The surfing sensation dates back as far as the 1770's. Captain James Cook was sailing the Pacific when, on January 18, 1778, he discovered an uncharted Polynesian archipelago. The people he met here called their island Owhyhee, which was later translated as "Hawaii''. What he described in his diary would later be interpreted as the great sport of surfing. Captain Cook said,
"Whenever from stormy weather or any extraordinary swell at sea the impetuosity of the surf is increased to its utmost heights, they choose that time for their amusement, which is performed in the following manner: Twenty or thirty of the natives, taking each a long narrow board, rounded at the ends, set out together from the shore. The first wave they meet they plunge under, suffering it to role over them, rise again beyond it, and make the best of their way, by swimming out into the sea. The second wave is encountered in the same manner with the first... as soon as they have gained by these repeated efforts, the smooth water beyond the surf, they lay themselves at length on their board, and prepare for their return. As the surf consists of a number of waves, of which every third is remarked to be always much larger than the others, and to flow higher on the shore, the rest breaking in the intermediate space, their first object is to place themselves on the summit of the largest surge."
As history has passed, new ideas and technology came about, especially for surfboards. For the ancient Polynesians, surfboards were threaded into society, religon, and myth of the Polynesian islands as baseball is in modern America. Because of this, surfboards have seen some major changes as time has passed. They started off as wood plyboards and today are extremely high-tech fiberglass pieces of technology.
