Paddleboard Dreams
by Joe Schofield
Title
Paddleboard Dreams
Artist
Joe Schofield
Medium
Photograph
Description
Paddle boarder - White Point, San Pedro CA. Sold: 6-24-13
Thomas Edward Blake is credited as the pioneer in paddleboard construction in the early 1930s.
While restoring historic Hawaiian boards in 1926 for the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Blake built a replica of the previously ignored olo surfboard ridden by ancient Hawaiian aliʻi (kings). He lightened his redwood replica (olo were traditionally made from wiliwili wood) by drilling it full of holes, which he then covered, thus creating the first hollow board, which led to creation of the modern paddleboard. Two years later, using this same 16 ft (4.9 m), 120 lb (54 kg) board, Blake won the Pacific Coast Surfriding Championship, first Mainland event integrating both surfing and paddling. Blake then returned to Hawaii to break virtually every established paddling record available, setting half-mile and 100-yard records that stood until 1955.
In 1932, using his drastically modified chambered hollow board (now weighing roughly 60 lbs), which over the next decade he would tirelessly promote as a lifeguarding rescue tool, Blake out-paddled top California watermen Pete Peterson and Wally Burton in the first Mainland to Catalina crossing race (29 miles in 5 hours, 53 minutes). During the 1930s, Blake-influenced hollow boards (called cigar boards by reporters and later kook boxes by surfers) would be used in roughly equal proportion to solid plank boards for both paddling and surfing until the new Hot Curl boards led wave-riding in a new direction. For paddleboarding, however, the basic principles of Blakes 1926 design remain relevant even today.
Uploaded
January 8th, 2013
Statistics
Viewed 4,544 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/25/2024 at 6:56 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (13)
Christopher James
One of your peers nominated this image in the 1000 views Groups Special Features #19 promotion discussion. Please help your fellow artists by visiting and passing on the love to another artist in the the 1000 Views Group....L/F/Tw
Shoal Hollingsworth
This is wonderful, I nominated this for a Special Feature in the 1000 Views Group. L/F
Christopher James
Congratulation.....your wonderful work has been featured in the 1000 Views on 1 Image Group ..... Please place your featured image in the Feature Archive and any other appropriate Archives l/f/p
Anthony Jones
Beautiful work! Thank you for submitting your artwork to the Underwater Photographer Group where the image is now featured on the home page. L/F
Jim Love
Joe you nabbed a gem with this one...not sure how you got that amazing silhouette---great work