Veteran surfers may well recall what the North Shore of Oahu was like at the advent of the short board revolution in the late '60's. Spots heretofore impractical in surfing's golden age of longboards were now wide open. The new, small "wave machines", with their "drawn-in" contours, "pin-tails", "v-bottoms" fit neatly into some of the most horrific and beautiful barrels on the island! One such spot, just around the corner from Sunset Beach, was a beautiful wave, called Velzyland, named after the famous surfboard shaper, Dale Velzy.
Our readers no doubt recall the surf movie classic, "The Golden Breed". An interesting thing about Dale Davis' classic footage of "V-land" ( as it was nicknamed) was that the surfers were, without exception, shown going left! If you've ever surfed the reef at "V-land", then you'll know that the lefts are much more moderate, the waves tapering gradually without an abrupt lip pitch over the shallow reef. This was ideal for the heavier, longer boards. However, just 10 feet away, on the other side of the reef, it was a totally different picture! Here, the inside pitching, diabolically hollow barrel, rolls through a graveyard-like section of razor-sharp coral about 2 feet deep! Kinda like wrestling with a meat grinder, this was an awesome, yet perfectly shaped tube that broke in the same place each time like a machine, and thus easy to get wired- a surfer's Valhalla!
Inevitably, the intense competition for these waves was transformed into a vicious new phenomena of Hawaiian localism-a la California style. Suddenly, and no one could figure out how, the waves "belonged" to "someone,"- that someone turned out to be the Irons brothers, regualar expatriates from California, who just happened to be living in a hut by the break. What started out as a "semi-secret", radical short-board spot, soon became an obstacle course that even Rambo would think twice about: slashed tires, stolen stereos, and surfboard racks, with the ultimate "minefield" of broken Primo bottles from the car along the winding trail the beach! Once a surfer survived the physical rigors, the mental vibes out in the water became nearly hysterical, replete with drop-ins, kick-outs and punch outs!
The whole scene was pretty heavy, a seemingly "blind hatred" of anyone trying to "invade their spot". Those hapless surfers who innocently plunged in the Hawaiian witches brew known as "V-land", would no doubt recognize the atmosphere of "needless hatred" as reflected in this week's Torah portion, (Matot-Masai). We are told that it took seventy years to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. These seventy years were juxtaposed against the Kabbalistic concept of "clearing up" (berurim) 7 negative emotional attributes, each taking 10 years (see Likutei-Torah, Hechalzu). The question is asked, after more than 2,000 years, why has the temple not been rebuilt? The answer: needless hatred, something that is very difficult to correct because we don't think it applies to us!!
So what's the cure for the "V-land Blues"? The Aloha spirit as put forth by the Hawaiian surfer, Duke Kahanamoku: "There'll always be another wave!"
Surf Trip in Baja California, Ensenada! Don't miss out!! Fun, fun,
fun! Aug 21-24.
See our web page. "Surf & Soul" Baja Shabbaton in cool
Baja!!
Rabbi Nachum Shifren
"The Surfing Rabbi"
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