A local carves a nice one

After an unsuccessful search out west, I hooked up with Buddy for another Lighthouse sesh. On the way down the hill, I was met by this older guy named John Cater who wanted every surfer to sign a petition. Apparently, our City and County of Honolulu, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to eliminate all parking along the Diamond Head cliff area, parking where all us beachgoers use.

I actually remembered that John Cater used to enter the old amateur surf contests in the grandmasters division, against such stalwarts as Rabbit Kekai, Koapaka Brown, and Flash Dubiel. John was very outspoken and chatty, but at the same time had a very jovial attitude. I immediately signed it.

Surf wasn't very good. The buoys were pinging like mad the night before, but it just wasn't reflected in the surf. I've always had a hard time understanding the southern buoys, and I guessed wrong again. Anyway, it was about head-high on the inconsistent sets, with a few fun ones rolling through.

Sadly, I had a major kook session going on. Late takeoff wipeout, step on leash wipeout, whitewater wipeout--you name it, I did it. Caught a few decent ones, but even my most memorable waves were dopey. On one uneventful ride, I kicked out and dropped back flat on my back like the old Nestea Iced Tea plunge. Unfortunately, I had gotten a mean sunburn from my previous day's camping session and just reignited the pain. Auwe!

On the other ride, I took off on this nicely lined up wall on what I was planning to be my last ride. However, a Japanese national prompty dropped in on my and did a couple of turns before realizing I was on the inside. He kicked out and apologized profusely, but I gave him a smile and brushed it off. Unfortunately, the set of the day then came through, and I got stuck trying to make it back out.

Man, the more I think about the loss of parking, the more concerned I get. So many times these projects get pushed through without fanfare, and by the time people know what's happening, we're screwed. Take our recent van cam speeding fiasco as a great example. I'm interested in finding out more on this. Maybe the common man can make a difference.

Buddy strikes a pose

Aloha from Paradise,