleep is important, but many fail to understand exactly how essential good sleep is for our health. While we are sleeping, our bodies repair injuries, reduce inflammation, and allow the mind to recover. Inflammation is a huge factor in diseases such as cancer, heart disease, sinusitis, and numerous other ailments, and anytime your body doesn’t get to recover completely, inflammation builds up in the body. This weakens the immune system and makes you more susceptible to the diseases mentioned above. In fact, it’s been found that even the simple sleep disruption of...

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