Navigare con una leggenda: Imparare a cavalcare le onde della vita con Bill Hamilton

I metodi dei waterman si fondano sul profondo rispetto e sulla sinergia con l'oceano. Il leggendario surfista e shaper di Kauaʻi Bill Hamilton ne è un esempio incredibile. Trascorrendo le sue giornate tra le onde e sulla sabbia fin dall'infanzia, Bill si sente a casa sua come a casa sua, segno rivelatore di un vero waterman.

Il surf è diventato il fulcro della sua vita fin dalla più tenera età, offrendogli uno sfogo esaltante per studiare le acque e approfondire il suo rapporto con l'oceano giorno dopo giorno. Col tempo, l'amore per il surf ha iniziato a trascendere ogni aspetto della sua vita e ben presto ha iniziato a progettare e realizzare con le sue mani tavole da surf ultra-personalizzate. A distanza di decenni, continua a incarnare questo spirito, ad amare il tempo trascorso in acqua e a modellare a mano tavole da surf personalizzate con la massima attenzione ai dettagli.

Ci siamo seduti con Bill per parlare del suo viaggio unico come surfista e modellatore, dei suoi spot preferiti in tutto il mondo, dell'ispirazione che sta dietro ai suoi progetti, dei consigli che darebbe a se stesso più giovane e della sua incredibile esperienza "Surf with a Legend" al 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. 

Intervista con il leggendario surfista e shaper di Kauaʻi 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.

Ci parli della sua esperienza "Surf with a Legend" al 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay e di cosa la rende così unica.

Sono un sarto che realizza tavole da surf personalizzate. Vi parlerò di tutti i dettagli, dalla vostra corporatura, al peso, all'esperienza in acqua, al tipo di onde che cavalcate, alle misure della vostra tavola attuale, a ciò che cercate in una tavola da surf e alle vostre specifiche richieste artistiche (colori, disegni, ecc.). A seconda del vostro livello di abilità, posso portarvi in zone gentili e prive di stress, oppure in territori con diamanti singoli o doppi. Essendo a Kauaʻi da 50 anni e avendo fondato la prima scuola di surf ad Hanalei nel 1974, amo insegnare e ho l'esperienza per farlo. 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay offre un ampio menu di offerte benessere e tutto sommato, tempo permettendo, potrebbe essere una giornata memorabile. Mahalo!

Navigare con una leggenda 

Trascorrete una giornata memorabile con Bill Hamilton grazie all'esperienza Surf with a Legend al 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. Da una sessione di surf privata di 90 minuti a un pasto privato con Hamilton in persona, sarete sicuri di acquisire una saggezza inestimabile che va ben oltre le profondità del surf.