 A Bodysurfing Exp******* at Pipeline -- 4/4/07 Date: April 4, 2007 Words: Buoy #1 was bouncing at 9', 17 seconds. Green light on the contest! Late season is always nice too. After dropping off the daughter in Town, I raced out to the Country. Briskly walking across the Ehukai Beach Park, I found the surf to be pounding! Worked it out with contest director Rick Williams to switch heats with Brock Little so that I could go out first, then shoot for the rest of the morning. Brock was really nice about it and said it was cool. So I ventured out. Rather than making the same mistakes as last time, I wore my shortie and made it out before getting dragged away by the current. Always seems like more a social event than a contest with bodysurfers. Especially with this round robin format, it was really fun in the water. I got a couple of small ones that ran a little bit. However, my most memorable wave was a over the falls on a set. I was the furthest out and just had to go on an obvious double-up. Tumbled down, and as I was coming back up to the surface, that puppy yanked me back down for more spins. Had to make a concious effort to zen out before heading back up to resurface. After my heat, I jumped back in to shoot some of the first round. Thankfully, Terry Ahui gave me a ride halfway out on his jetski--felt like I was cheating. Water was moving a lot, with a bunch of Second Reefers rolling through. With the north swell mixing in, it was actually a bit too unruly for most bodysurfers. But it was so majestic out there. During my photo shoot, competitor Dave Wassel lost a fin. Since I was just shooting, I let him borrow one of mine (I used to bodyboard with just one fin back in the day). Little bit sketchier losing one engine in those conditions. Stoked that Dave caught some great waves. Mark Cunningham deservedly won the event. At 51, he is still an amazing waverider. Thanks Rick Williams and crew for putting this great event together. Will talk more later.
Aloha from Paradise, 
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