David Nuuhiwa by Leo Hetzel

Feature

Light / Dark

David came from the Islands as a teenager and surfed around Huntington. There were a lot of really good surfers at the Pier then—Herbie, Baxter, Fury. But when David arrived, everything changed. He was graceful. Spiderman. Ballet on a board. 

Like John Peck, another individualist, David didn’t copy anybody. He was so flexible. He could drop his butt, bowlegged, to the deck and stand back up like it was nothing. He was the best guy in the water. He was the Kelly Slater of his time. 

But of course, no one made any money surfing back then. He’d get boards and clothes, but no real income. Bill Fury says he sees him eating breakfast sometimes down at George’s in Sunset Beach. He’s an Uber driver. I don’t think Kelly will ever be an Uber driver. —Leo Hetzel

David with Donald Takayama. Ocean Beach, California, 1966 World Surfing Championships.
Rocking the board to lock in a noseride trim line, H.B., 1965.
United States Surfing Championships, 1966, Huntington Beach.
Seeing if his Waikiki/California small-wave game scales up at Pipe, 1965.
Rocky Point, 1965, spraddle-legged “Bully Boy” tip ride.

[Feature image: Southside Huntington Pier for the 1966 U.S. Surfing Championships.]

∧Back to top