IN MEMORIAM

Paddle Out Memorium

One of the last early beach boys and hot dogging surfing legends, today we celebrated the life of Albert "Rabbit" Kekai on the beach at Waikiki in front of Duke's Restaurant. There was a common consensus among the attendees that Rabbit was a kolohe rascal and an exceptional waterman.

Paddle out in honor of Bill Lui-Kwan

The surfing community comes together to honor one of their brothers, Brock Little. He lived hard and fast and laughed as much as possible. We honor you and know you will be jumping from the clouds and surfing lightning bolts. Aloha

If you remember Curtis 'Da Bull' Iaukea, Ripper Collins, Gentleman Ed Francis, Handsome Johnny Barend, Neff Maiava, and The Missing Link, you will certainly remember Lord "Tally Ho" Blears.

This is the loving documentation of the beach service and surfer's paddle out (organized by Ian Masterson) at Waimea Bay on Oahu for one of surfing's giant luminaries, Fred Van Dyke.

I went to high school, swam on the swim team and knew Jimmy Blears as that guy with the warmest happiest smile you will ever see in your life. Coming from a family that was larger than life, Jimmy met those expectations and yet retained that good guy zest for the ocean, the surf, and his friends. We bid him ALOHA in town off of Waikiki where he grew up. If you couldn't be there, you will still recognize many of the faces.

Great watermen show great respect for a fallen comrade. They gather. They talk story. They take one last ride. And what better place than at Banzai Pipeline. The surf jumped from eight to fifteen feet as if to say, Aloha Sion.

When a person passes away, he usually has been indelibly imprinted by a place. And for Tom Haynie, that place was Makaha. My high school swim coach Tom Haynie's memorial out at Makaha Beach was a beautiful setting for a waterman's next swim lesson.

A short version of the video can be found here https://youtu.be/I8O5aRmdFY0?si=1pNeaf0fqhAR8-yT