Cold Hands, Warm Hearts: Introducing Cliff Kapono

A decade ago, Cliff Kapono was studying for his PhD at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of San Diego, when the young chemist saw a call go out from the Global Heath Institute, looking for proposals to study the health of different populations. Seeing an opportunity to combine his life’s two passions, Cliff submitted a proposal to sample the surfing population, looking at antibiotic resistant infections and their effects on the health of surfers.  

The GHI liked his proposal so much they encouraged him to make the study international, expanding it beyond California to the surfers in Europe. “The places I wanted to go and communities I wanted to sample were fickle – Morocco, Ireland, Mundaka in the Basque Country. It was recommended I find a home institution as a base and then strike out to these waves. When I looked across the literature, the only university I could find that had Chemistry, Marine Biology and surfers was in Falmouth.”

Despite choosing Cornwall as his base, the fact that this little corner of England had a thriving surf scene came as something of a shock. “I didn't bring a surfboard or a wetsuit or anything!” he laughs, remembering his surprise at being caught out. “In my mind, the ocean here was just rock pebbles and little lapping waves. I had no idea!”

A friend from Hawaii told Cliff of a shaper in Cornwall, and Hugh Brockman of Boss surfboards became the first to take the Hawaiian under his wing. Hugh went on to introduce him to the local crews, including a fated visit to see Andy Cummings of Surfers Against Sewage. After a highly technical conversation regarding surfer’s stool samples, Cliff was pointed over the road to check out a little local surf brand called Finisterre.

“I’d heard the name because they had just opened a shop in Falmouth. So, I went over and was like, ‘wow, they have high quality stuff’,” Cliff recalls, showing us an old photo of him standing in our first St Agnes shop, a room which now houses our Merchandising team. “Tom was very honest about what it was. He's like, ‘this is what we believe in’, and he gave me a wetsuit.”

“Now, I'm just a random person! I'm not doing anything in surfing.” Cliff says, getting more animated as he recalls the incredible warmth of the people he met during his first brief spell here. “It may not seem like a big thing if someone gives me a wetsuit now. But at the time, I was literally a stranger. It was like those old stories of the traveller in a strange land. In this cold place, I met some of the warmest people in the world. You folks kept me warm in a time where I was pretty lonely, in a dark, cold place which was far from home.”  

It turned out to be a pivotal moment in Cliff’s life and career. After returning home and completing his PhD he quickly caught the eye of the established surf industry, carving out a unique niche where he could speak with authority as a Native Hawaiian surfing scientist. That trip to Cornwall, he says, became a line in the sand. “It was very much the last moment in my life where I felt I could distinguish between who was speaking to me as me, versus who was speaking to me as someone within the industry,” he explains, with a deep sense of gratitude. “The people who gave me time, they didn’t have to. And that always stuck with me.”

Fast forward a decade, and we’re proud to officially welcome Cliff into the Finisterre fold as a fully-fledged Ambassador. A meeting of like-minds from opposite sides of the globe, the juxtaposition is not lost on Dr. Kapono, who has always walked his own path. “It’s just like a surfing scientist,” he jokes. “Even from the position of being a native scholar, I've always had to fight these perspectives that try to deviate the message, and delineate and compartmentalise parts of who I am. I think people are multifaceted. We exist on this spectrum of identity, yet we're not allowed to be everything that we want to be.”  

This duality of existence goes back to when Cliff was a late teen, discovering his talent for surfing at the same time as being encouraged by family to prioritise his academic studies. “Within the Hawaiian community, and for me, the story of a professional surfer led to one sort of ending. Whereas if you were led into academia, especially in science and STEM fields, you were believed to have elevated your standing in society.”

The journey has been hard work admits Cliff: “I wasn't very good at science! I would say I was a way better surfer than I was a scientist. To this day, I have to work very hard in the academic world.” But hard work paid off, and after 10 years of working in this space, Cliff has not only carved out a career but also shown that a surfer doesn’t have to fit the traditional mould. “I believe it works to promote intelligence alongside proficiency in ocean craft. I don't think I own the space, but I feel like I worked hard to join a community where people can be celebrated. I don't think I'm this great surfer, I don't think I'm this great scientist. But choosing to do them regardless of whether I'm getting paid or not, is what helped me to find a career.”

Dr Cliff Kapono, welcome to the team.