6:30a-9:15a
"KMCAS" - East
shore
avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
sets wave face-----------4-5
feet
overcast, almost windless,
turning light & variable
with the rare "tradewind-free"
conditions holding, and the hope of something from the disappointing north
swell, i
hooked up with surfbud
Makani for a dawn patrol at an east side sand bar.
while the waves never
really showed, the conditions were "all-time". crystal clear water under
an ultra glass
surface. the waves were
mainly waist to shoulder high, but there was an occasional head high set.
biggest surprise was,
while we were there,
no one else even drove up to the popular beach on a (mostly sunny) Saturday
morning! one
other surfer on a longboard
paddled out when we did and he went in after an hour or so. otherwise it
was just the two
of us in the great little
waves.
Makani was having a blast
and surfing like a professional as usual. i had a few decent off the tops
and overall had a fun
session. we each took
a turn with the disposable camera, standing on the sand in waist deep water
trying to get a
decent shot. the one
pic i hoped would come out good- was a victim of my unsteady hand. but
you can still see that Makan is blasting the tail out of the wave. he pulled
it all the way around after being fully stretched out; i t was a hot
maneuver and he pulled
it off too.
small but decent surf in great conditions, and no one else out. stoked.
'loha,
bud
6:00a-8:30a
"KMCAS" - East
shore
avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
sets wave face-----------4-5
feet
overcast, moderate onshore
winds
it's been almost dead
calm for the past several morning so i was surprised to feel fairly strong
easterly winds when i
stepped outside. that
didn't fit well with the plan to dawn patrol on the east shore.
as planned, i jumped in
with Neal outside my yuppieville complex at 5:15a and we headed over the
mountain range to
the windward side. checked
out North beach (small & formless) then headed over to Pyramid rock.
small and blown
out but not nearly as
bad as we surfed it many times before. after i inadvertently maimed a sandcrab,
we jumped into the windy morning surf.
the waves were a bit better
than they looked from shore, but not much. even so, Neal was all over everything
he caught,
especially after ditching
the mega sized "bully" board for his normal body board.
some almost head high sets combined with some tricky doubling up sections, made for an satisfying session overall. i have been putting in a lot of time in the water and at the office, so my sleep time has suffered over the past few weeks. after 2 hours it seemed to be catching up to me, so after riding one to the shore, i flopped onto the beach and watched Neal surf.
Neal came in a few waves
later but went back out when i convinced him i was in no hurry to get back,
especially when
i knew his wife wasn't
expecting him home for another 45min. so in full aggro mode, he spent the
next 30 minutes catching at least 15 waves and doing everything from a
headstand to multiple el rollos.
good fun in crowdless surf. . .
'loha,
bud
1:00p-3:45
"Lighthouse" -
South Shore
avg wave face-----------2-4
feet
sets wave face-----------3-5
feet
clear & sunny, moderate
sideshore winds
Connected with Neal for
a mid day session. Not much in the way of swell so we decided to hit old
faithful for some
tradewind surf.
The straightoverheadsun
was vicious. I did my best to hide the pain but by the time I got 50 steps
from my truck, I
swear the skin was burned
off the bottom of my feet. On this kind of day, no matter where you hid
your footwear at the
bottom of the trial,
someone would make off with it. Since I didn't bring "cheap kine slippah"
I just skipped around to
tree shadows as best
I could.
Neal paddled out on his
borrowed tank about 20 minutes after I did. The waves were small and inconsistent
but the crowd
was light and easy going.
Kind of a laid back, "you go. . .no, you go. . . no, no, you go" session.
Some guy even had a
diving mask on while
surfing and was trying to find a lost watch. He spent half his time with
his face under water in
the impact zone and board
yanking his ankle.
Neal seemed intent on
taking off as late as possible on every wave he caught. On one of the bigger
waves of the
session (head high),
I came up from ducking to see him taking off airborn. By the time he stood,
his head was one
with the lip; But his
feet were firmly planted and he landed the board perfectly.
I had a few fun rights
& lefts over the shallow inside; on a wild hair I tried & managed
to pull a quick 360 off a close
out section.
It's good to get wet.
'loha,
Bud
Wednesday
May 12, 1999
4:30p-7:00p
"Big Rights" -
South Shore
avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
sets wave face-----------4-6
feet
overcast, lite onshore
winds
I left work early for
an eve session, hoping to catch some of the incoming south swell. The waves
were sloppy but fun,
starting at about waist
high and building to some just overhead sets by mid session. The spot is
a short, fast
right that breaks along
a narrow channel in the reef, opposite the left at "Concessions." On the
inside, the two
breaks connect to make
a tricky situation for two surfers on the same wave who started at different
spots. Often turns
into a game of chicken
when both are intent on doing an off the lip on the closeout.
The tide was going out
fast and it was getting reeeal shallow. I was getting nervous coming down
from closeout
bashes. My hands occasionally
touched coral heads as I took strokes paddling back out from the inside.
The poor conditions kept
the crowd to 4-6 surfers the whole time I was out. The rights were doubling-up
very nicely, and
the few other surfers
never hassled me for wave choice. I had a great session; One of those where
all your moves come
together. Plus, small
crowd & short rides meant lots of waves for me. I could have surfed
another 40 minutes before
dark but I was pretty
well surfed out.
A cloudy sky made the
Hawaiian sunset extra spectacular; took some of the edge off the 75 yard
tap dance across the
(now almost completely
exposed) reef to get to shore. . . .
Good Surfing to you,
Bud
Thursday
May 13, 1999
5:15p-7:45p
"????" - South
Shore
avg wave face-----------4-5
feet
sets wave face-----------5-8
feet
overcast, lite onshore
winds, turning calm
I have a friend Lance who's passion is fishing, but he's been surfing for many years and still carves pretty regular. He has a "regular" job that connects with mine fairly often and we finally hooked up to take a surfari on his small fishing boat.
The mediocre south swell showed some promise so I was to meet him & his surf bud "Bali" at Keehi Lagoon at 5pm. A late evening session at a secret, boat-only accessible spot off the airport. Loaded the sticks in the 14' outboard and Lance backed the boat/trailer into the water promptly at five.
10 minutes later Lance was timing the sets to bring the boat through the impact zone of a sketchy looking surf spot. . . exposed, nasty looking reef on both sides. Lance is a man of very few words who regularly takes this tiny 14' boat twenty plus miles offshore, fishing for marlin, by himself. Psycho.
Besides the exposed reef all around, the break is a left that is set up, and breaks very much like a semi-secret Mokuleia spot on the north shore. Lance negotiated a small channel through the reef/impact zone and anchored the boat in the inside of the break, about 25 yards after the waves died off. The 3 of us jumped in and immediately attacked the slightly sloppy, head high lefts that were wedging off a shallow reef. A steady flow of jumbo jets banked over head with a constant roar.
Although the conditions weren't perfect, the waves were outstanding and I could see the potential. The three of us were having a great time unit about 6:30p, when I saw a shark's dorsal fin break the surface about 25 feet away from me. It stuck out of the water as tall as my elbow to mid palm and I watched it for about 10 seconds. I could not have paddled any faster as I called out to Bali & Lance, (who were about 75 feet inside of me) "BIIIIIG SHARK, I'M NOT JOKING. LET'S GO!!". Bali had seen it a second after I did and was stroking in already; We wasted no time catching the first catchable wave back to the boat; The longest 75 yards I've ever paddled, it seemed :)
We were 50 feet from the boat when we realized Lance was still in the lineup. I know he heard me call out about the mano. . . . 10 minutes later he finally he caught a belly ride up to us in the waist deep water. I says to him- "Big fucking shark you nut, what are you doing still surfing?"
Deadpan look and totally
serious he says "I see that shark all the time, he's just a reef shark,
he won't do anything."
I said, "Lance, that's
a black tip reef shark, a dorsal fin that big means it's at least 7 feet
long!"
He says, "Yeah he's about
that big but he won't do anything."
"So you would go back
out?" I said. . .
"Yeah"
Well, he was totally confident
about it, so I convinced myself that I would not sit in the boat and watch.
We paddled back out and surfed till it was almost dark (of course I did
my best to keep my arms & legs from dangling too much). In fact the
sun had set by the time we squeaked through the impact zone in the boat.
But not before a we had to punch through a head high wave
that broke over the front
of the tiny boat! I though for sure we would be swamped on the reef in
the darkness; Even as he laughed, Lance looked relieved that we made it
through that one.
Memorable session for me. . . Guess you could say it was almost desperation surf, island style.
'loha,
Bud
Friday
May 14, 1999
5:25a-8:00a
"Ala Moana Bowls"
- South Shore
avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
sets wave face-----------5-7
feet, a few bigger
sunny & clear, calm-lite
off shores
Neal was at my house right on time at 4:45a, loaded his longboard in my truck and 15 minutes later we were in town checking the Park. It didn't look so hot so we drove a few blocks and decided to surf bowls. The sets were overhead with almost perfect conditions.
Turned out that the sets were very inconsistent so we were jockeying with the rest of the dawn patrol crowd for mostly waist to head high waves. Old friends Larry Rios and Michael Akima were killing it; Another friend and ripper from way back, Channon Valeho was on his 6th day back in the surf after 8 months out; He made local headlines last summer when he was knocked into a coma by another surfer's board in big surf at Bowls.
Neal scored a couple nice overhead left sets but usually opted for the rights peeling off the bowl before closing out.
One incredible backside barrel made my whole session.
Good Surfing to you,
Bud
Sunday
May 16, 1999
2:15p-4:45p
"Sunset Beach/Sunset
Point/Backyards" - North Shore
avg wave face-----------6-8
feet
sets wave face-----------8-10
feet, (a few 12+ at Sunset)
overcast, raining, light-variable
winds
A late season NW swell
made buoy #1 bounce and the waves showed up right on schedule. Coming over
the hill
for an afternoon session,
I saw the white water along the coast and knew there would be some decent
surf.
The swell was almost completely
missing Lanis so I kept going up the coast. A check of Ehukai showed that
the
sand had pretty much
shifted to summer mode- There was a huge sandy beach where the usual impact
zone for most
of the beach breaks should
be. Nevertheless, Pipe was looking pretty epic and there were fairly consistent
double-o sets. . .
and at least 25 surfers jockeying in the narrow lineup.
With V-land on my mind
I continued up the coast. A beautiful wave at Sunset made me stop to check
it out.
Neal was on his way so
I called him to say that Backyards looked like the call. Just about maxing
out
for the spot; Direction
was not perfect but very acceptable. . . and only about 3 guys out!
Decided to paddle out
through the lineup at Sunset instead of the usual Backyards reef dance,
and maybe
catch a few at Sunset.
Ended up surfing there for most of the session. Even though Neal was the
only bodyboarder in sight, he immediately caught several hefty sets almost
without hassle.
The sets began taking
longer in between and the crowd increased, so we decided to invade the
line up (3
surfers) at Backyards,
catching a few at Sunset Point on the way down. Huge boils bubbling and
coral heads
looming just below the
surface, added to the intensity of the freight train rights. Buttons paddled
out,
mentioning that it looked
awesome from shore and he couldn't resist any longer (he still rips).
I caught 4-5 adrenaline
rush 1.5x overhead waves; pulling off some decent snaps before they closed
out. I
finally paddled to the
outer lineup to wait for a set. A minute later I was scratching for a wave
(too late)
and bailed rather than
get launched into thigh deep water. My stick got sucked over and the wave
pulled my
leash hard enough to
pull the "railsaver" right through my tail, all the way to the plug. Almost
2 months to
the day I got the board,
without a ding. Knew it was too good to last. Oh well. . .
'loha,
Bud
Saturday
May 22, 1999
2:30p-4:45p
"Lighthouse" -
Southeast Shore
Avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
Sets wave face-----------4-5
feet
Mostly sunny; light variable
winds
The repair shop did a fantastic job on the damage to my 6'4". I paid a few extra bucks for a rush job - turned it in on Thursday afternoon and picked it up at 2pm today (less than 2 days!).
The rest of our crew was
either unavailable or out of town so I headed out solo straight from the
shop. The small south
was mostly gone but the
trades were starting to kick in again so figured "old faithful" should
be surfable. Great
conditions as I pulled
up to the cliffside. Tide was pretty low and lots of reef was exposed,
which prolly explained why
the break "Cliffs" had
more than 30 surfers and only 4 out at Lighthouse.
I was knee deep in the
water before I realized that the repair shop had removed the short piece
of cord in the plug
when they fixed my board.
I spent about 5 minutes trying shove the railsaver under the bar, but it
was impossible to
do. So I coiled my leash
and stuck it in my shorts pocket.As I paddled out among the coral heads
sticking out of the
water, I winced as I
thought about the good possibility of dinging my stick, 45 minutes after
picking it up from
repair.
I ended up having a super
session in the waist to shoulder high surf. Two of the other 4 surfers
were beginners and the
rest of us had a nice
rotation going in the inconsistent surf. Never lost the stick; Fell once
or twice but managed
to grab it before it
got away. It's always a nice feeling to be leashless and because the surf
was so small, I didn't
"hold back" because of
it.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Sunday
May 23, 1999
7:30a-10:30a
"North Beach" -
East Shore
Avg wave face-----------3-4
feet
Sets wave face-----------5-6
feet, a few bigger
Overcast; light variable
winds
My squid brother Rich was just back from a month at sea so he was dying to surf. He picked me up at 5am and we headed to the country, hoping that the predicted overhead swell had showed.
Coming over the hill,
there was barely a speck of white water as the North Shore spread out before
us. . . . Bummed.
Further up the coast
it improved a bit, but not much. Waist high at Lanis (already a dozen out/packed
parking lot); Head
high sets at Sunset (a
mushburger when it's that small); Nice shoulder high waves at V-land but
we knew that would be
a zoo in about an hour.
Decided to drive another
45 minutes along the north coast & hit K-Bay. Pulled up to North Beach
and it looked great. We
grabbed our sticks &
trotted the 300 yards to the shore fronting the break. About 5-7 other
guys out, mostly
beginners.
The waves were a bit inconsistent,
but the conditions were very good for the windward side. Shifting rights
and lefts
kept the lineup guessing,
and the little waves even pitched somewhat over the inside sandbar. Rich
said he felt a little
awkward at first, but
I watched him rip as usual. I had another good session; When we decided
to go in, we were
satisfied.
When we got up to the
truck, a Marine policeman was waiting for us and he berated my brother
for about 10 minutes (North Beach is reserved for active duty Marines who
are stationed at the base). Yess sir, we're leaving right away, sir!
Sheesh :)
'loha,
Bud
Sunday
May 30, 1999
7:30a-9:45a
"Lighthouse" - Southeast
shore
Avg wave face
3-4 feet
Sets wave face
4-5 feet
Overcast; Light variable
winds
At 5am brother Rich picked me up and we started the 40 minute drive to the country. Incoming NW swell was pinging the buoys since last night, and the National Weather Service was calling for 4-6 feet (Hawaiian).
Pulled up to Lanis and it was just about flat. Skunked again, just like last Sunday! After checking the whole coast we sat in the lot at Laniakea for another 15 minutes, hoping for a sign, then decided to head straight back to town
Lingering south swell was visible and good 'ol Lighthouse had some tight little pockets with decent, workable walls across the shallow inside sections . We both had a good session, catching lots of waves and milking them good.
That northwest swell *has* to hit by this evening. . . we hope.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Monday
May 31, 1999
6:30a-9:30a
"Backyards" - North shore
Avg wave face
5-6 feet
Sets wave face
6-9 feet
Overcast; Light variable
winds
Me & brother Rich were skunked by phantom NW swells twice in one week so we were stoked when Neal offered to hit it super, super early & give us an on site report via cell phone at 5:15am.
The call from da sponge said well overhead Sunset/Backyards was definitely the call. . . Yesss! The late season swell was not big, the conditions were very good and it was a holiday- this meant big crowds at most spots.
We pulled up to Sunset and scored a spot next to the spongemobile. The pack was thick at Sunset, but as we walked to the reef trail at backyards, we saw Neal score at least 3 set waves from the point! (it's a long walk). Easy to spot with his white rashguard, yellow board and telltale style, streaking across some respectable double-o Sunset walls.
It was tricky making the reef walk; Tide was super low, even by Backyards standards. The reef was dry at least 50 feet past the sand line. I think we both questioned the decision to walk instead of paddle out from Sunset. Made it through without incident anyway.
Neal had seen us and was paddling over from Sunset when we joined the lineup at the middle peak. Tough getting makeable waves in the shifting surf and tight crowd. He expressed his frustration, especially after being dropped in on, twice.. Eventually, he pulled into a square, Shark Island-like pit, right in front of me. And then another, a few waves later. He was grinning ear to ear. His new bright yellow custom sponge looked like it was grinning, too.
At first, brother Rich seemed a bit out of synch, but still surfed with his usual aggressiveness and flair. Many times I watched from behind as he threw spray after spray and milked the rights all the way to Boneyards.
I was having a tubefest in the fast breaking rights and lefts. Definitely a memorable session combined with a grueling workout from the small but powerful waves.
'loha,
Bud