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…
Read the full article here
