HI Surf Advisory
SURF OBSERVATIONS
I like to go surfing by myself. Mind you, the places I go are usually crowded, but I like the freedom of doing it whereever and whenever I please. This maximizes my surf time and doesn't limit me from pushing my personal limits.
However, this weekend was looking to be real small, so I decided to break my routine and surf with my funboard on Sunday (6/16/96) with a friend; I'll call him Bruce (as in Lee).
Bruce used to surf a lot in high school, but kinda stopped for a while. Now that we work together, I got him back into it. He even bought my old board, a 7' 10" Hawaiian Blades minitank. And by the way, he's a goofyfooter.
I forgot to turn my alarm on that evening, but even though I was dead tired from holoholo (running around) on Saturday, I amazingly woke up on my own at 5:00 am sharp. Subconcious anticipation? Go figure!
After picking Bruce up at 5:30 am, we hit it to his favorite spot--Suicides near Diamond Head. He asked another friend along, and we were to meet him there.
Driving past the lookout, we noticed that there was some whitewater--a good sign. It was probably just windswell, but at least it wouldn't be flat. Low expectations can make even the junkest conditions more bearable.
As soon as we got there, I paddled out while Bruce waited for his friend to arrive. It was a fair distance out over some submerged coral heads. I guess that's how the spot got the name Suicides--the inside sections must get pretty hairy with size. However, the surf that day was real small (waist high) and looked a bit crumbly.
As I was paddling out, I noticed a beautiful rainbow that arced right into the spot we were going to surf. Was this a divine sign of things to come? Were we going to score some good waves? Was this the pot of gold we were looking for?
The other two guys soon joined me in the lineup. We traded waves for a while before I realized that the lefts were much better than the rights. I hate surfing backside, so I had to force myself to go left (compromise!). Of course, Bruce, the goofy, only likes frontside. So that's why he wanted to surf here!
We were soon joined by some guy in his mid forties on a longboard. So between the four of us, we had every size surfboard: a 9' longboard, Bruce's 7' 10" minitank, my 6' 10" funboard and Bruce's friends 6' 3" shortboard. The longboarder was definitely getting the most waves--you just gotta have the right tool for the job (*whatever* it may be).
High performance wasn't really happening for me that day. I *almost* did a backside cutback-- big wow. But at least I got a little more comfortable surfing my backhand.
We spent the better part of two and a half hours out there, for the most part alone, trying to make the most of the smallish waves. We traded boards, laughed and just made the most of the situation.
After paddling in, I felt invigorated, with a good burn in my shoulders. It was not quite 9 am, and we had the rest of the day to look forward to.
Maybe we didn't score great waves, but the positive vibes of surfing with a few friends made it worthwhile. The pot of gold may be elusive, but then again, it may have been right in front of our eyes.
Aloha from Paradise,
sponge
P.S. Bruce must've been inspired by that session. He just put in an order for a custom T&C shortboard.
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