Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Ode to Donald Takayama

In the 3rd grade at Star View School, I befriended a pudgy Hawaiian menehune named Michael Takayama, (who I affectionately called "Coconut hair" back then). We met on the playground where (as Michael remembers it) I asked him if he wanted to be friends. He was wearing an Aloha shirt and white pants. And we became friends that day. Later that week, he introduced me to gummy bears. Now back in the 1970s, gummy bears came from Germany and they were a rare treat that I never had before. I had a pouch drink called a Poke'm, which was basically a green colored drink in a plastic bag that you poked with a straw and drank. I traded him the Poke'm for a bag of the gummy bears. During Library Day, Michael and I went to the library at Star View and Michael used the Dewey Decimal catalog cards to find a book titled "The In Sport." In that book, was a listing on Donald Takayama and his contest accomplishments in the world of surfing. "Who is he?" I asked Michael, and Michael replied, "He's my uncle." That was the first I heard of the surfer Donald Takayama. Now at the time I didn't really understand what surfing was and didn't actually see someone surf until 5th grade when we had a field trip to Huntington Beach. It was then that I saw Michael paddle out on a surfboard and attempt to catch some waves in front of Tower 3 in HB. It was blown out and windy and I watched Michael stand up and then fall, then do it again. He was the only surfer at Star View. It wasn't until the 7th grade at Vista View school that Michael got me into surfing. He taught our friend Bill how to surf and Bill in turn took me out on my first surf session. We had fun at Brookhurst St. in HB and I got hooked. Bill, Michael, myself, and several others spent many days surfing Brookhurst, messing around and doing things that junior high kids do. Paddling out in monstrous walled out unsurfable Brookhurst because we didn't know any better to surf the RJs. Paddling out in fluorescent green weird water. Burning a huge dead bird in a fire pit. (Big mistake, that think stank the air). Eating at Massimo's Pizza. Hanging with Michael's older brother Larry. Seeing Guy riding a longboard wearing an all black wetsuit. It wasn't until the 11th grade that I finally got to meet Donald. Bill, Michael and I went down to the factory in Oceanside and we filled out papers for custom boards. This was around 1984. "Two weeks." Donald said. Well, that two weeks turned into two months, then three months, until finally we went down again to see what was up. Our boards weren't even shaped. So Donald, who at the time had longish hair, took us into the shaping bay and proceeded to shape our boards. We watched as he mowed the foam and got three safety nose thrusters all rough shaped. Several hours later we saw our boards fine tuned. "Two weeks" Donald said as he left left the room. For Bill and myself, we were totally stoked to see Donald in action. I'll never forget watching him with the planer. At the time, to me, he was just Donald Takayama, uncle to my childhood friend Michael Takayama. It wasn't until I stopped riding thrusters and jumped onto a longboard did I really find out who Donald was. All the stories that Michael told me when we were small kids, how DT named velzyland after Dale Velzy, how DT shaped the best boards of the era. It all came to light as I began riding Takayama surfboards again. Everyone knows the story, Uncle Donald comes to California as a boy of 12, already an accomplished shaper, and works under the tutelage of Dale Velzy. He then proceeds to work as a hired gun at the factories of other shapers, designing for them what would arguably become the best boards in their stable of boards, and the best boards of the era; The Jacobs Takayama Model, the David Nuuhiwa Noserider, The Weber Performer ( he and Iggy made work) and the list goes on. I got to hang with Donald a few times at the shop as Michael and I would stop by after a surf, and proceed to laugh so hard my ribs would hurt. Stop and say hi when he would be out early in the gold van checking the North jetty. I was fortunate to experience even just the little things that makes Donald, Donald. Sharing bars of chocolate in the retail store. Totally approachable. Totally cool. Da best of da best. I am fortunate to have surfed with Donald a few times and am fortunate to have met him and his wife Sid, all via my third grade friend, Coconut Hair. The surfing world has lost a legend. Arguably the most innovative surfboard designer ever, Donald Takayama is the legend of all legends.

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