Surf med en legende: At lære at ride på livets bølger med Bill Hamilton

Vandmandens metoder er baseret på dyb respekt for og synergi med havet. Den legendariske Kaua-surfer og shaper Bill Hamilton er et fantastisk eksempel på dette. Bill har tilbragt sine dage i bølgerne og på sandet siden barndommen og føler sig lige så hjemme i vandet som i sit eget hjem - et tydeligt tegn på en ægte vandmand.

Surfing blev det centrale i hans liv fra en tidlig alder og gav ham en spændende mulighed for at studere vandet og uddybe sit forhold til havet dag ud og dag ind. Med tiden begyndte hans kærlighed til surfing at overskride alle aspekter af hans liv, og snart begyndte han at designe og fremstille ultra-personlige surfbrætter med sine egne hænder. Flere årtier senere fortsætter han med at udleve denne ånd, værdsætter sin tid i vandet og håndformer brugerdefinerede surfbrætter med den største opmærksomhed på detaljer.

Vi satte os ned med Bill for at diskutere hans unikke rejse som surfer og shaper, hans yndlingssurfspots rundt om i verden, inspirationen bag hans design, råd, han ville give til sit yngre jeg, og hans utrolige "Surf with a Legend"-oplevelse på 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay 

Interview med den legendariske Kaua-surfer og shaper Bill Hamilton

You’ve said that your early lessons in life were taught to you by the great outdoors and watermen. How did nature help to carve your career path?

I continue to thank my parents for providing an awesome environment to grow up in. We moved to Laguna Beach, California in 1950 and settled into a small apartment above the beach with a grand view of the ocean. I had salt water and sand on my body from day one, and I continue to have that to this day nearly 75 years later. The ocean and its surroundings became my teacher as did the people who frequented it. Fortunately for me, the epicenter of surfboard building and wave riding was just a few miles to the south of Laguna, Dana Point. In 1959, at the age of 11, I purchased my first used surfboard from Joyce and Dick Pettit, who happened to be a resin and fiberglass salesman with surfboard and sailboat magnate Hobie Alter and some of the boat designers and builders in Newport Beach, like Joe Quigg. I was surrounded by ocean people and quite naturally became one myself. As a diver and a fisherman, I learned skills that I would later use as a commercial fisherman on Kauaʻi. Probably the most pivotal experience of my life was traveling to Hawaiʻi when I was 14 to surf in the Makaha International contest in December 1963. I fell head over heels for the environment of the islands and discovered at a very young age that I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a lifelong surfer and ocean-born man.

What is your favorite memory of surfing and your favorite place that you’ve surfed? 

Surfing has a magical, almost mystical, and spiritual presence in the sense that you exist purely in the present moment and it's very addicting. The feeling of having saltwater on your body for hours on end also has an electrifying effect on your entire being. Having mastered the surfing technique over many decades of time, I find myself flying over the water with the freedom of a bird. The surfing experience when you reach that level is all-encompassing. I have surfed in many beautiful places throughout the world and discovered a few notable surfing locations. One of them is in France, called Hossigor, and also Nazarre in Portugal in 1968. But the best surfing memories are on Kauaʻi and the queen of all surfing locations, Hanalei Bay.

You’re known as a legend within the surf community for both pioneering the world as a surfer, but also as a shaper. Can you share what inspires your designs?

Making surfboards for good surfers and being able to ride the designs with knowledge of how they work, from small to Mount Everest gigantic. Hydrodynamic theory is constantly being explored. Right now, I am shaping the old surfboard designs from the 14th to the 17th century in Hawaiʻi. The surfboards are incredibly designed and crafted from native wood like breadfruit (ʻulu) and koa and the very light wiliwili. It's amazing to me how advanced the early Hawaiian surfboard designs were. I’m sure they were traveling sideways and at very great speeds. The water ski thinness of the rails and their square hard edges, combined with modern-day thickness and width, made for an exceptional craft. It became a lost art at the turn of the 18th century but was rediscovered in 2006 by a pro surfer in South Africa, who copied one he had seen in a museum in England.

What advice would you give to a younger you? Similarly, what advice would you give to a surfer coming to Kauaʻi for the first time?

Ask me this question 50 years ago, I would say follow your heart. But with wisdom, I will add a bit more. It's important to find and pursue the things you love. It's also important to take inventory of yourself. Who are you? Why are you? The fact that we are given a lifetime with a body to make it well over seventy years on this planet, you need to take care of yourself and check the oil now and then. Remember that the choices you make sometimes will change your entire life, for better or worse. My motto has been to leave this a better place than I found it. Never create chaos in thought or action, and maintain a high degree of light and happiness.

What advice would you give to a younger you? Similarly, what advice would you give to a surfer coming to Kauaʻi for the first time?

Ask me this question 50 years ago, I would say follow your heart. But with wisdom, I will add a bit more. It's important to find and pursue the things you love. It's also important to take inventory of yourself. Who are you? Why are you? The fact that we are given a lifetime with a body to make it well over seventy years on this planet, you need to take care of yourself and check the oil now and then. Remember that the choices you make sometimes will change your entire life, for better or worse. My motto has been to leave this a better place than I found it. Never create chaos in thought or action, and maintain a high degree of light and happiness.

Fortæl os om din "Surf with a Legend"-oplevelse på 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay , og hvad der gør den så unik.

Jeg er skrædder i at lave personlige surfbrætter. Jeg taler med dig om alle detaljer fra din kropsstørrelse, vægt og vanderfaring til, hvilken slags bølger du surfer på, dine nuværende surfbrætmål, hvad du leder efter i et surfbræt, og dine specifikke kunstønsker (farver, design osv.). Afhængigt af dit niveau kan jeg tage dig med til områder, der er venlige og stressfrie, eller til single-black eller double-black diamond-territorium. Jeg har været på Kauaʻi i 50 år og grundlagde den første surfskole i Hanalei i 1974, så jeg elsker at undervise og har erfaringen til at gøre det. 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay tilbyder et stort udvalg af wellness-tilbud, og alt i alt kan det blive en mindeværdig dag, hvis vejret tillader det. Mahalo!

Surf med en legende 

Tilbring en mindeværdig dag med Bill Hamilton med vores Surf with a Legend-oplevelse på 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay Fra en 90-minutters privat surf-session til et privat måltid med Hamilton selv, er du sikker på at få uvurderlig visdom, der rækker langt ud over surfingens dybder.