Where you all came from(history lesson)

[teach]

talking story with Doc Paskowitz. 
 
John Zapotocky, the fater of standup paddle surfing, for over 60 years he was the king of what we all call today 'stand up paddle boarding' . in point  of fact for over 40 years 'Zap" was the only such surfer until Pops Achoy and his kids Bobby and Leroy took over in the 80's to use oars to shoot photos of tourists at Waikiki.   Zap was nicknamed Pearl Diver by the other beach boys back in the late 40's for his skill in diving the boards of the day straight to the bottom.   There one sunny day he spotted  the Duke himself paddling in from Canoes on his 16 foot redwood using an old canoe paddle.   that was it! no more preal dives for Zap.    using ash oars for the next 60 years, Zap was the king of the lineup.    Zap is now in his middle 90's living in Hawaii Kai.

and thats the story .......

[fms]

Hey Teach , nice article ! I just finished reading another write up on JZ by G. lopez in the latest Standup journal, J Zap looks great !

[surfcowboy]

I actually heard 2 guys at Java Kai in Hanalei last year look at a post card of Duke and say, "see, he didn't need a paddle".

I didn't have the heart to tell them that he actually used one a good bit from what I hear.

[surf4food]

talking story with Doc Paskowitz. 
 
John Zapotocky, the fater of standup paddle surfing, for over 60 years he was the king of what we all call today 'stand up paddle boarding' . in point  of fact for over 40 years 'Zap" was the only such surfer until Pops Achoy and his kids Bobby and Leroy took over in the 80's to use oars to shoot photos of tourists at Waikiki.   Zap was nicknamed Pearl Diver by the other beach boys back in the late 40's for his skill in diving the boards of the day straight to the bottom.   There one sunny day he spotted  the Duke himself paddling in from Canoes on his 16 foot redwood using an old canoe paddle.   that was it! no more preal dives for Zap.    using ash oars for the next 60 years, Zap was the king of the lineup.    Zap is now in his middle 90's living in Hawaii Kai.

and thats the story .......

One slight correction  on this.  I happen to be FB friends with MIke Ah Choy, the youngest of the Ah Choy family.  According to him, his dad John (Pops) started using a paddle in the late 60's and shortly after that his sons Bobby and his younger brother Leroy incorporated using a paddle on occasion.  Leroy was the first of the brothers to wrap a camera round his neck and Bobby followed.  While both were very young, it was really in the late 60's that they started using a paddle on their tandem surfboards.   

As for Duke, John Z DID in fact see him using a paddle (as he stated in a couple interviews you can find on YouTube) and that was the seed planted for Zap to start using a paddle.  That being said, he really didn't go into details as to exactly what he saw Duke using.  While Duke may very well have used a 16 foot redwood board with a canoe paddle, the only photos and videos I can find are of him (Duke) actually riding an Australian surf ski (given to him as a gift) and using a double bladed surf ski paddle, not a canoe paddle.