When do you truely feel defined by something? Your actions? Your words? Your relationships?
Your work? What defines you? There are a lot of little sub-definitions as well, right?
It's not just one big definition. But sometimes there ARE those defining moments.
So sweet when they come, aren't they.
Well I think today that happened to me. I was defined, or a little sub-definition
appeared in my life. Because the surf forecast was exactly spot on, Hawaiian
4 to 6 foot with the occ. 8 foot bomb, which means in my language it was some really hot
10 to 15 foot faces in 78 degree water, wrongbroboarding at Laniakea with the Rocket
on my first day on the North Shore.
Imagine for a moment. Close your eyes. A long paddle out to a pretty easy
right breaking wave, lava rock cove to the east, Chun's and Jockos packed out,
other breaks and Kaena Point to the West. Sheet glass, pure blue/green water over reef, and unfortunately
about 60 other people with the same idea as me, although the waves kept the crowd
factor pretty much thinned out, scared and under control, because the large majority
of people out there were not locals. Including me. And a lot of those people were scared.
But I don't think I was.
That's a main peak wave at Lanis.
Well, maybe every couple of sets.
But still, imagine, my first wave on the North Shore (Ala Moana is South Shore),
I waited 45 minutes to set it up and it finally came. All the locals took off on the first
couple of waves of the set, and one swung a bit wide and came right at me with no one
else around, with my name written all OVER it. I was sitting on the second peak, just inside of the main takeoff zone.
I learned this positioning trick from Neal Miyake (www.hisurfadvisory.com) - from reading his blog and his
description of the place. The locals with huge boards own the outside and on my 7-2 there was no way
I could compete with the outside pack. The main peak was controlled by about a half dozen locals, mostly my age or older,
on really big longboards, who took off on the biggest waves like it was
a three foot day at a beach break.
Eventually I knew I would get one. And this wave heading toward me now was Hawaiian, it was this turquoise green, walling up, a gentle
offshore breeze at 9:30 a.m. brushing it back and grooming it, and my poor little
7-2 and me start getting sucked up the face of it and I said to myself that it was time
to go, yelled "I got it!!" that effectively cleared everyone off it down the line (50 people), dropped
in, felt the difference in power and speed immediately, dipped a hand as I trimmed out after
a fast bottom turn...did a couple of cautious turns that turned into a couple more
radical turns, and was in Hawaiian Heaven. And surfing the North Shore. It was about a 100
yard long ride that connected to the inside reef, where MAYBE it was four or five feet deep.
Again, paddling back out and getting out of the shallow area to the channel, one had
to be cautious. I'll probably say that word about 1,000 times while I'm here.
Look, how can I describe it? I have no idea, but there certainly was a smile on my face
knowing that my FIRST really true North Shore wave was a solid 6 foot Hawaiian scale
wave. I mean, what more can you ask for??? The first day of a vacation and you're dropping
into a brand new N/NW swell that filled in over night. What a stoker. I took my time getting back out. Surfing in
large surf (and yes, 6 foot here is large surf) takes almost triple the energy paddling,
there are nasty currents all over the place, you have to keep out of everyone's way,
etc. It's the usual things, but the intensity factor, fear factor, energy factor
and psychological factor are triplicate of what it usually is anywhere else.
After you catch that first one, it's game on. It always make you feel so much better
after getting that first one on a big swell or at a new place. Then you know you can do it, survive it,
get out of the way, and then try to get another one. And that happened two more times,
relatively quickly. Within my second hour I got two more waves that were very similar
to the first one, with the exception of having a bunch of friends riding along
with me. I didn't like it, but whatever. It was really crowded. Three guys dropped in each time. Everyone
was really hungry for it.
I was tired, anxious, hot, and getting sunburned despite wearing a UV hood, short sleeve rash
guard and reef walkers (again, I don't CARE what people think about that). And I was really, really, really, really
satisfied with having driven to the North Shore, finding it, choosing a spot and
getting my three waves. And talk in the lineup was that Lani's was probably the best spot
to be on this swell because it had a lot of north in it. Chuns looked like it was throwing some really good
rights out there from what I saw, too. Jockos, a left, was not working at all. And to be
sitting out there and hearing that Lanis was probably picking it up the best, well,
that made my head swell up a bit bigger.
And probably led to my first mistake. Because I paddled into the bowl zone and took off, with
priority, really deep, and three more guys dropped in just down the line. That caused the
wave to prematurely topple over in front of me and there was only one thing to do, and that was
straighten out. So I did, and rode it a bit, then gently tried to ease in the whitewater.
That's also when, ah, my right leg went completly limp, meaning that the pressure from
my leash was gone, and "TWINK" there went the board. Leash broke. Great. Just great.
I came up and looked around and the board was no where, especially since it's a stupid all white
board and there was foam and whitewater everywhere, I couldn't see anything. Great. So the board is gone. All these bad thoughts going
through my head. Damn it, I lost a board or broke it in half on my FIRST session!
Not only with these thoughts going on in my head - I had to deal with the occ. 8 foot
set that was now exploding behind me. Greeeeeeat.
But guess what? We just got done training for this. Right. Right Right. So this is not
new or unexpected or unprepared for. So you swim in with the waves, you get to the beach,
you look for the board. Sure I was scared. I was scared out of my mind for the first few minutes. But I was also prepared,
thank god. You HAVE to be prepared. You just have to be. Let me say that again for
everyone. YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED. Got it?
So I swam in 250 yards. And got to the beach. About 90 percent of the way in I saw my
board. It had washed almost all the way to the beach, but was now being sucked out
along the natural lava rock jetty back out to sea on the east side of the cove. Great, I've got to go swim next
to those rocks and get the board? Right. But approaching shore, I saw two guys get on a board
and go out, and they got my board before it got smashed to bits up on the lava
rocks. My feet land on the shore, and I'm a happy man, and then I see my board on
the beach about 100 yards away. And these two 10 year old groms come running towards
me with the Rocket under their arm, they see the twinked leash around my leg, and they
ask, "Is this your BOARD!"
I'm like, thank god, yes, you guys are great. I saw
you getting my board, I can't thank you enough. It would have got lost in the
rocks had you not done that. Thank you, thank you thank you. I asked them their
names. I remember one little kid's name was Alex. So, thanks Alex, for your
Aloha and for helping to Save the Rocket. Then I kind of sat down, winded, on some lava rocks
right by the shore, with my feet still in the water.
And though, "What an epic first day on the North Shore."
I went back to the Forester (no truck available, the Forester is great) and tried
to calm down. But I wasn't riled up. I was totally pumped. So many reasons -
This is my first day on the North Shore. I'm at the best spot on the coast,
it's glassy all the way until 1 p.m. when my leash snaps, I get three bombs,
take a fourth, have to swim, the whole deal dude. It's the whole deal. Maybe the
worst of it is over! Or just begun? Anyway, I was totally stoked out and stayed around
until about 3 p.m. or so just in amazed in the wonder at what I had done for the day and at being
on the North Shore of Oahu, alone, for the first time.
So, define it. On the long drive back to Town, I had plenty of time to think about it
all, and honestly, what means the most to me was that beautiful green wall
of water, about three times as thick and full of water volume as any normal 10 foot
California wave would be, and making the whole thing my first try. I have six waves
now on my trip, which may not seem like a lot, but it is to me. I haven't wiped out,
got whipped into the reef, nothing. And I petted a giant sea turtle on it's shell
out in the lineup at Lanis.
So what do you think? What is the definition? Did I live up to it? I keep thinking
someone should be here watching me do this.
I think I'll take DP (the 8-6) to Sunset Beach tomorrow. It's suppoed to be 5 to 7 Hawaiian.
- Cliff
That's the cove my board got sucked into and got rescued by two local kids who paddled their board out and retrieved mine,
saving it from getting broken up on the lava rocks.
- Cliff