Surfen met een legende: Leren hoe je de golven van het leven moet surfen met Bill Hamilton

De manieren van de waterman zijn gebaseerd op diep respect voor en synergie met de oceaan. De legendarische surfer en shaper Bill Hamilton uit Kauaʻi is hier een ongelooflijk voorbeeld van. Bill brengt al sinds zijn kindertijd zijn dagen door in de golven en op het zand en voelt zich net zo thuis in het water als in zijn eigen huis - een duidelijk teken van een echte waterman.

Surfen werd al op jonge leeftijd het middelpunt van zijn leven en gaf hem een opwindende uitlaatklep om het water te bestuderen en zijn relatie met de oceaan dag in dag uit te verdiepen. Na verloop van tijd begon zijn liefde voor surfen elk aspect van zijn leven te overstijgen en al snel begon hij met zijn eigen handen ultrapersoonlijke surfplanken te ontwerpen en te maken. Tientallen jaren later belichaamt hij nog steeds deze geest, koestert hij zijn tijd in het water en maakt hij met de hand surfboards op maat met de grootste aandacht voor detail.

We spraken met Bill over zijn unieke reis als surfer en vormgever, zijn favoriete surfspots over de hele wereld, de inspiratie achter zijn ontwerpen, advies dat hij zijn jongere zelf zou geven en zijn ongelooflijke "Surf with a Legend"-ervaring in 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. 

Interview met de legendarische surfer en vormgever 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.

Vertel ons over je "Surf met een Legende" ervaring in 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay en wat dit zo uniek maakt.

Ik ben gespecialiseerd in het maken van gepersonaliseerde surfplanken. Ik bespreek alle details met je, van je lichaamsgrootte, gewicht en waterervaring tot het soort golven waar je op vaart, je huidige surfplankmaten, wat je zoekt in een surfplank en je specifieke wensen (kleuren, ontwerpen, enz.). Afhankelijk van je niveau, kan ik je meenemen naar gebieden die vriendelijk en stressvrij zijn, of naar single-black of double-black diamond territorium. Ik kom al 50 jaar op Kauaʻi en heb in 1974 de eerste surfschool in Hanalei opgericht. Ik geef graag les en heb de ervaring om dat te doen. 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay biedt een uitgebreid wellnessmenu en al met al kan het, als het weer het toelaat, een onvergetelijke dag worden. Mahalo!

Surfen met een legende 

Breng een gedenkwaardige dag door met Bill Hamilton met onze Surf with a Legend-ervaring in 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. Van een 90 minuten durende privésurfsessie tot een privémaaltijd met Hamilton zelf, je zult zeker waardevolle kennis opdoen die veel verder gaat dan alleen surfen.