Buddy, taking off

The months of summer doldrums finally relented midweek as a firm southern groundswell stoked all of Town. Of course, the swell had to coincide with a high-profile brief that I had to deliver and was ill-prepared for.

I ended up missing three days of well-overhead surf. I was just drooling reading about Buddy and Makani scoring some great sessions, with some excellent accompanying pics.

On Friday, I finally got a chance to partake in the by then dying swell.

That morning, I ended up Rollerblading around Town, checking out the surf spots and the odd sights. It was a pretty relaxing and enjoyable cruise from Kakaako to Kapiolani Park and back. Took some neat photos with the digital cam.

Afterwards, I had to make the decision of bodyboard or longboard. I have been riding just my longboard for the longest time, so I was aching to sponge again. However, because of the blading, my lower body was pretty tired. That, coupled with the windy conditions, pushed me to once again tanking it.

The surf wasn’t huge, but there were some good peaks still to be had. I was stoked! I managed to tag more than a few late takeoffs, trying to ride through the inside section. It was so nice to finally ride some power again.

The highlights of the rides were the sketchy takeoffs that I managed. I sat about 20 or 30 yards outside of everyone (until Buddy came), and patiently waited for the sets. Got some really fun ones--it was really nice relishing a bit of juice again.

Buddy said he was a bit out of synch, but I couldn’t tell from his riding. He had already surfed three times in the past five days, so he was satiated. Still, he made the most of it and was also pleasantly surprised that the swell held up somewhat.

After a couple of hours, the swell seemed to be ebbing, so we made our way in. Relief!

Aloha from Paradise,