North Shore NewsBy Noah Grodzin
Set behind giant banyan trees at the Waialua Bandstand Park is the old Waialua Sugar Mill. The mill is a converted Sugar Mill turned business park that hosts a collection of eclectic artists that include a soap maker, wood workers, stone cutters, local coffee, a farmers’ market on Saturdays and the Banyans Island food truck which offers two sandwiches named after a couple of local surfboard shapers Eric Arakawa and Jon Pyzel respectively. There are many things happening at the mill, but it’s the surfboards shapers, glassers, and fin makers that comprise an impressive collection of craftsmen and bring a special element to the mill.
The waves and ocean are so immensely strong in Hawaii that a surfer must be 100% confident in what is under their feet! There must be no doubt in the surfer’s mind that the board will not fail them. The waves of the North Shore of Oahu are considered to be some of the strongest in the world and it is these waves that forge the surfboards made on the Northshore to be perhaps the best made surfboards in the world. These surfboards are made by hand and represent an art form that requires many years to develop. Surfboard makers spend countless hours developing their eye for the curves and rails of the boards, thoughts about how to create paddle power, along with strategies to enhance stability are defined and redefined board after board.
The mill may seem unassuming with its collec- tion of ramshackle structures and potholed streets but upon entering any of the Surfboard Shops you step into a world of high-performance sports equip- ment, featuring surfboards that have been ridden by legends of the sport including past and current world champions. At various shops you will see boards that have been ridden by such greats as Derek Ho, Andy Irons, Bruce Irons, John John Florence, Bonga Perkins, Garret McNamara, Koa Rothman, and many more.
The Arakawa shop sits at the front of the mill. Eric Arakawa born and raised on Oahu, was the first surf- board shaper to locate at the mill in 1986. As you walk inside Arakawa’s shop you enter a show room brilliantly filled with an array of beautifully sleek boards. Eric is a very easy-going person who is happy to speak to you and treats everyone who walks through his door the same whether they are a sponsored pro surfer or just someone who wants to try out the sport for the first time. Eric’s son Sean mans the front counter. Sean, a surfer himself beams with pride when talking about his father’s career and looks forward to continuing on the family tradition.
At the center of the mill acting as the mill’s gath- ering place is the Waialua Surf Shop, formerly Third Stone, is home to Owl Chapman. Owl is the uncle to Kalani Chapman, a pro surfer now also making his way as a shaper by apprenticing under Owl. It was Owl and Dick Brewer who created the short board revolution. Chapman still shapes boards by hand only; focusing all his energy into every board making them each unique for their intended rider.
Down along the back side of the Mill you will find Carl Schaper’s shop. Carl grew up surfing in Virginia Beach in 1970’s and immediately took to making his own boards. Surfboards quickly became a lifelong passion that took Carl all over the world, eventually landing in Oahu and making his way to the Sugar Mill in 1988. Carl’s approach is that of a precision engineer constantly re-evaluating dimensions with a goal of continuous improvement in every board.
Located towards the back of the mill there is Mike Casey who has been shaping surfboards since 1967. Mike is a true one of a kind who, like Owl, continues to shape boards by hand only; without the use of computers or templates. Mike considers himself to have a “Harvard” education in surfboards as he spent his formative years learning at Channin Diffenderfer surfboards in California. Mike would eventually make his way to Oahu in the late 1970’s and has been shap- ing boards here ever since.
Next to Mike’s shop is Jon Pyzel, one of the newer surfboard shapers to locate at the mill but already making an impressive name for himself with current world champion riders.
Amongst the more prominent names there are many other surfboard builders operating at the mill such as Matty Raynor, Matt Yerxa, Daniel Jones, Josh Murray and so many more names every time you talk to someone more names come up.
The mill is also filled with many young people looking to make their own way in the business. like Zach from Oregon at the counter of the Waialua Surf Shop chasing his dreams or Taylor, a glassing appren- tice stoked to be surrounded by the legends of the industry. The Waialua Sugar Mill is beyond a special place for many that work there, pass through, or visit. It’s a place where you can learn something every time you visit. A surfboard can be magic and this magic permeates throughout the mill.