Or We Will Cut It Off

     More Letters From Paradise

       Or We Will Cut it Off

You may well wonder what it is that will be cut off. (Think pure thoughts please) I am writing about surfboard lockers and locks. This is probably not a problem where you live. Here it is a problem. There are a limited number of lockers, and a long waiting list. Put your surfboard where it doesn't belong and not only will your lock be cut off, but your board will be taken!
Thinking of surfboards reminds me of the time when from a couple of floors above us, and we are on the 30th, a surfboard came whirling past our bedroom window hitting it, before crashing into the lake below. We found out later that a Korean woman was angry with some guy, and tossed it over the side. The poor unfortunate fellow was seen sloshing in the shallow water in search of his board. It is said that Korean woman have a temper. And, he put out the story that the wind blew the board off the lanai.
Tonto and I have seen a recent development in the surfboard department. This is stand up paddling. It seems that it is not enough to balance and ride the board, but now some people stand up on the board, and move it through the water with a single long oar. I wonder how the guys from Venice would do here in Hawaii. But at least when they were
dunked, the water would be warm, and a whole lot cleaner! 
There isn't a whole lot more I can say about surfboards, because I don't know much more. But I do know that Hawaiian kings used 12ft boards made from koa wood. Those boards must have been heavy as hell. It would have taken a couple of men just to take it to the water. And, as you would expect, the poor folk were made to use only short boards. I understand that boards today are made of molded styrofoam. I believe it, and you would too if you had seen a board with a shark bite taken out of it. 


                Aloha
                Grant