Buddy, striking a pose before WSD '99. Read Buddy's report here.

Name:  sponge
Email:  sponge@iav.com
Date:  Sunday, 11 April 1999
Time:  6:15 - 9:45 am
Location:  Ehukai Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii
Distance Searched:  5 miles
Distance Driven:  70 miles r/t
Weather:  Mostly overcast with some heavy rain squalls and small patches 
of sunshine
Wind:  ENE sideshores at 10-25 mph 
Air Temperature:  72 F
Water Temperature:  73 F
Tide:  Bottoming out to 0 ft.
Crowd:  Alone at first, getting moderately crowded with a mellow vibe
Crew:  Buddy and Rich, along with Hiram and his boys
Vehicle:  Honda Civic surfmobile
Equipment:  42" Custom X bodyboard, H2Odyssea paddling gloves, Viper comp 
fins, Xcel 2/2 shortie
Swell:  Easterly tradewind wrap
Surf: 2-3' Haw’n, with some overhead sets

Woke up at 4:20 AM (well before my alarm) and jumped online. The National Weather Service reported that the winds were still kicking, with no major changes in buoy readings--windswell surf action was the call. Scarfed a banana, a granola bar, and a candybar with juice, then hit the road to meet up with the Williams brothers for another North Shore session.

Got to Laniakeas just before six only to find it tiny and unappealing. After connecting via cell with Buddy, I moved on to Ehukai, where some decent shoulder-high waves were rolling in--good enough for World Surf Day! (WSD is an annual event where participants in the alt.surfing newsgroup have a global surf session, then post their session reports. Check out all the reports from WSD '99, compiled by Mark Sisom.)

As usual, we were the first ones to hit the water. Although firm, the sideshore winds didn’t seem to affect the water surface too much. The windswell was favoring the rights, sweeping low walls across the length of the beach park. It was small, rainy, yet surprisingly fun--we were stoked!

Rich had a pretty good session, applying his power trip to the small waves. He really leveraged his backside attack with some gouges on the inside sections. Ended up spending a lot of time talking story with his good buddy Hiram and crew.

Buddy also broke out of his slump and went off in a big way. He was snagging these nice bowls and working them all the way to the beach, pumping and snapping throughout.

My session wasn’t so stellar. Just couldn’t put it together quite right, missing waves and bogging on my rails. I got to the point of getting stupid and did a few standup bodyboard rides, acting like I planned on doing multiple 360’s when in fact I just lost my edge.

However, I did get a couple of "keepers." On one, the sandbar wedged the wave up nicely, giving me a short, but sweet shack. On another, I was set up with this long, green wall, just peeling endlessly. No maneuvers on that one--just drew some nice, flowing lines to shore.

I stayed out for a good 3.5 hours before calling it quits. The Williams brothers kept going for another half hour. Raced home through the muddy roads, and got home just in time for a lunch run with the in-laws for some good Japanese food. Nice wrap-up to a fun WSD--already looking forward to next year.

One more of Buddy

Unknown, kicking his tail

Aloha from Paradise,