Saturday, May 1, 2010

They Call Him 'Zap'

Aloha
Thanks For Coming
Today


click on the photos

"To love and to be loved
is the greatest happiness
of existence."

Sydney Smith






"There are three faithful friends:
an old wife,
and old dog,
and ready money."

Benjamin Franklin


My Waikiki Neighbor 'Zap'


"I didn't stand up. The Lord lifted me up."
John 'Zap' Zapotocky, 91

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Stand Up paddling has gotten very popular recently,
after almost disappearing from our Waikiki waves.

I've heard it called 'Old Guy Surfing'
but people of all ages
can be seen every day of the week
at all levels of skill
enjoying this old-is-new-again sport
that is associated with Hawaii's greatest waterman,
Olympian Duke Kahanamoku.

Zap learned the sport from Duke himself!
He was out on his 11-foot redwood surfboard
sometime in the 1940's
when Duke paddled up next to him
on a stand up board.

"I asked him about it and he taught me
and I've been doing it ever since,"
says Zap.

"He's been doing it for, like, 70 years.
He's a sweet sweet person."
Gerry Lopez,
Author of Surf is Where You Find it

"I'm a member of the vegetarian society,
but I'm not 100% vegetarian."
say's Zap

"If you're gonna eat something,
eat something fresh."

"I want to be out there surfing until I'm at least 100."

We hope so too, Zap!

Bless you

><>



Mahalo
to

Paula Rath


Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer

"A Stand-up Guy"

(April 29, 2010)








41 comments:

RONW said...

Happy Aloha Friday, Cloudia.

Delwyn said...

While I am not quite as old as Zap I do enjoy stand up paddling...and at 91 I am sure that it was probably the Lord that lifted him up...

Happy days

Dinesh chandra said...

HI HOW R U GOOD POST

roughterrain crane said...

Zap is enjoying the sea. I wish him good health.
Have a nice weekend!

BALLET NEWS said...

WOW ! Aloha Cloudia

Akelamalu said...

Zap looks cool!

I love this quote

"To love and to be loved
is the greatest happiness
of existence."
Sydney Smith

it is SO true. :)

Teresa said...

Amazing! I love Zap's spirit.

SandyCarlson said...

Zap has a lot of zip! What an inspiration. Thanks, Cloudia!

Full-On-Forward said...

How Cool! Great History lesson!

Cloudia--if I saw skies like yours, I don't think I could ever come inside!!!

Way to keep them ALIVE!!!

John

Zap-Forever!

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» agrees wholeheartedly with your comment at Jerusalem Hills DP that Dina never fails to "inspire and teach". Dina is one of the true gems of the Blogosphere.

Kay said...

Oh Wow! What a wonderful guy! We should all be so lucky to be able to surf-paddle when we're 91.

Nancy said...

You go, Zap! I must try stand up paddling.

the walking man said...

I couch surf. Does that count?

Fireblossom said...

I doubt I'll be standing at all at 91.

Hilary said...

Zap is inspiring! Thanks for sharing him. :)

Unseen Rajasthan said...

These were some really beautiful and fantastic shots !! I can find the peace in your words too !! Aloha !!!

Marguerite said...

Gorgeous pics! Zap is wonderful, and so inspiring! Aloha, cher! Have a Happy Week!

Trotter said...

Aloha Cloudia! 91 surfing? Amazing!!

PS: Turkey waits for you
at Blogtrotter Two!! ;)

Dave King said...

What a wonderful old guy! Hope he never gets zapped!

JTG (Misalyn) said...

Great pictures Cloudia. Zap is looking great. I hope that his wish will be answered. I may not be as old as Zap but I were given the skill to do what he is doing, I would probably do it no matter what.

Aloha and Salaam my friend.

Maude Lynn said...

That is so cool!

Daryl said...

Thats how to stay young!

Unknown said...

LOVE the photos!

christopher said...

I never heard of stand up paddling before...paddle on Zap!

Love your quotes as always...coincidentally, I just posted on happiness as well.

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

Go Zap! That looks like fun!
<><

Javier Martín Alvarado said...

saludos desde bilbao... my friend

Friko said...

nice chap, old Zap.
A bit of a cheeky quote by Ben Franklin; I doubt he'd get away with it today.

Cloudia said...

Aloha!

Sueann said...

Beautiful story!! I am lovin' Zap!
Congrats on your POTW!!
Hugs
SueAnn

järnebrand said...

Well, Zap has a huge fan here too! :)
Wow. A true inspiration...
...and congrats on your POTW!
Hugs/ Jo.

Cricket said...

Way cool. I love this sort of thing. Congratulations on the potw.

The chances of my living much past 70 are quite slim, given my family history. Still, it's nice to see people living, really living, well into old age all the same.

No chair in the corner of "the home" for Zap. Amen.

DeniseinVA said...

Fantastic post as always Cloudia. Zap is one of a kind.

Dianne said...

Zap is quite a man!
I am sure he will be surfing well into his 100th year

congrats on POTW

Anonymous said...

Hooray for Zap, lord love him.

POTW mention, cheers!

Land of shimp said...

He looks so happy, Cloudia! I've never heard of stand-up surfing before, but it made me think of something.

Did you ever read the Narnia Chronicles? I think it is in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader where they encounter little elf-like creatures with one enormous foot. In the book they can use them as boats, simply grabbing a paddle, and rowing away on their foot.

I wonder if C.S. Lewis got the idea from the Old Man Surfing?

Fun post, and congratulations on the post of the week mention at Hilary's!

Daryl said...

Congrats on the POTW mention from Hilary

Unknown said...

oh, I want to be him when I grow up.
what a zest for life.

congrats on the POTW

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

elegant actions!
loved the photo image and the beautiful thoughts they spark.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

http://itistimetothinkformyself.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-birthday-christina.html

thanks for the beautiful job!
please visit me via the link for new meme or awards.
10Q.

Unknown said...

Wow. What a great memorial post. He looks like a wonderful person. I love his smile. May he be in heaven paddling across crystal clear water with the angels tonight : )

LadyFi said...

A warm tribute to a guy full of energy and life! Hope I'm like that when I'm his age.