Justin, launching into a nice one

Even though I had surfed the week before, I was still not satiated (actually, when it comes to surfing, you never really are). I yearned to bodyboard specifically at Pipeline, where the waves just enthrall and excite me.

The forecast was for a small-medium swell, but really ugly winds through the weekend. I was bummed because all week, the conditions were pristine--good enough to finish off the HIC Pipeline Pro surf contest. Again though, the smaller conditions were better for me as I was still easing back into it.

This time, I asked not only Buddy, but my coworker Justin to go out. Jus and I are working on the same project so it was kinda good to just hang out with him in a nonwork environment.

Since I was so eager to go, I told them that I'd meet everyone at Pipeline where I wanted to catch a few tubes before heading elsewhere.

When I hit the Beach Park, I found the conditions to be pretty lousy. Strong sideshore trades sliced up the waves. The swell itself was somewhat inconsistent and peaky, with a suspect lineup.

I didn't care. As soon as Justin made it into the parking lot, we made the call to just go for it until Buddy came later on.

It was really nice feeling the sand slicing between my toes again as I headed for the jump point. Funny how I missed these little things.

The surf was actually quite a bit better once you got into the lineup. Waves were maybe 2-4' (overhead) with some serious barrels pitching on occasion. There was lots of north in the swell, but one section towards Off the Wall was just dredging with a somewhat wicked looking peak that broke both ways.

Justin, who hasn't really ridden the spot too much, was tagging some nice ones. He mentioned that he caught his first real tube out there that day. (Actually I saw him catch his first, second, third, fourth one too!) He remarked how much more powerful the waves out there were, and I just agree with him wholeheartedly.

Since I was still tentative, I chose to pick off some shoulders going left. Just being around all that energy was so exhilarating for me.

One wave in particular really stoked me out. Took off on the shoulder of this heaving lip. I aimed myself towards the channel, and could feel myself right in the hook surrounded by all that power. Suddenly, the wave just spat behind me, pushing huge droplets of water ahead of me into the channel. Such a rush!

I got some clean in-and-outs on some small ones, and snagged a solid cylinder that shut down big time.

Being around all that power was great, but being able to finally ride the energy was heaven. Ankle hardly hurt this time--yeah!

I'm back on the North Shore!

Aloha from Paradise,