The Ehukai shorepound was very nice

It's a rare thing for me to surf in the afternoon. That's why this session felt way different than normal.

My coworker Justin and I decided to hit it to the North Shore after work. The forecast was calling for some huge surf, but it just wasn't coming in. We weren't complaining though.

Pipe was looking really funky, like a single peak that dwindled to nothingness. Despite that, the pack was thick, probably because they were filming "Surf Girls" again (with two jetskis buzzing the lineup). Off the Wall was looking downright treacherous, with big semi-closeout afternoon offshore barrels. As I told Justin, I wasn't in the mood for 'death or glory' surfing.

We finally opted for Gums and Ehukai, which was not perfect, but had some clean waves over the pronounced sandbars.

Surfing in the afternoon is so different from my usual dawn patrols. For one thing, the lineups are already crowded with people, especially kids (even with school in session). The sunlight backlights the North Shore waves, and the winds buffet the waves with side-offshores. It's just a different scene.

I started surfing at Gums, looking for the occasional wind-assisted open barrels. My first wave was a full-on dredger which threw twice as far as it was high. I did the standard wipeout curl and ended up getting compressed onto the sandbar flat on my back. Ouch!

Eventually, I followed Justin over to Ehukai, where he was snagging some long, down-the-line rides. We spent the next hour or so catching some really fun ones.

The most memorable ride I had was this one wave where I looked right, then went left. A tattooed-out surfer-dude was on my left shoulder, and by the time he saw my change of direction, he could do little but get sucked over the falls. He was a cool guy though and just laughed it off.

The ride was good, with a nice wall on the outside that I stalled on, staying in the hook. However, when it hit the inside sandbar, man, it warped into an ugly monster. I could see the water drawing off the sandbar as the wave went below sea level. Rather than pull in, I tried doing a Hawaiian pullout, but got sucked over and got a sandy saline nasal spray.

Went in after only a couple of hours total, in anticipation of a slow drive back to Town. Yup, afternoons can be a delight.

Aloha from Paradise,