In December 2009,  Hawaii got a taste of its first big winter surf...a very anticipated season for surfers and those who love to watch the power and beauty of the ocean when it is truly alive.  The ancient Hawaiians anticipated this time as well, as it meant the time of Makahiki, when all battles were put aside, and peace reigned in the islands...

Kapa came into heavy use at this time for many things besides surfing malo.  Interestingly, it was forbidden to make kapa during this time because it was also a season of resting from the labors of the rest of the year.  White kapa was used as temple or heiau wrappings as well as to wrap the ki`i or statue images of the god Lono, who's time it now was.  Kapa was also used as ho`okupu, or offerings to the chiefs who, as representatives of the gods, traveled the islands visiting each ahupua'a, or traditional land boundary which usually followed the contours of the valleys, and extended from the mountain peaks, far out to sea.   The ahupua`a (lit. pig altar) was actually the boundary marker, and was a stone or wooden altar with a kukui wood pig placed on top of it.  The use of kukui or candlenut tree wood and the pig image were representations of the god Lono.  Such representations were called kinolau. 
Anciently, makahiki was the time for both the land and the people and creatures upon it to rest and rejuvenate.  Prayers and offerings made to Lono asked for weather conducive to good crops, and for healthy offspring for themselves and their livestock.  That said, it was no accident that the surf often played a roll in bringing men and women together.   A writer for a Hawaiian language newspaper from the 1800's recalled that at surfing contests held in older times, the men would wear red-dyed malo or loincloth and gather on the beach. Women would arrive at the beach in red-dyed kapa skirts. Then, they would join with the men in the surf. If a man and woman rode in on the same wave together it was sometimes a sign of attraction. 

Could the kapa worn to surf in be waterproofed?  Intensive studies of ancient kapa indicate that compounds found in some kapa were oil-based.  Usually this oil was coconut, kukui nut and kamani nut.  In more recent times,  kapa practitioner Pua Van Dorpe did tests for Bishop Museum to try and replicate those ancient methods and was successful.  I also did my own kapa waterproofing trials and found that the kapa could be made water resistant with the oils.  Particular methods of beating also gave it the durability and flexibility needed to endure rough ocean conditions.  Of course i have seen bikinis, fins and board shorts ripped right off the wearers, and no doubt kapa was sometimes susceptible to the same rigors of the sea!  I wouldnt mind trying to make some waterproof kapa and trying it out in the surf of Makaha.  But maybe on a  calm day...on my stand-up board...in July, when the the wild westside ocean can become as a lake of glass.  Haha okay, some rigorous trials.... alright I'll even jump in the water! 















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