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November 2000
November 2000
Wednesday November 1, 2000
5:15p - 6:45p
South Shore
Avg wave face 3-4 feet
Sets wave face 4-5 feet
Overcast; Calm, pure glass
Boat run out to the reef with Lance & Lloyd. Small & disorganzed,
fun nonetheless. Creepy-still conditions.
Saturday November 4, 2000
8:30a - 12:30p
South East Shore
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 5-6 feet
Sunny; Light side shore trades
Met Makani on the cliff, with his backup board (tail damage to regular stick). Beeeyoootiful day, stayed out for a long one and got fried. Surpisingly small crowd, maybe 6-7 others all morning. Above average surf for this spot, with decent form, but most of the smaller waves were rather gutless. Really had to look for the double ups or the bigger sets for a good wave. Below average sesh for me, falling all the time.
Sunday November 5, 2000
10:15a - 2:30p
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 3-4 feet, increasing to 6-7 feet
Sets wave face 5-6 feet, increasing to 8-13 feet plus
Sunny; Light to moderate off shore winds
Woohoooo, surf jumped from waist high to 2.5xoh+ in a couple hours. Talk about clearing the lineup :-)
Before it got out of control, I was having a super barrel-fest. Ran into Jimmy out in the lineup too.
1030am, about 15 people out & waist to chest high... by 1pm just
2-3 of us left and the surf was getting mean. The rip running out between
adjacent breaks was a visible river as the waves kept getting bigger. By
2pm we were forced to surf the end of the break because the waves were
just heaving across from Holtons and closing out. Eventually the rip started
tearing apart the
surfable waves that came through and the sets were connecting from
Laniakea to Himalayas.. Finally me and "retro" Eric- a regular at this
spot, caught back to back waves and rode them in, leaving the spot empty.
http://www.pixi.com/~buds/110500.jpg 14-15+ foot faces crunching closing out across Laniakea (too much west direction in the swell)... (QT vid 2.5mb http://members.nbci.com/sharkysurf/110500.mov )
'loha,
Bud
Tuesday November 7, 2000
3:00p - 5:45p
North Shore
Avg wave face 7-8 feet
Sets wave face 9-12 feet
Mostly clear turning overcast; Strong off shore winds
Booked from work early, got my gear together and slapped a sandwich
together. In my rush to finish eating, I nearly bit through my tongue.
Faaak that hurt! What an idiot. Mouth full of bloody mustard, chicken &
bread. Half inch of mangled taste buds
formed a chunk of flesh torn from the top of my tongue and felt like
the bumpy end of a broccoli branch.
Packed the car and intended to hit the voting booth first, but got sidetracked by the radio...first a report about the lines at the polling station, then the updated surf report.....then I looked at my watch... oh well, sorry W.
Pulled up to the default spot and saw minimal people- way too much west
in the swell causing mostly close outs. But it was juicy, and there were
some choice ones here & there, so I was all over it. Offshore wind
was strong and the sets were pitching way out. Took a chance at the shortcut
through the impact zone between the two breaks and pulled off a squeaker;
Sat just
inside until a big set finished then paddled like a madman, making
it just under the next barrage.
I surfed the default spot for a few but my gaze kept lingering on the adjacent spot to the north. Much bigger waves coming through and they seemed better formed than the usual "drop in then mush out" it is known for. In fact the size and direction was making many of the double-o plus sets look damn good.
Ran into Colin and we traded a hoots as we nailed some fat walls. By this time there was only the two of us out, besides one other guy who was drifting out to sea; Saw him get pummeled by a big close out and he'd been sitting waaaay outside ever since.
Eventually I didn't see Colin or the other guy any more and I headed
across to the other break. A couple of long fast walls later, I was having
a blast. Most of the waves were good for only a hairy steep fast drop,
fighting the wind on the way over the ledge then racing the wall until
it slammed shut. But I pegged enough carveable faces to keep a big stokin
grin on my face. Pushing my
6'3" hard off the bottom, and it never let me down, sticking like glue
until I released it into another turn..
About half way through the sesh, I took one too late. Wind kept me stuck in the lip, but I hit mid face still standing. In fact even after pearling up to my shin, for a second I thought I might pull it out and make it. Then the lip caught up behind me and swatted me face first into the trough. Good thing was, it was like I dove, and my board was already going under, so I missed the brunt of the explosion and popped out the back like nothing.
Feeling happy with the way that turned out, I got back on my stick and started stroking to make it back out. Spitting the water from my mouth as I paddled, something black against the deep white foam caught the corner of my vision. Damn, the faceplant had re-opened the cut on my tongue and now every purge was full of deep red blood.... I was easily a quarter mile out and no one else in sight. Started to worry about mano, so I stopped spitting completely. Swallowed lots of blood, for sure, but was still scoring and surfing well, so I stayed out another half hour, until the dark started creeping in.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Saturday November 11, 2000
10:00a - 2:00p
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 5-7 feet
Sets wave face 7-10 feet, dropping
Sunny; Moderate offshore winds
Rich, MM... checked everywhere. Ended up having a good session at Lanis. Very few sets were connecting but I seemed to be a magnet for them this day. Several sweet barrels and some big deep gouges.
Sunday November 12, 2000
2:00p - 5:30p
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 3-5 feet
Sets wave face 6-7 feet, dropping
Overcast; Moderate side-offshore winds
Surprisingly glassy... crowd got out of control as afternoon progressed. The Tiare girls were out, tagging all the inside nuggets. Had a few really good rides, including several sweet little barrels but overall a poor session for me; Most waves I couldn't put 2 turns together, it seemed.
Tuesday November 14, 2000
2:45p - 5:00p
North Shore Rocky Rights
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 5-6 feet
Partly sunny; Moderate side-offshore winds
Hooked up w/T Keener from AS.... lots of pros surfing & big cameras on the point. Nailed 4 excellent slots- 2 backside railgrab smokers and 2 frontside backdoor squeakers, including my very last wave. Overall a good session, light crowd in the middle section,
Wednesday November 15, 2000
4:30p - 6:15p
North Shore
Avg wave face 10-12 feet
Sets wave face 13-18 feet plus
Mostly sunny; Moderate to strong offshore winds
Buoy jumped overnight and by early morning the North Shore was cracking. Bogged down at the office, didn't think I was going to make it out, but a last minute call to surf from MM, with an offer of a 7'0" to borrow, no less... YEAH!
Buzzed Glenda (visiting ASer) on her cell phone and caught her taking in the G-Shock contest at Haleiwa; Traded info to try to meet up at Sunset Beach.
We were running late and when we pulled into a space along the beach,
I looked up & down the side of the road but couldn't find Glenda's
rental car. MM and I got back to falling over ourselves, gawking at the
surf while slapping in fins and
waxing up.
Walking down the beach, talking and watching the surf, oblivious to all the people on the shore, I hear someone say - "Bud"? It was Glenda, PWR camcorder in hand.... Quick - "stoked to see yas!" & intro, then we were out there.
Crowd was insane, but as usual, it was mostly the same people tagging the best & biggest waves. Lots of "names" were out and killing it - Padaca, Knox, Malloy, etc., etc.
Some sets were easily triple-o, and the conditions were good, except
maybe for a too strong offshore wind. Many of the waves were coming off
the north peak and offered freight trains all the way across the bay. Of
course, waiting for those meant
putting yourself too deep for the west bowl and right in the impact
zone for the bombers. But what a pay-off if you got one from the point
all the way across!
First few waves on the borrowed gun were very awkward, and I never really
got used to the board. But I was fully jazzed after dropping into more
than my fair share of excellent waves, a couple of huge ones, too. Must
have been doing something
right because people were backing off for me and weren't dropping in.
Paddled up to MM a few times, said he was having a frustrating session.
Unusual for him to be out of synch, especially at this break he knows so
well. Lots of others were more than frustrated, as we saw at least 3 snapped
boards in the short time we
were out.
As the sun neared the horizon, a particularly big set poured through
and I was in a bad place. The borrowed gun let me get good paddling speed
but I was not used to ducking the extra thickness of a board made for MM.
Somehow scratched past the
first 2 bombers, lips as thick as 55 gallon drums. Squeaking under,
then punching out the back of the third one, I exhaled with relief. But
before I could react I felt a moment of terror, suddenly weightless and
flying backwards, back into the wave. A second later I was slammed sitting
upright into the pit; The remaining air was knocked out of me and the explosion
sent me cartwheeling in total blackness, holding the board with a death
grip.
I realized quickly that I wasn't going "up" - the pressure on my ears, the blackness of the water and the sense that I was still flying along within the wave's energy underwater, instead of it passing. Feeling air & time running out, I frantically began a frog-kick without any idea of "up" - briefly considered letting go of the board, but held on.
Finally I broke the surface like a missile, bug-eyed and gasping for air. I let the incoming waves blast me while I regained my composure, until I was nearing the exposed bottom near Val's Reef (low tide). When I made it back over to the channel I checked the bottom of the rails of MM's board to make sure my fingers had not punched through.
It was nearly dark so I caught a relatively small one from the middle and went in... shaken, but still kicking. Phew.
Didn't pull the disposable camera out for any of the sets, but still
managed to snap a few shots - you can see them here-
http://www.pixi.com/~buds/065.html
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Sunday November 19, 2000
11:00a - 1:45p
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 5-7 feet
Sets wave face 8-11 feet, building
Overcast; Moderate to strong side-offshore winds
Rich & MM... Alternating stormy to smooth, mostly close outs, but occ sweet walls to be had. Very pounderous. MM's leash snapped on his first wave, he stayed out leashless. Later, lost board thought to be lost out to sea was recovered. Dinged my board & slashed my heel
Friday November 24, 2000
3:30p - 6:15p
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 5-7 feet, dropping
Sets wave face 8-9 feet, dropping
Overcast; Moderate to strong side-offshore winds
MM helped patch my stick Wednesday, came out excellent. MM & me jumped in with Rich. Another day of too much west direction, but at least it makes it really hollow. Rick's friend chased wave hog in, dangerous balding dude, older power surfer dude. Waves dropped toward dark, me & Rich had hard time getting a last wave in.
Saturday November 25, 2000
9:15a - 12:00p
West Shore - Makaha
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6-7 feet, occ larger
Partly sunny; Light to moderate variable/offshore winds
Thought the Rella Menehune contest was supposed to be on. Jumped in 'cuz it was surprisingly uncrowded & not too many logs. Sweet & fun little waves, easy to surf and very rippable, plus the usual backwash antics. I had a couple waves worth mentioning but towards the last half I couldn't do anything right. Just missed the traffic from the Waianae Coast Christmas Parade...
Sunday November 26, 2000
11:15a - 12:30p
North Shore - Haleiwa
Avg wave face 6-9 feet
Sets wave face 10-11 feet, occ 12+
Mostly sunny; Moderate to strong side-offshore winds
Drove all up & down the coast, stopping at Lanis, Waimea, Pipe, & even checked out the Rip Curl Cup for about 30 minutes. Went back down to check Haleiwa; Watched the gaping tubes at "----" before I egged the boys for a quick sesh at Alii. Snapped my new stick on about my 7-8th wave. Completely bummed.
Following email from brother Rich reproduced without permission hahaha-
Alohaz,
Rich
Thursday November 30, 2000
6:30a - 8:30a
North Shore /kea/
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, occ bigger
Clear skies; Calm, sheet glass ocean
Busy at the office but I just had to get wet. So I did a quick pre-work DP, solo run up country. Sitting in the dark waiting for light, it looked dismal at first- almost drove away. Jumped in as it became barely light enough to see and had it to myself for 30 minutes. Surf turned out to be excellent! Great direction and sweet head high (plus) bowls winding off into workable walls. Long time since I surfed such glassy conditions. Nice.
Using a board borrowed from Rich & having trouble keeping the fins
in. Really had to "baby" my cutbacks. But it responds quickly.
