Buddy doing a rollercoaster at Jocko's

All week, the surf was macking on the North Shore. And all week, I was burning the midnight oil, toiling at the office and at home with work. I needed a break.

I caught a sinus bug from my daughter a week earlier, and it was turning into a nasal drip. Not fun. But that wasn't going to stop me from getting some water time.

Hit it out predawn at Pipeline. Caught a few really fun, slightly overhead nuggets in the dark, before the crowd started filling in. Met my old friend Ray, from my old Shipyard contest surfing days. We had good fun talking story, making the most of the smallish waves, even catching a few barrelettes.

It just didn't look promising, though. I knew Buddy and Rich were coming, so I went in and hooked up with them at the Beach Park. After much contemplation, we finally decided to hit Jockos on a lark. Turned out to be a great call by Rich.

We parked at Laniakea, then made the long paddle over to Jockos. Surf was much bigger than at the Park, with the occasional five footer (Haw'n) pushing through. Finally, a bit of power to play in.

The lineup was fairly busy, with us, some other locals, and a few Brazilians. However, one haole guy stood out from the crowd with a very loud demeanor. Come to find out it was an acquaintance of mine--a friend of a friend named Jerry that I'd met a decade ago.

After figuring out who we were, we proceeded to enjoy the surf together. It was subtle, but I think we both had a bit to prove to each other. Probably some machismo on both our parts.

Jerry charged. He took off deep and steep and worked it across the inside reef. He was a talker, but he backed it up pretty well. That punk dropped in on me on a set, but I didn't mind, because I got some bigger ones.

I sat fairly deep during the sesh, trying to snag the sets. After a bit of waiting, this solid peak headed my way. I played it tentative, angling on the takeout and running ahead of the hook. But still, it was so nice reconnecting with power.

Caught some really fun ones, going both left and right. However, I got drilled big time by a rogue set. Stupidly tried to punch through from the left side, but after a half-hour, I gave up and let myself get washed inside and did the round trip around the channel.

The Williams brothers were up to their usual antics, surfing hard and ragging each other harder. They worked the middle section through the inside bowl, with Rich doing more carving and Buddy more tuberiding.

Rich was showing off his recently squashed big toe, already black with dirty blood. Didn't seem to phase his surfing though. Must've been nail polish.

Out of the blue, Rich started raving about this magical snake oil to relieve joint pain. He called it glucosamine sulfate, and swore by it, especially for those after-session pains. I made a mental note, but dismissed it as another one of Rich's rants.

Suddenly, I noticed a commotion on the inside section. One surfer was paddling in, yelling loudly to himself. Everyone else was sort of shaking their heads.

Come to find out that the surfer took a very ill-advised takeoff and got tumbled on a smallish wave. He ended up getting sliced by his own skegs and had a nasty wound to the head. Such is life.

After about five hours of surfing, I was burnt toast. Rich had gone over to Chun's to check out the action, so I told Buddy I was leaving.

I worked my way south, catching rights while getting caught inside several times. However, I made it to Holtons, and finally caught one in.

Buddy somehow beat me in. We said our goodbyes and I went on my merry way.

Felt so good to finally get wet in some solid surf. My body was in pain, but I never got a chance to try the glucosamine sulfate. Rich, if it works half as good as the Jockos session was, in the future I'll believe anything you say.

Aloha from Paradise,