MONDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2012 The History of Surfing
The practice of wave riding has been part of human life since the very beginning. People living near the sea used wooden boards as part of their daily life, both for fishing and riding just for fun. It was an integral part of the pacific islands lifestyle and culture, in particular Hawaii where the art of surfing evolved. Muizenberg has it’s own surfing history, with the earliest record of surfing in South Africa taking place in Muizenberg in1919. Heather Price, a young Capetonian got hold of a solid ‘Hawaiian’ style surfboard from two US marines. The general wave riding technique was to lie down on a belly board, but Heather surfed standing up. It was also here in 1922 that Tony Bowman and Tommy Charles would first ride together, paddling mainly, on what was described as a ‘boat’. Sometime later Tony, Lex Miller and Bobby Van Der Riet made their own boards, in a workshop behind the Arcadia Tea Room. Soon after many others joined them and surfing quickly became a popular activity at Muizenberg corner. In the early 1930’s, Tom Blake is credited for creating hollow constructed wooden surfboards for the first time, alongside creating the ‘fixed fin’. Today we see a surge back to basics, a longing for something more sustainable then foam and wooden surfboard shapers are popping up all around the world. Surfing on a wooden board connects you to the history and origin of surfing culture, it will heighten your connection to the elements of nature and water, and it will give you the pleasure in knowing that a Wawa board is not only an investment for you but something that can be handed down for generations to come. More on the history of surfing can be found on the links below: http://files.surfingheritage.org/flash/timeline/ http://www.surfingheritage.co.za/site/1922_tony_bowman http://www.clubofthewaves.com/surf-culture/history-of-the-surfboard.php
By not knowing, and not demanding to know, we are trusting that what we are paying for has been produced fairly and safely, but we are in fact leaving this up to chance. As most products these days are imported, we are not only buying something ‘blindly’, but we also seem to forget that by importing we’re increasing our environmental impact, as well as effectively exporting our money. As consumers we have more control over what is available to us to buy than we might think. As consumers we collectively choose to keep products and services available on the market as we create the demand. However we often seem to forget this incredible power that we have. With this power we can control the economy and also create jobs, by the simple act of being a ‘localist’.
By buying locally we not only contribute to our own communities immediate economy, but we are also ensuring that our communities ‘spirits’ and unique qualities live on.
There’s something really nice about personally knowing the carpenter that made the chair that you sit on everyday, you know he took his time to create it with love and care, and these qualities matter. You also hope and are pretty sure that the money that went to him will be circulated back into the local community. For a sustainable future we need to start caring for our local community and that means supporting the businesses within it too.
Be proudly local, support local businesses and let’s grow our local community together.