Despite the tight urban milieu of Waikiki, its hard edges are rounded by such timeless attributes as the bright island sunshine, swaying coconut trees, translucence of the Pacific, and soothing balm of warm trade winds. Collectively, the persuasion is that of a leisurely pace and stress free lenience of attitude that’s archetypically Hawaiian.  Otherwise it might just be another quick buck, double-cheesy shopping and entertainment destination one could find about anywhere else in the world.

But none of Waikiki’s physical properties would be worth two lau lau without its most critical ingredient; genuine local-style Aloha, and the annual Duke’s Oceanfest injects the place with a large dose of it every August.  Held in honor of the late great Duke Kahanamoku, who beyond his amazing athletic exploits, was an extremely dignified and humane man who cared for others from all walks of life ahead of himself.  The Oceanfest strives to proliferate his model of Aloha, sport, and fellowship, and under the thoughtful and attentive supervision of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation and a host of tireless event volunteers, his vision is defined and perpetuated clearly and unanimously by all who participate in this weeklong event.  It also nets proceeds for the ODKF scholarship fund that assists Hawaii students with their educational pursuits.

The 2010 Oceanfest saw competitors of all ages and disciplines flying in from as far away as New Jersey and Australia to participate and pay tribute to Duke.  It was also bolstered by a live webcast to the world and a live telecast to people in Hawaii.  These two media vessels allow the Oceanfest, Duke, Waikiki, and unique local ocean sports to gain long overdue exposure.

All of last year’s events returned; Corona Beach Volleyball, Outrigger Surf Polo, Duke’s Waikiki Ocean Mile Swim, Maui Jim Paddleboard Race, Toes on the Nose and Gidget Women’s Pro Longboard divisions, C4 Waterman SUP, and the Hawaiian Airlines Legends Surf Classic.  Shoehorned into the week’s wide gamut of competitive activities are Hawaiian ceremonials, evening social events, as well as two public film screenings, a lei draping of Duke’s statue, and one bumbucha Hawaiian kine luau for all the competitors, volunteers, and sponsors at the Waikiki Aquarium lawn to close the event on August 28th.  You’d probably kill yourself trying to catch it all, but the attempt sure would be fun!

The showpiece of the Oceanfest is the Legends Surf Classic division.  The resident format pairs a sponsor’s team of four surfers, with a living surf legend, and their combined 5-man score competes against other teams in this good vibe event.  The field was a little smaller this year, which allowed contest officials to lengthen the heat times, and with a surprise SSE swell lighting up the reef at Queen’s for two days, competitors were coming in with big smiles on their faces after surfing classic Queens, which is normally packed to the gills from dawn till dusk, with just four other stoked friends in the water.  I surfed with the MGM HD team this year, and with the quantity and quality of waves we caught, I honestly didn’t care much how we placed.  I had the repeat pleasure of surfing with the remarkable Jock Sutherland, one of my boyhood surfing heroes.  My co-workers on the two Oceanic teams surfed with forever young Rory “the Dog” Russell, and perpetual Hawaiian nice guy and former touring pro Tony Moniz.  The worm really turned in everyone’s favor with the great waves we got this year, after getting skunked for surf the last two, but if I had one small change to make to the Legends event, it would be that the Legends sponsor teams returned to being all-amateur.  Other than that, no complaints, it was pure surf rapture out there.

Speaking of MGM HD; Oceanic Time Warner Cable helped them come aboard the Oceanfest as a key sponsor. MGM HD recently re-mastered a classic surf film called “Pacific Vibrations” and premiered it on their network (Oceanic ch.1561) in 1080i HD this past August.  It was by pure coincidence (and a little help from some very timely karma) that MGM HD found their way into the event, after a previously scheduled Hawaii screening of the film fell through.   The film hadn’t been shown in public for 40 years, until the idea of doing a public screening as part of the Duke’s Oceanfest activities came up.  Jock and Rory actually appeared in Pacific Vibrations as youngsters and they agreed to speak and sign autographs for all the retro-surf fans in attendance.  It was a very special evening, with hundreds in the audience re-experiencing a radical, transformative era in surfing and meeting two of the film’s stars (who couldn’t have been more gracious) in the flesh.

As a diehard, but mostly-weekend surfer, I get to peek into my “surferhood” in quick snippets once, maybe twice a week and for perhaps an hour or two at a time.  The Oceanfest allows me to completely immerse myself in the sport and culture I love for a few days in a year, where I can surf my brains out, learn new things about surfing and surf craft, gain insight into other surfers’ personalities and backgrounds, revisit old friendships and foster new ones, and live the pride of my Hawaiian heritage and it’s most revered representative.

Every time I participate in the Oceanfest, I experience something cathartic, and this year was no different. In the closing minutes of final pre-event committee meeting, the group was introduced to a tanned, angular fellow who’d been sitting quietly in a corner of the room.  His name was Mal Walker, an incurably personable bloke from Byron Bay, Australia, and his surf band called “Mal and the Longboarders”, were invited to entertain at the luau.  All the band members are salt encrusted Aussie mates in their 50’s and beyond, all avid surfers, and are huge fans of Hawaii, Hawaiian surfing, and particularly of Duke Kahanamoku, the man who introduced the sport Down Under.  Upon being introduced, Mal stood and politely conveyed his appreciation for being invited and the graciousness of the people he’d met.  Then taking a purposeful step forward, he went on to describe an experience he’d had at the Ho’omana opening ceremony and blessing two days previously.  After observing only a handful of people turn out for the ceremony, Mal wondered incredulously to himself where all the people were, particularly local people, whom he thought would and should have been there to honor this great man that he admired so much and from so far away.  In a kind of shared acknowledgement, the room went still, no one quite sure how to respond to this stinging dissertation. But the notion of Mal’s words weren’t ignored and I think everyone felt further obligated to keep steady on the task and to keep the critical works of the ODKF, the Oceanfest, and Duke’s legacy alive for and in the minds of generations to come.

Mahalo to all the committee members, volunteers, and participants who kokua every year to make the Duke’s Oceanfest such a memorable event.  Special thanks to the ODKF, Jim Fulton, Chris Colgate, Pat Dugan, Nancy Daniels, Ethan Chang, Ralph Goto, Jodi Wilmott, Dave Goebert, Hugh Chung, Dale and Mike Madden, Pat Lovell, Marty Thomas, Faith Wenzl, Wendell Aoki, Jaydence Goya, Franco Tramontano, Rick Colletto, Joel Cortez, MGM HD, La’a Wigen, Jock Sutherland, and Rory Russell for their help this year.

To make a donation to the ODKF scholarship fund click here.

Coming up on Oceanic SURF Channel this month;

• Rebroadcasts of two summer surf events:  The Sponsor Me Pro and Duke’s Oceanfest
• Live broadcast of the inaugural HIC Pro (presented by Vans) from Sunset Beach, October 28 – November 10