Rich, carving hard

Decisions, decisions. The buoys were showing swell on both fronts of the island, but the gale-force winds masked their true size. Where to go? What to do?

After checking the buoys in the morning, I was stumped. Driving towards the freeway onramp, I still hadn't made up my mind. So I pulled off to the side of the road and contemplated.

In the end, I couldn't decide. So I pulled out a quarter and said out loud, "Heads north Shore, tails south." I flipped the quarter in the air, and let it fall to the car floor. Damned, I couldn't see the coin. Turning on the light, I finally saw the result--tails!

So I headed towards Diamond Head.

Upon arrival, I found that the surf was mostly windswell, with very little pure groundswell. The tradewind direction is not optimum for Lighthouse, so the rights were shutting down. But at least it was rideable. Out there!

There were slim pickings in the lineup, with long waits between the junky sets. However, we had it all to ourselves, and gorged ourselves on waves.

To pass the time, Rich and Buddy started singing this funky rap song. Something about doing it, "...like they do it on Discovery Channel." Since I didn't know it, I decided to sing something of my own. I started going off with the Power Puff Girls theme song, just singing out loud while riding.

We also mocked the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" show--"Is that your final answer!" Sometimes it's just fun to get stupid.

Not to say there wasn't any serious riding going on. Despite his deck pad bogging his surfboard, Buddy shralped the wavelets. Rich was killing it also with his goofyfoot style. Both relished the near empty lineup despite the poor conditions.

I was having fun too, actually snagging a couple of barrels in between Power Puff Girl verses. The surf spot location may have been an arbitrary decision, but riding with the crew is always a joy.

P.S. Found out later that the North Shore was overhead, semi-glassy and uncrowded. Ahhh, was probably junk out there anyway.

Aloha from Paradise,