Post #212891 by tikitony on Sun, Feb 5, 2006 10:48 PM

A few summers back, I ran a surf camp for kids, and each week a new set of kids would come rolling in. They always noticed the surf instructor's tiki necklaces, and if not by Monday, Tuesday, they were asking about them. By Wednesday, they were budgeting them in with their allowances, and by Friday, the end of the surf school, they were feining for them. Thursday nights, I hit my carving hut with the drift wood and dremmel. Friday, we'd get the kids in a frienzy, then lay out all the freshly lacquered deities on one of the boards, and watch as the kids mobbed around them. It looked like gangsters betting on a dog fight with those routy kids shouting with dollars wedged in their little fists. I've seen friends duke it out between the same favorite tiki, and sometimes, I'd have to sell the one off my neck for double what the others would go for. The kids all seem to just understand that surfing was connected with tiki because of their roots in Hawaii. The kids never needed an explaination as to why we wore the tiki necklaces, they just got it... The parents were usually the clueless ones!

p.s. I caught an 8 foot right today that went from the extreme point, to the inner cove about a 200 yard long ride, and I think it's the best wave I've ever ridden on!