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July 2001
July 2001
Wednesday, The Fourth of July, 2001
2:00p-5:15p
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, a few lil bigger
Sunny; Light sideshore winds
Another muggy day with light winds. . clear skies and beautiful
clear ocean. From the cliff I could see a definite SE pulse mixed
with some small windswell wrap, making for some fun looking surf. The
reef was still partially exposed but I had timed my run for the fat tide
that was filling in.
Solid head high on the sets- sometimes overhead, and surprisingly uncrowded lineup for a holiday afternoon, maybe 7-8 people out. I watched a couple guys who were just tearing up the surf and I was all jazzed to get out there. Last second turned around and decided I'd use the leash today, then quickly jogged down the trail.
The guys I saw ripping were friends; After "whassups" they said they had been out all morning and were on there way in, even though the waves were improving. Cool- just like that, I moved up a few more notches in the pecking order :-)
It wasn't offshore, but the light south wind conditions is still ok
for this spot, which is typically blown out by prevailing trade
winds by this time of day. The waves were lining up nicely and had
just enough oomph for lots of hard turns. Slight crumble at the top just
begs to be blasted and I popped more than a few solid ones too. Although
I flubbed a few as usual, the new board is working excellent and I was
stoked to bury some rails and come square off the bottom.
The last hour the set waves were a bit bigger but less consistent. The 4:30 high tide was extra thick and it seemed only the biggest ones would break outside and the smaller ones weren't feeling the bottom till the inside sections. It did make for some juicy insiders though.
I spent most of the session waiting for the bigger sets with one or
two others. I had caught lots of waves and by 4:30 was looking for a good
one to go in on. Finally after a long wait and watching a bunch of so-so
waves go by, I was alone outside and tagged a sweet overhead peak that
was bowling up right at me. Turned mid way up the face and cocked the board
for a no paddle drop. Caught a small chop mid bottom turn that put my tail
out for a second and came up the face a bit more straight up into
the hook than I intended; Forced to lift the nose up and onto the lip as
it broke. Lots of momentum made the bash a
high one, but I was off balance and came down backwards in the lip.
I was tail first going over but somehow I turned around just before hitting
the bottom, pulling off an unintentional but sweet floater. My luck continued-
I followed up the recovery right
into another hard bottom turn, this time the fins held and I cracked
the top as I meant to the first time. The wall on this one stayed over
head and even hooked all the way across to the inside section. I worked
it good and was so stoked that I paddled back out for some more . . . great
day of small summer surf! No photos
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Friday July 6, 2001
3:00p-5:15p
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 4 feet
Sets wave face 5 feet, a few lil bigger
Partly sunny; Moderate sideshore winds
First surf for brother Rich in several weeks, unfortunately it was a
very forgettable session. The high tides this week have been off the charts
and we caught it as it was peaking. The windsurfers were happy. No photos,
no surfing photos anyway -
Uh oh! http://www.wavelust.com/bsl/070601.jpg
Saturday July 7, 2001
9:45a-12:30p
Ala Moana Bowls
Avg wave face 3-4 feet
Sets wave face 5-6 feet
Clear & sunny; Light offshore winds
Good fun for me and Rich, Bowls was pretty uncrowded, especially for a Saturday. Conditions were excellent but the sets became almost non-existent toward the last half of the session. Stoked to run into Channon Vallejo. A couple years back he made local headlines when he was found floating face down in the water during a big swell at Bowls; IIRC, he had a collision with another surfer (or his board)- the incident left him hospitalized comatose for some time. He seems fully recovered now. Rich and I talked with him, going on and on about the "old" days, and what happened to this old friend and what that old friend is doing now. Back in the '80s he often dominated the semi-pro division (4A) of the HSA (Hawaii Surfing Association) circuit. He still shreds and is one of the "heavies" at the Bowl. Today he was riding an ancient Louie Ferreira twin fin for kicks- amazing how he could turn that thing!
Later, Rich paddled into a chest high wave and totally burned a young cutie in a hot pink bikini who was surfing a longboard (very well, I would add). She was flying down the line and he plopped right down the face and began bashing the lip, forcing her to straighten out, barely avoiding a collision. He said he didn't see her but I saw the whole thing and accused him of being a dick <grin> At least his apology gave him an opportunity to chat with the young'un (she just laughed the incident off).
http://www.wavelust.com/bsl/070701a.jpg After surfing, a longboarder (and the photographer) take in some eye candy.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Sunday July 8, 2001
7:15a-10:00a
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 4 feet
Sets wave face 5, occ 6 feet
Sunny; Light side-offshore winds
Wind was more from the NE than usual and much lighter too. Rich had "words" with some guy who had underpaddled him, but besides that, an excellent session, good fun for me and Rich, both surfing well. Waves were very good while the tide was first filling in.
http://www.wavelust.com/bsl/070801a.jpg A shot of the surf and conditions
http://www.wavelust.com/bsl/chinacon.jpg
Surfbud MM spent the weekend as a contestant in China's Longboard contest
at Queen's Beach in Waikiki. He placed Sixth, congrats Makani!(An interference
call bumped him from 3rd place).
Tuesday July 10, 2001
3:30p - 6:00p
South Shore /rr/
Avg wave face 4-6 feet
Sets wave face 7-10 feet
Sunny; Moderate to strong side-offshore winds
Checked town, met MM & FE at RR....across channel solo, MM spot
shark X2. Strong wind walk back
Wednesday July 11, 2001
3:00p - 5:45p
South Swell
Avg wave face 5-6 feet
Sets wave face 7-8 feet, occ little bigger
Sunny; Moderate offshore winds becoming strong
I could see waves breaking way offshore of the distant point and there were solid lines coming into the "spot." Pulled off the road and trotted across the field to the waters edge. Conditions were perfect and solid overhead waves were breaking left and right, and ... I couldn't believe it, empty- no one out.
This spot is one of the most fickle around and rarely produces unless
the circumstances are just right. MM always raves about it but I had never
surfed it on a south swell, only during the winter on solid NW or straight
W's. MM was only 20 minutes away but I called him on the cell - "you
better get down here right away" I sez. That's pretty much all I
had to say & he knew
exactly what I meant.
When he showed up we quickly made the call not to check the "other" spot and jump in here. Plus, something different today- two guys from MM's work tagged along with him to shoot video for a PR or promo clip or something, I wasn't quite sure.
The entry & exit for this spot is a MAJOR bitch. The only place
to get in or out is a 50 foot breakaway section in the cliff that forms
a small cove littered with slippery round boulders. The cove walls and
the rest of the coastline is made up of a lava razor-rock cliff face 8-15
feet high. Trust me when I say, it is not climbable for barefoot surfers
with waves crashing. Naturally
this small cove is also the focal point for the whitewater from the
inside bowl. I have never gotten in or out without damage to board or body,
or both.
So here are these guys with tripods and professional looking video equipment aiming down at us from either side of this cove. And here I am trying to be cool as I time my jump into the washing machine. I have my leash coiled and held with my teeth as I scramble across the rocks like a crab, butt down, one hand and both feet feeling my way across the partially submerged boulders, my other hand holding my board in the air. Finally, I found a deep spot as a surge came in, was just about in the clear to hop on my board, when I unconsciously let the leash drop from my mouth.
Next thing I knew I was in the middle of a problem, potentially a bad one. In the second that I dropped the damn thing, the surge had washed it all the way back to the base of the cliffside. I saw that sets were on the way in too. Faaaak. Quick decision to scramble back and grab it, hoping for the best as I made a mad dash over the same rocks I was gingerly feeling my way across just a few minutes prior. Feet getting wedged between the boulders caused a few minor cuts and some anxious moments, but I managed to get the leash before it was taken out of reach AND I made it back out, over the first breakers with my fins hitting only once, resulting in just a big scrape. Phew. With my luck, those guys probably got the whole gory episode on film. MM tried a different approach that worked without a hitch, bastard.
The waves in the beginning were mostly about head high but later built
to well overhead. There were several periods when the we had multiple back
to back sets. We surfed waves almost non stop for 2 hours before our surfbud
FE joined the lineup, to
make it three of us. By then, me and MM were close to spent, our wave
count going off the scale. MM was getting barrel after barrel. The only
damper was MM nursing a skateboard accident injured ankle and me suffering
a bad cramp in the arch of my foot the whole session.
The sun was relentless and I was feeling dehydrated, so when 2 other guys made it out about 5:15pm, I told MM I'd had enough and was looking for a last wave.
June was one of the worst months for surf in a looong time. Stoked to finally score some sweet summer waves over these past 2 days.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Friday July 13, 2001
2:30p-4:30p
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, a few lil bigger
Mostly sunny; Moderate sideshore winds
Neal late drops.... nice wedges, small crowd.... good sets 1st hour,
good direction, very inconsistent 2nd hour.... only one wave worth remember....
went in early feeling completely out of synch.
Saturday July 14, 2001
7:15a-9:30a
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, occ lil bigger
Mostly sunny; Moderate sideshore winds
Rich was surfing good. I was feeling less than on top of my game again,
although my paddling arms seem to be back after the June flatness. Surf
was way above average and there were never more than 4-6 of us in the lineup.
Still some overhead sets coming through from the SE and doubling up nicely.
I had a couple decent rides, including a lip blast that I somehow turned
into a 360.
Monday, July 16, 2001
Just as the bartender set the beer in front of me and took the money,
the newscaster for the local tv news caught my ear. "A Waianae man was
found beaten to death at the Waianae District Park ... 36 year old William
Vanwinkle..." I stepped back
and got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I grabbed my brother's
shoulder and pointed at the tv above the liquor rack. The crowd at the
bar grew quiet when they realized we were watching with more than casual
interest. The story continued, showing a body draped in a sheet being wheeled
away by the ambulance crew.
I was momentarily overwhelmed by a flood of memories, especially seeing the old photo they showed from the days when I knew him best, as a good friend in the '70's & early '80's.
The newscaster talking "....Vanwinkle was an avid surfer...."
Willie was the classic local "portagee" - thick pidgin, quick tempered,
quick to spout off a little too loud.... but most of the time sporting
a deep, infectious laugh and a sly grin. He was also the kind of guy you
want watching your back. He was a red hot surfer and the three of us (my
brother Richard) spent countless days surfing; Teenagers growing up along
the West Side. Back in those days he lived with his mom, not far from some
of the best westside spots around. Almost every morning we'd be up before
dawn, walk to the Army Beach to check the surf or ride bikes to Makaha.
Other than the NWS radio reports (very sketchy) or unless we could hear
big surf, we never knew what we were in for until we got there, and then
we'd surf it. Willie was the guy who would not hold back and expected you
to do the same. We all pushed each other to take risks surfing that we
might not have taken alone. He'd be the one yelling "GO GO GO GO!" on that
impossibly late drop you were paddling into. No
one wanted to be the "pussy" and no doubt each of our abilities improved
dramatically. 5'10" single fins were pretty standard for us and not able
to afford more than one board, we surfed everything with them. Big Makaha,
Yokes, Maili Point. . . . When I inherited an old car from my mom at 15,
we went everywhere for surf.
" .... a four year old daughter...."
I felt a lump in my throat when they showed his little girl and Willie's mom, crying for help in finding the murderer(s).
Up until around 1980-1982, I remember Willie as a fixture in many of the things that made an impact on my life as a surfer. Thrusters just coming out, surfing contests, and practically living at the beach at Makaha. I don't think any of us realized then how lucky we were, everyday surfing excellent waves with the likes of Rell, Keaulanas, etc. It was a tight knit surf community. At one point we got together with a bunch of friends to form the Makaha Surf Team, and some of us made the cut to go to California for one of the early, pre-NSSA, US Amateur Surfing Championships.
After high school, I moved away from the west side but still surfed there regularly and saw Willie occasionally. Next thing I know, it's been over a dozen years since I'd seen him. When I got back into surfing in 1997- every time I surf the west side and run into old friends I always asked about Willie. He was always one to find some trouble; Apparently he'd been through some really rough times but seemed to be getting his act together.
".... please call crimestoppers with any information...."
He was brutally beaten to death. I'm sure the person(s) responsible for this will eventually get what is coming to them, but that will be of little consolation to his friends and family.
Thanks for the memories, old friend. Ride well and look out for us, ok?
Rest in Peace, Willie.
Your Friend- Buddy Williams
Wednesday July 18, 2001
12:15p-3:45p
Avg wave face 5-7 feet
Sets wave face 8-10 feet, occ bombs
Mostly sunny; Moderate side-onshore winds
Neal, Rich... Later Makani & Fabian. Bumpy but loooong fun lefts.
I had several 200+ yard rides.
Friday July 20, 2001
2:30p-4:45p
South Shore
Avg wave face 3-5 feet
Sets wave face 6, inconsistent
Mostly sunny; Moderate offshore winds
Big Rights, Concessions. FAT high tide, waves backing off and a kook
fest for Bud. Ran into friend JA while suiting up for surf.
Sunday July 22, 2001
7:00a-10:00a
South East Shore /dhl/
Avg wave face 5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet
Partly sunny, clearing; Moderate sideshore winds
Street in both directions and cliff parking closed for the Tin Man Triathlon. Would have been in the water by 6:30 but turned away by police on both ends of the road and forced to walk from Kahala side. It was a 20 minute walk, but very nice to watch all the hardbodied young women in swimsuits flying by on racing bikes, eyes focused and burning with determination.
Stashed slippers/shirt/hat in a small tree, met Neal and his friend Kohei in the lineup. There were a few lulls, but the surf was good and got better as the morning progressed; Way above average for this spot. Excellent direction and head high on the sets, the sideshore wind fluctuating from moderate to light (seemed to back off when the sun broke out of the clouds). The road closure must have kept the usual Sunday crowd away, never had more than 3-4 others out and we were all stoked. The other surfers were regulars and they seemed content to snag the middle & inside waves, going for the high wave count and leaving the sets for me & Neal. As usual, Neal sat deep and outside waiting for the bigger longshots; Riding his longboard today, almost always taking super late drops and making it.
I didn't really find my groove until later in the session, flubbed several good waves. Neal had been out since early and had to leave about 9am, Offered to give me a lift to my car but I was starting to have a better time so decided to stay out. The waves cleaned up quite a bit and soon there were only 3 of us out, catching waves non stop. Fast walls were doubling up nicely across the middle and inside sections, perfect for multiple snaps and roundhouse rebounds. My last wave I did just that, and finished it off with one of the best floaters I've ever done. Stoked!
Proning in, I misjudged the tide and soon found myself doing the reef dance in ankle deep water. Shit. Then, once on shore I was climbing the tree to get my slippers and shirt, grabbed a branch and swung my feet across to another branch, my left foot landed squarely on a thorn with all my weight behind it. FAAAAAAAAAK that hurt. Limping and sliding around in my bloody slipper made the long walk to my car something I'll remember. Still, it was a beautiful Hawaiian day and I had a super fun surf session.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Tuesday July 24, 2001
1:30p-4:30p
South East Shore
Avg wave face 5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet
Sunny; Moderate sideshore winds
Another very satisfying session in surprisingly good surf.
Paddled out to the default summer spot to find solid head high surf again. Moderate trades were not affecting the place as badly as usual, and the small pulse from the SE was almost perfect swell direction. After the first hour, the crowd of about 10 others dwindled to just 4 of us regulars, and the waves got better, too.
Regulars Rich (not my brother Rich), Mike, Kip and me were all over the fast walls that were hooking into the inside section, plenty of punch for full rail gashing and getting vert. Some of the double-ups provided some tube time, too. Brian Pacheco joined us for a while and tore it up.
A couple waves I dialed into were flat out stokers.... smooth, sweet roping head high walls that let me put together some of the best moves I've done in a while. Excellent fun day.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Friday July 27, 2001
2:00p-4:15p
South East Shore
Avg wave face 3 feet
Sets wave face 4 feet
Sunny; Moderate sideshore winds
Checked the spot at 11am and it was looking sweet, solid head high with only a few guys scoring fun waves. Called Rich to hook up for an afternoon sesh, when we got there it was still looking real nice. Practically ran down the trail and raced out to the lineup and..... the surf went flat. Zero, nada, 30 minutes went by without a set and everyone was looking around with expressions like "what happened?" - especially me and Rich. My hair was still dry and I had not caught a wave yet. 6-7 foot shark slowly cruised through the lineup, most of us clearly saw it. Shape and color indicated a tiger shark... strange how slow it was swimming.
The few wave that came through were weak and poor form. Rich had scored
a super session Wednesday and I had one Tuesday, were were hoping for a
repeat but it was not to be. Very forgettable two hours.
Sunday July 29, 2001
7:00a-9:45a
South East Shore
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face occ 6 feet
Cloudy, clearing later; Moderate sideshore winds
Turned out to be a better than expected surf at the default town spot.
Got a pre-dawn message from Neal saying that it was waist high at best
but he was going out to get some. When I finally met him in the lineup,
he said the surf had improved quite
a bit, running about waist to chest high with fairly regular head high
sets.
Typical sideshore trades and windswell conditions, but we (the small
crowd of regulars) all seemed to be having fun. Decent little wedges and
semi-clean sections were sometimes doubling up nicely. Surprised to see
Ken Bradshaw out; Said he had not
surfed for several weeks and was jonesing for anything (there probably
wasn't much better anywhere else around the island). He was tearing up
the small windslop and clearly having a good time. Chatted with Neal and
I during a few lulls, but he was 100% concentration and always on the move,
rarely sat to wait for a set. Aggressively paddling for everything that
looked decent but always ready to back off if anyone nearby might be after
the same wave. Cool.
As usual, Neal on his longboard was going for the longshots and the
bomb takeoffs. That guy loves to take off in the hook! Might be time to
try a shortboard again, eh Neal? <grin> About 8:15, we were stoked to
see MM paddle out and proceed to
decimate.
Nothing outstanding, but I had a few I was happy with; Planted a couple long floaters and decent pops off the top. Also managed to turn (what was intended to be) a frontside white water re-bound into a quick 360.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Tuesday July 31, 2001
7:00a-9:45a
North Shore
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6-7 feet
Overcast, clearing later; Light to moderate sideshore winds
Felt strange to be headed to the north shore in July, but I was pretty confident there'd be decent surf. The east side was getting slammed with major ENE windswell so I headed out to one of the country spots that favor the wrap.
Was rather disappointed with what I saw at first, and almost drove away.
Glad I did paddle out though, it was much better than it looked (or maybe
it improved by the time I got out). There was an abundance of inexperienced
longboarders, but they were concentrated at the middle and end sections,
leaving the outside peak to the group of regulars that were out. Nice to
run into all
familiar faces that I usually see only in the winter.
A memorable wave for me was a clean overhead wall that lined up all
the way across from the outside. I took off real deep and was stoked to
see that sweeeet, looong section ahead. I was flying down the line when
a newbie about 40 yards away began
to drop in on the shoulder; I gave a holler but he took off straight
down the face, wobbled to his knees, finally standing at the bottom. I
had buku speed, at the last second changed my line, came hard off the bottom
just behind him and planted a solid snap off the crumble he had caused
at the top of the wave. I came down ahead of him (he pretty much went straight)
and turned my head to look back just in time to see the shocked look on
his face. At the same time he yelled "Ohhh shit! ... Sorry!" and fell prone
on his board, bellying in. Classic ... I couldn't help but crack up laughing.
The surf was super fun for the couple hours but conditions deteriorated quickly about 9am.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
