Half Point, overcast and junky looking

Surf was dismally small and I was tired of going to Diamond Head. I had to do something different.

I remembered that my buddy, Joe Kelling of Turbo Surf, was going to be having a bodyboarding contest on the weekend at Sandys. He wanted me to shoot it and do a story for him. Well, I knew I wouldn't have the time to give it a fair shake, but I wanted to help him in some small way.

Got there after 5:30 just as the morning light was starting to overtake the dark. There were some guys pounding out the reggae tunes on their Japanese import cars, and a couple of couples sharing quality time on the sand. As for the surf, it was very discouraging, with wimpy thigh-high warblers coming through.

After a long look, I actually started driving away, heading for good old Diamond Head. However, while leaving a message for Joe already halfway back to Town, a bit of guilt hit me. I decided to turn around and at least “show face.”

Back at Sandys, the surf had showed some improvement with the rising tide. In fact, there were actually four people bodysurfing and bodyboarding. I was out there!

Paddled over to Middles, but no shorebreak surf came my way at all. So I motored over to try my luck at Half Point.

Wouldn’t you know that there were indeed some waves to be had. As mentioned in previous posts, Half Point is a very tricky wave that requires a lot of water time to get wired. I have never grown especially fond of the place, but once in a while, I luck into one that makes me come back for more.

I actually got a few in-and-out tubelets backdooring the lefts, along with some fun walls on the right. Mediocre at best, but still quite a bit of fun.

Afterwards, I left the water and checked out the competition tents. They were going to start at 9, and so I had to apologize for not being able to shoot the contest. However, I hung out for a while longer, talking story with some of the boys at the event (Lance Tom, Joey Vieira, Joe, and Koa of Turbo Surf commercial fame.) Really good getting the scoops on the industry, past and present, from these guys.

In the end, I was glad that I turned around back and surfed Sandys Half Point. The surf was fun, and talking with the crew brought back my stoke on the bodyboarding industry.

Aloha from Paradise,