pods for primates : a catalogue of surfboards in australia since 1900
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ancient polynesian surfboards: tables 
polynesian surfboard design and construction
Appendix A: Comparative tables 1778 to 1900


 The specifications collated from the detailed reports above are summarized in the following tables.

Table 1.
Tahiti and New Zealand

2.10a
'Paddling'
Clerke
Jan/Feb 1778
Ellis 
January 1778
Gilbert
February 1779
Webber
January 1779
Location
Kauai/Ni'ihau
Kauai
Hawai'i
Hawai'i
Description
piece of Board
sharkboards
blade of an oar
x
Length
6 to 8 feet
x
6 feet
plus 6 feeta
Width
24 inches
x
16 inches
20 inches
Thickness
Thin
x
4 to 5 inches
x
Weight
x
Very light
x
x
Template
Paper Cutter
x
Foiled
x
Nose
Round
Shark
Round ? b
Square?
Tail
Round
x
9 inches
x
Rails
Bevelled ?c
flat
bevelled to1 inch
x


a. Estimated from Webber's illustration.
b. nearly in the form of a blade of an oar.
c. exactly in the Shape of one of our bone paper cutters
2.10b
'Surfriding'
Samwell
January 1779
King
February 1779
King (ed) a
March 1779
Location
Hawai'i
Hawai'i
Hawai'i
Description
piece of Board
oval piece of plank
long narrow board
Length
6 to 7 feet
6 feet
Long
Width
24 inches
 20 inches
Narrow
Thickness
Thin
x
x
Weight
x
x
x
Template
x
Oval
x
Nose
x
Round
Round
Tail
x
Round
Round
Rails
x
x
x


a. King as edited by Douglas, 1784.

3.12a Whitman
1815
Arago
1819 a
Bingham
1821
Stewart
1824
Ellis
1825
Location
Waikiki e
Hawai'i
Maui
Maui
Kauai
Description
surfboard
x
surf-board
surf-board.
papa hi naru f
Length
x
15 feet
3 to 14 feet
8 to 10 feet
5 to 6 feet
Width
x
20 inches
6 to 20 inches
24 inches
16 inches b
Thickness
x
Thin
Considerable
3 to 4 inches
Flat/Convex
Weight
x
x
buoyant
Light
x
Nose
x
Round
x
Round
x
Tail
x
Square
x
Round
x
Rails
x
Square
Bevelled c
Chine d
Flat/Convex
Timber
x
x
x
Willi willi
Finish
preserved
x
Smooth
Polished
Stained
Oiling
x
x
 
Cocoa-nut oil

a. Dimensions and design features are an approximation from Arago's illustration.
b. " rather more than a foot wide".
c. "thin at the edges and ends, but of considerable thickness in the middle"
d. "decreasing to a sharp edge at the sides and ends"
e. Reported as Honolulu.
f. Properly translated as Papa he'e nalu

3.12b
Byron 
1825 
Barrot 
1836 
Malo
1838
Location
x
Kealaleakua Bay
Hawai'i
x
x
Description
Float-board
a plank
surf-boards 
narrow
Length
plus six feet a
six or eight feet
six to 24
feet b
Width
x
x
broad
narrow
Thickness
x
x
flat
x
Weight
x
x
x
x
Nose
x
Pointed
x
x
Tail
x
x
x
x
Rails
feathered
x
 
x
Timber
x
x
koa
wili willi
Finish
well kept and dried
x
x
x
Oiling
x
x
x
x

a. "a little longer than the human body"
b. "one to four fathoms" - a fathom is approxinmately six feet

4.12a
Coulton
1846
Lyman
1846
Parker
1852
Stoddard
1866
Location
Waikiki?
Waikiki
Waikiki
Maui
Description
 smooth board
Surfboard
long pointed board
Surf-board
Length
8  feet
12 to 20 feet
Long
6 to 7 feet c
Width
x
 12 inches a
x
18 inches c
Thickness
x
5 or 6 inches
x
x
Weight
x
x
x
light as cork
Template
x
x
x
Foiled c
Nose
x
x
Pointed
x
Tail
x
x
x
x
Rails
x
Bevelled b
x
x
Timber
x
x
x
x
Finish
x
x
smooth as glass
Oiling
x
x
x
x

a. 1ft wide
b. thinning towards the sides & ends so as to form an edge.
c. Dimensions and template indicated by a good lid to his coffin.
4.12b
 
John Ii
1868-1870
 
Bird
1873
Knox
1888
Location
Waikiki a
Waikiki 
Waikiki
Hilo
Hilo
Design
 Alaia
Kiko'o'
Olo
 surf-board
Surf-board
Length
9  feet
12 to 18 feet
x
6 to 9 feet
6 to 20 feet
Width
x
 x
x
22 inches d
x
Thickness
Thin
x
Thick
x
x
Weight
x
x
x
x
x
Template
Foiled b
x
x
Foiled e
x
Nose
x
x
x
x
x
Tail
x
x
x
x
x
Rails
x
x
Bevelled c
x
x
Timber
x
x
x
Breadfruit
Breadfruit
Finish
 x
x
x
x
x
Oiling
x
x
x
Well oiled
x

a.  I'i certainly observed surfriding at Waikiki, but his report is probably the sum of a number of observations and reports from various locations.
b. wide in front, tapering toward the back
c. thick in the middle and grows thinner toward the edge
d. about two feet broad
e. shaped like a coffin lid

4.12c
Nordhoff
1873
Caton
1878
Wood 
1880
Ellis #3 a
pre-1885
Knox
1888
Location
Hilo
Hilo, Hawai'i
x
Fare (?) b
Hilo, Hawai'i
Description
surf-board
bathing-board
boards
Papa faahee c
surf-board
Length
6 to 20 feet
7 feet
6  feet
Short
12 to 15 feet
Width
2 feet
 15 inches
x
x
30 inches d
Thickness
1 1/2 inches
Convex
Flat
Thick
Weight
x
x
x
x
Template
Foiled
x
x
x
Nose
Round
x
Pointed
x
Tail
Round,11 inches
x
x
x
Rails
Chamfered
Convex
x
x
Timber
bread-fruit-tree
x
x
x
Breadfruit
Finish
x
 Polished
x
x
Oiling
x
Cocoa-nut oil
x
x

a. Ellis (unspecified) as quoted by Greenwood (1885).
b. Fare - I am unable to determine the location, see below.
c. Papa faahee - a mis-translation, there is no letter f in Hawaiian, usually transcribed as p.
b. As maximum board width is essentially determined by the width of the paddler's shoulders (2.10, above), the boards were probably somewhat narrower.
5.10
Brigham
1892
Thrum
1896 c
Location
Generic 
a
Kona coast 
of Hawai'i
Description
'pa-pa' 
o-lo
a-la-ia (omo)
olo
Length
3 to 18
 feet
18 
 feet d
Width
8 to 10 
 inches
2 to 3
 feet
Thickness
flat
 
2.5 inches
6 to 8 inches
Weight
x
heavy b
x
very light
Template
slightly narrowing
x
x
x
Nose
rounded
x
x
x
Tail
square
x
x
x
Rails
slightly convex 
x
 
Convexe
Timber
koa
wi-Ii wi-Ii
koa or ulu
wiliwili
Finish
x
x
 x
x
Oiling
x
x
x
x

a. Possibly from several sources and/or locations.
b. the largest in the museum are so heavy that they require two men to move them
These examples are koa, not willi willi.
c. Reputedly the recollections of a native boardrider from Kona coast of Hawai'i, translated by another experienced rider, N. K. Nakuina, and edited by Thomas Thrum.
d.  some three fathoms long - a fathom is approximately six feet.
e. rounding toward the edges on both upper and lower sides

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