Outrigger Canoe Club, The

Beachfront club in Waikiki, Hawaii; the world's oldest surfing organization, founded in 1908 by eccentric Hawaii booster and former New York newspaperman Alexander Hume Ford.

The Outrigger Canoe Club was chartered on one and a half acres of land between the Seaside and Moana hotels, and the original clubhouse consisted of two grass shacks purchased from a nearby zoo. Surfing had become almost moribund in the late 19th century, and Ford, since his arrival in Hawaii in 1907, had become the spo...