My goal all along was to fly and surf on the same day. I'll leave most of the details
out about actually getting to the surf, but suffice to say that I'm so proud of myself
for getting off that plane, getting the rental car, and getting the third parking
spot behind the Royal Hawaiian Hilton or whatever it is and got to paddle out
for an afternoon shesh at Bowls with a 1-3 foot (Hawaiian) 2-4 (California) swell
in the water. It wasn't as big a south swell as everyone had been anticipating.
But dude, I got in the water the first day, incredible, with everything flying all over
my hotel room, unpacking the boards (arrived PERFECT), screwing in fins,
gathering rashguard, reef walkers, boardshorts, etc...you get the picture.
I had some Japanese tourists take my picture after my first sesh was over.
Which consisted of my usual three wave minimum. Two of them, interestingly, were
rights! I didn't know you could go right at Ala Moana. You could see Number Threes,
Fours and Kaisers trying to break a little bit, and they were. But for some reason
I just wanted to surf Bowls. And I did! And I was stoked. And yeah, my first and third
waves were rights. That went into a REALLY shallow area. So shallow, you can not
duck dive, and my reef walkers came in handy. My feet touched reef (the reef walkers
did, actually) after my first wave in Hawaii.
Some quick observations. The water is so warm. Easily 78 to 80, or it feels that way to a guy
who just came over from the mainland, and who is used to wearing at least
a 3/2 and booties year round. It's like bath water and then some. Many people
say here that you HAVE to get in the water at least once a day because the air is JUST as warm, even
warmer. We're having a late season heat wave and the parking garage in the hotel must have
been 110 degrees. That's not kidding, either.
The real wave at Ala Moana Bowls is the left, and the one I had was about chest high
and really fast and sectiony and I was too far back, pushed deep by a couple of local
guys who were REALLY good surfers. They let me take off on the left because the vibe
was pretty cool and they saw me waiting and gave it to me. Unfortunately, it sectioned
out after about 20 or 30 yards toward the big harbor jetty with all the boats coming
out of it (buoy No. 4). I can hardly imagine when the place gets legitimate. The currents
are really confusing and almost go in a tall "Z" pattern around the lineup, but I'm smart
enough to be able to tell that stuff, even though I paddled out with abandon
just to get wet.
It stays light here until about 6 p.m. with enough twilight until about 6:20 or so.
So I was in the water for about an hour and fifteen minutes, got my three waves, got
wet, touched the reef (with the reef booties and NOT my bare feet!), and stayed out,
yes, the lunatic, until it was pitch black out. The hotels along Waikiki make great
land marks, not only during the day, but at night, and I chose the one
that would line me up to help me navigate my way back in, of course, in near pitch
blackness. I guess it's just one of my trademarks. Always want to be one of the last
ones out of the water. But you know what? I WAS IN THE WATER on my travel day,
and that put some serious smile on my face.
Oh, I was riding the Rocket, not ideal, but it worked in the smaller waves because there
was more push behind them, then in CA. It was a great warmup, and I'm glad I did
get in the water. You'll read why in the next entry!
- Cliff
