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The more time I've had to think about this massive trip to Hawaii, a couple of thoughts
have emerged that have a theme to them. When we travel for surf we collect memories,
destinations and store perfect waves we've caught in our heads like date for recall
or use later.
The first thought I've really had is that during the planning stages it became completely
apparent that I'm ill-equipped to do this. The sheer amount of STUFF you need to go
on a major surfari is somewhat astounding. What's worse, I've been caught red-handed,
or empty-handed, with little or no supplies to do this. Of course over the last several
weeks I"ve procured most of the stuff I'll need. Not only have I bought stuff, people
have loaned me things to use, like a pair of soft racks from Jade and an 8-6 FCS
double travel board bag from my friend Keith at the Cliffs. The bag is still the biggest challenge with an 8-6 with glass
on fins to take with me. The double barely holds that board, plus my Red-X fin system
7-2 Rocket. The double is better suited to be a single carrier for the 8-6. A standard
fin block of foam does not fit the 8-6, which is a serious
pintail. So the whole bag thing is still a bit of an issue after several trial runs of stuffing
the boards in that thing. What I need is a triple. Because after the two boards are in there,
there's no room for anything else. Very tight.
So the first major thing is that I've been caught without much modern surf travel experience
or the supplies to do so. Although AFTER the trip, well, I'll be ready to travel to the
moons of Saturn, fully outfitted.
The second thought that's been running through my head is that of course I'm hitting two islands
in an island chain. And that got me thinking, well, there's really been a theme to my life
regarding islands. And then I thought about it MORE, and thought it would be interesting
to write about it.
I was born in Manhattan. An island. And then I've spent tons of time surfing and enjoying
myself on Long Island. Then later in life I lived on an island - Galveston, Texas, for seven
years. At which time I also went to South Padre Island to surf several times. I've also surfed
on Boliver Pennisula (look it up!). Then during
high school when I was in London (England is an Island!), I surfed in Newquay a couple
of times, and then went island hopping in the spring of 1983, where I made a pilgramage to
the Island of Jersey in the English Channel to...go surfing for a week. Theoretically, this
led me to California, where my first island surfing experience, ashamedly, was...Coronado Island.
Of course, Fiesta Island and North Island, both places I've been, don't particularly
count because there 'aint no waves there, just bonfires and the military. But islands
nonetheless. And yes, let's definitely NOT forget Todos Santos Island. Yup. I've surfed
both the south and north islands there. Which isn't too common. And now
I'm about to add Oahu and Maui. Not bad for an average Joe. What do you think?
Well of course that made me think about guys who take boat trips to the Mentawais and such
places in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. I'm a bit confused as to how to categorize
this - if they surf at like 10 different breaks during a trip, people who go there, do
ALL those islands they never set foot on count, or is it considered something like, just surfing an "island chain?"
There's no argument for Tavarua, that's a single Island, or neighboring Nomotu. Those are
individual notches on a belt. I don't know how to categorize or count stuff on a boat trip.
Mostly I think it counts as one. "The Mentawais Islands." Or do only the islands you actually
step foot on or stay on count as an individual notch? I mean, on a boat trip, mostly
you jump off the boat, surf and leave. Or anchor or stay. Maybe you can set foot on them
and get a coconut or donate some clothes or leave a board for the locals. I'd count that
as a single notch, not a chain. Anyway...
So I guess as surfers, we like islands. Almost seems like it was a bit of destiny for
me to become a surfer, what with all the islands that I just naturally ended up spending
a lot of time on, and then seeking out as surf destinations. If you look back at how
you might have started surfing, for me, it was the result of living on an island. And I can
look back on that and honestly say that had that not happened, I probably would never
started surfing.
I think there's a real difference to that statement right there. There are surfers who
start out on the coast, or even as inland commuters, and then there are surfers
who start out on islands. So then I guess I have the right to say that I'm truely
an Island Boy.
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