Wet and wild with rockin’ fig

Just out of the blue, I decided to call a buddy of mine, King of the

Noseriders, surf star, legend, and dad, did ya guess it, yes David

Nuuhiwa.

He was hanging at home watching a little TV. and having some cake.

What good timing -- it was David’s 53rd birthday. Of course David Nuuhiwa

is oneof the few surfers that people know by just their first name, and I

decided to see what he was up to.

I guess he’s been splitting up some of the time these days escaping to

his new mountain cabin to beat some of the crowds at the beaches. Doing

some fishin’ on the lake, the trout have been biting, some hiking and

rockclimbing too. But he’s definitely a familiar site in the water, still

ripping, commanding respect and getting the longest noserides. Usually

it’s the south side, third peak down the line, connecting to the pier on

those south swell days, and he was even recently sited on the north side

hanging with the boys.

David has been nominated in two different divisions of the Huntington

Beach Walk of Fame -- Surfing Champions and Local Heroes -- but in my

eyes, he should be in Surf Pioneers and Surfing Culture, too.

Back in the day, in the 60s, he was one of the best noseriders around

and was considered by many to be the world’s best. In the 70s he

influenced thesurf scene with his flamboyant style of airbrushed

surfboards with rainbows and fully sided psychedelic sprays. And in the

mid-70s I can remember walking down the Huntington Beach service road and

Dave pulling up in a white Jaguar with two Dalmatians and his 6-foot-2

Dyno fish, and going out and tearing it up. People would just stop to

watch and try to figure out what he was doing. That was back when single

fins were the norm and boards were way longer.

David has recently teamed up with another style master, Joel Tudor.

They’ve been doing some classic old school longboards together, bridging

the generation gap. Both were team riders of shaper Donald Takayama, and

are now on to their own thing, getting boards out worldwide.

Last year both hung out together in the Legend contest in Oz,

Australia. It was a tough one though as David had to surf his heat

straight off a 16-hour flight into the lineup at Noosahead in Brisbane.

The wave was a classic long right, which had three points like Malibu,

and he did get third to move on. Other legends there were Micky Dora, who

came out of hiding; Nat Young; Robert August; and “Wing Nut” Robert

Weaver, just to name a few. There were a few contests there and young

guns Joel Tudor and twinkle-toes Kevin Connelly came up with the wins.

David’s dad is one of the best-known karate fighters of all time. He’s

also known as a hero and Kingish figure from the Hawaiian Islands --

that’s were David grew up, surfing the town as a little kid. Pops could

never get him out of the water. From there it started, until he moved to

the mainland. Right now David senior isin Tahiti at a canoe race, where

one of the islands is actually know as Nuukiwa, about as close to Nuuhiwa

as you can get. But Pops will be back in time for the U.S. Open, where

he’s done security for for years.

Look for David Sr. there, and David Jr., to be up top doing the play

by play in the finals for the longboarding, with yours truly the Figster,

who will be working there all week.

David’s son, Kai, loves the ocean too, especially when he’s in the

islands. He’s growing fast and is now 12. But his inspirations are

different, David says, and it looks like there will be an actor in the

family too. His wife is doing great and it’s a family affair, we will see

the whole crew at the contest -- which is, don’t forget, July 28-29 at

Goldenwest Street for the trials, and July 30 through Aug. 5 at the south

side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

I’ll see ya there.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a six-time West Coast champion, has announced the

U.S. Open of Surfing the last seven years and has been the KROQ-FM

surfologist for the last 15 years where he’s done morning surf reports.

He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.