Surfing’s most interesting stories aren’t always the ones that come from professionals. They’re the ones that come from the everyday surfer, the one who does it for nothing more than the love of it. In places like Hawaii, it’s a generational thing, a love passed down to and shared with children.
Kalei Kauhane lives on Maui. He’s been surfing forever. His family has been surfing forever. “I’ve always worked construction, but now I work for the County of Maui water supply,” writes. “Whenever there are waves deep west Maui side, I surf… I don’t travel to get waves. West side is family grounds. This is where we’re from. We just hold em down as best as we can.”
The board he’s riding in the edit above was passed down like the love of surfing. Back in the ’70s, Jimmy Lewis shaped a purple 8’2 single fin for his uncle. Then, after a motorcycle accident, his uncle sold the board. After it made its rounds around the island, it found its way back to Kalei, who surfs it incredibly well in a place he loves like family.
