The Most Supreme Pleasure: Path Of Purpose
Aug 14 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
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Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama and Friends Lead a Benefit to Understand Autism.
Driving down to Paradise Cove on a summer Saturday reads like the road into Belfast during The Troubles: “NO SURFBOARDS ON BEACH.” NO DOGS OR ANIMALS OF ANY KIND IN THE PARKING LOT. “NO BARBEQUES, NO OPEN FIRES.” “NO PERSONAL WATERCRAFT.”
Signs, signs, everywhere signs, so it was strange to see dozens of 12-foot plus surfboards and a giant barbeque on the beach where Jim Rockford used to live in his trailer. What looked like an act of defiance against Paradise Cove’s restrictive covenants was instead an auction and movie premiere hosted by Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama to benefit research into autism.
At 3:00 in the afternoon, Laird was off the beach and out at sea, standing erect on a 12-foot paddleboard, using a single paddle to flow along. Laird learned the technique from the Waikiki beach boys and he makes it look good: "He is beautiful when he is in motion" Laird’s wife, Gabby, said to People Magazine a few years ago and on this day she was right. Laird is 6’ 3” and 215 pounds but when he is standing straight up and propelling himself through the ocean with a carbon fiber paddle, he moves with the grace of a gondolier on the Venetian canals, inspiring a riff on Captain Cook: “I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was standup paddleboarding so fast and so smoothly on the sea.”
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Laird learned the technique from the Waikiki beach boys and not too long ago he was singing O Sole Mio as the stroked along the California Riviera, catching waves and standing on top of the world, or poking around way out in the kelp beds, looking for white sharks to wrestle. These days, standup paddleboarding has become de rigorous for celebrities and civilians wanting an efficient core workout with an ocean view, and among the two dozen paddleboarders that day were Super Bowl linebacker Bill Romanowski, tennis legend John McEnroe, actor John C. McGinley and two members of Rage Against the Machine. Laird played host by land and sea, showing proper technique to Rachel Griffiths on the beach, then paddling fast to the pier to help a girl who had drifted too close to the pilings.
Around 5:00, the paddlers came to the beach to find an open bar and an open barbeque. Laird took the microphone at 6:00 to welcome everyone and thank SurfTech and Becker for the boards, his sponsor Oxbow for the drinks and grinds and his partner Dave Kalama, a Hawaii-born surfer, peddler, canoeist and waterman whose job is “to watch this guy’s back.” Kalama took the microphone to thank their manager Jane Kachmer and then introduce “Jeff’s dad” a professional auctioneer who talked even faster than McGinley. Barry Sweet stepped up to talk some money out of the crowd and this was a crowd that had some.
In and around Malibu the guy standing next to you blowing seawater from his nose could be an anonymous billionaire so the auction went well: Two standup paddleboards topped out at $2000 and $2500, a custom Joe Terrell standup paddle was worth $1250 and a tennis racket signed by John McEnroe topped out at $1500.
No one bit on a “private lesson, tennis or yelling” from John McEnroe that started at $10,000, but when someone paid $10,000 for a private surf lesson with Laird, the auctioneer started the bidding at $10,000 for a “Kalama Camp” on Maui, which Kalama described as “One man outrigger and standup paddleboarding on the north shore of Maui, canoe surfing on the south side and what else? We'll go over to Laird's house and TP it.”
That got a chuckle from the crowd, and $13,000 from one bidder. “The event raised $42,000,” said Jane Kachmer, the energetic manager for Laird and Dave and Laird's wife Gabrielle Reece-Hamilton. “but with more funds coming in from Kelly and Ron Meyer, Tim Cummerford, Chelios' Foundation and Tom Shadyac.” The money went to the National Autism Association, because autism is what this night was all about. “The parents, the people who have to live with children who are autistic – that’s a heavy thing,” Hamilton said to the crowd. “I have this incredible respect for Don King and his family and… we are here for Beautiful Son which is Don King’s film about autism - about his son and about the spectrum disorder.”
Don King is a pioneering surf photographer who transitioned into water cinematography and shot the bodysurfing sequences for "City of Angels," the raft scenes for "Cast Away" and the opening surfing sequence for "Die Another Day," using Laird, Kalama and Darrick Doerner as stuntmen. King and his wife Julianne’s son Beau was born in 2000 but their normal, happy child changed dramatically after he turned two when, “the light went out,” according to King. Beau was diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that severely affects speech and social behavior and has shown an alarming increase with every passing year.
"Beautiful Son" is King’s personal documentary about Beau’s struggle with autism, and the wider issues involved in a time when one in 160 American kids are diagnosed with the disorder. King’s project was self-financed, until a deus ex cinematica showed up on mountain bikes and 12-foot surfboards.
Paradise Cove probably has a sign prohibiting large outdoor movie screens but Path of Purpose defied that, too, and the documentary rolled as 300 people fell silent. King started the movie with words all parents understood: "There is no stronger drive than a parent to get their child back."
There is a lot of kokua out there for Don King, a huge reserve stored up from a couple of decades of King making surfers look beautiful in motion. Some of that energy was released by Laird Hamilton, who powered a solo 70-mile bike journey from London to Dover in the summer rain, and followed that with a solo 20-mile standup paddleboard crossing of the English Channel to Le Toquet in France. The next day, Laird jumped on a bike and finished up 190 miles later at the Arc de Triomphe with these words: “If you want to, and you really put your mind to it, we can go a lot farther than you think. No matter what you are doing, you can do more, a lot more.”
Laird, Dave Kalama and their friends did more, a lot more in October of 2006, on a seven-day pedal/paddle transit of the Hawaiian islands. From the southernmost point of the Big Island they crossed Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai on bicycles, connecting the dots with channel crossings on standup paddleboards – 500 miles of pedaling and paddling in seven days.
Path of Purpose makes your back and legs ache, but your heart swell, as Laird, Kalama and friends went to great lengths to help their respected friend. After the movie, Don King said that Path of Purpose had raised $40,000 for "Beautiful Son," which King will tour and hopes to get on PBS.
At the start of Path of Purpose, Don King says, “There is no stronger drive than a parent to get their child back.” Beau is now seven years old and in the middle of the autism spectrum, according to King: “He can talk. I have had a couple of instances where we have gone back and forth two or three times, but it’s very rare. He can interact socially but it’s hard for him. Beau is really good in the ocean. He loves the water and is a great swimmer and loves to be under water. When he is in the ocean he will play games and interact in ways that he won’t on land.”
--Ben Marcus
