So much of surf culture revolves around showing honor to surfing’s forefathers by riding their boards and practicing their way of riding waves. So many surfers use retro equipment from the 1940s to the 1970s, ascribing to this retrospective surf culture flashback. But all of these attempts of riding the boards of long ago have come second to the tradition of the alaia.
It is not common knowledge among the surfing and non-surfing population, that the act of riding waves on an extraneous piece of equipment dates all the way back to 3,000 years ago on the Polynesian islands.
The alaia (pronounced uh-lie-uh) beckons to the Hawaiians of the early 1900s. A handful of models have been distinguishable, but a typical board is 15 to 17 inches wide and .5 to 2 inches thick. To the eye of the passerby, it looks like a plank of wood and nothing else. But in actuality, it is a refined piece of surfing equipment that has excited the surf community.
Today, the board is made from Paulownia wood, but the ancient Hawaiian’s often used wood such as Koa. The wood’s strength, light weight, and water resistance make Paulownia different from the rest. The wood requires no fiberglass or resin like the foam surfboards of today, but only a thin layer of oil, usually linseed oil. This adds to the wood’s water resistance and also slicks the bottom of the board to give more down speed.
