The regular, swooping over me

Forecast was for a solid swell to hit in the middle of the night. Had the opportunity to go before work, so I went for an early dawn patrol.

Targeted Ala Moana Beach Park, but the surf was miniscule. I was desperate to get some water time so I whipped it over to Diamond Head, which was a little bigger.

Paddled out on my sponge to Lighthouse, and found it to be only waist-to-chest high and weak. It looked like Cliffs was getting it better, so I paddled over to that side.

Guess Cliffs took the direction better because it was a little bigger. I hadn’t surfed the spot for a long time, so I was frustrated with the lineup, missing the peaks.

However, one of the regulars there was not having a problem at all. At 6:01 AM, he tagged a well-overhead set, just taking it apart despite the chop and wind. I was intensely jealous as I ducked the whitewater out of position.

Caught a few fun ones, but nothing very good. There’s a little bowl on the rights that I was fortunate enough to luck into on one ride. That’s about it.

Paddled in before 7 and found John Cater also drying off topside. He was looking good despite some health problems and we shot the breeze on the Diamond Head Road issue. It was really good to see him back in the lineup.

Again, high expectations of the incoming swell got deflated from reality, but it was still a sweet way to start the workday.

Aloha from Paradise,