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Session No.: 31
Here we go again!
Hard to belive I'm sitting here with a rented laptop writing to you all from Kauai, Hawaii, local time 11:25 p.m.,
what a travel day. I've flown and hauled ass to Hanalei and surfed Hawaiian 224 and CA 428 and am now in the hotel
room writing. How fucking cool is this? Let me tell you - WAY cool. Allow me to continue, and excuse the typos
and stuff because I hate laptops.
It's not tooo hot here, either, about 80 degrees, there are nice, light trades from the east. Warm tropical rain. Mostly cloudy,
so much so, that when I paddled out at 5 p.m., no sunscreen, uv hat or rashguard was needed. There are wild roosters
and hens outside the hotel, which apparently have gone feral many many years ago after some chicken ranch burned to then ground
or something like that. They apparently, however, are being riddled by disease, and are slowly all dying off. Someone
in the lobby said at about 4 a.m., I'll probably be awakened by the noise, but I doubt it very much. I'm so tired
I don't think I'll wake up until Monday afternoon. Ha.
I originally pulled up to Pinetrees and the lifeguard station there. Asked the guards about the layout of the land, rips,
rivermouths, pier, and of course, Hanalei. Which I drove just a short distance north to, and paddled out. And for those
who know me, well, I paddledout WITHOUT my reef walkers. I was quite apprehensive about this, and with good reason.
Let me tell you, when it's kinda small, it breaks on the inside reef, and we'll get to that in a bit. The bottom starts
out as sand and you walk out on it, then you jump on your board at the edge of the reef and paddle out. It's more like
running a marathon, because the paddle is about 500 to 700 yards, easily, with the rip from the rivermouth running
kind of sideways away from the break, which is good because it puts you in the channel.
And I'm looking down as I paddle in the warm, 74 degree Hawaiian water, and there's the reef, about three feet below.
I expected this, kinda, it reminded me of Ala Moana, really. And here there are big coral heads on top of a reef shelf,
so you can get burned on a flat part and get maybe lucky, or you can hit one of those big, ugly coral heads, and pay
the price. Today was smaller than yesterday according to the locals, who were all talking about how "It's been the best
two weeks in the last year at the bay." How come I score like this? It puzzles even me sometimes.
And like, dude, I haven't been without booties in years. I caught so much flack from people about wearing reef walkers
or whatever about this trip - and last trip - that I threw caution to the wind. The people out in the water were mostly
longboarders, about 30 people total - and four of us on the outside, one guy from Sunset Cliffs, one guy from Cardiff,
and two bros from San Francisco. Everyone else was sitting in the channel side on the inside. While the waves were chest to
head plus a bit, crystal clear and breaking a bit outside, what I might call the second takeoff area, most people were sitting to the
inside. I'm not an inside guy and there was space on the outside, so that's where I went immediately with a light crowd.
The three other guys and me were the only shortboarders, really. It didn't take me and the Rocket very long to slip into our first
wave, after checking out a few sets. The consequences seemed small to me, like the surf, so I went for it. There were little sections
to be had and if you could, you could connect a few for a decent ride. My first wave was a flop and a trip at the same time. A flop
because no reef walkers, a bit of nervousness, and I got one section after taking off, then the thing shut down gently and I straightened
out for a bit. Only to realize that the water depth had gone from like, say 8 feet, to, like, say, three feet. Holy crap, when I looked
down it was a bit un-nerving. YOu dont jump off your board here. You kick out and you stay on it. Or, like after my second wave,
you hang on to your board when you are getting off of it, use it as flotation, and don't let your damn feet go any deeper than
two feet below the surface and remain uniquely paranoid of shredding your little piggies. Damn it's shallow. All I could think about
was catching the place much bigger, and realizing how dangerous this place can be if you get caught inside.
But see, that's the beauty of paddling out furiously today, fly and surf, to get to know the place. It could not have been more perfect situation for
me, really. But to see the water get that shallow is a total trip. So I learned about the paddle out, how the inside is really shallow,
how the wave lines up down the line, and it also breaks in the potential of three places, alothough I'm sure that on a good day,
it'll all be one wave like a big point break or something. You have to get over the fact that it LOOKS like it's going to close out,
and a good number of waves did because it was small and sectiony, but on a better day, you have to sack it up and realize that you can
make the sections.
So it was cloudy and cool out, lots of moisture over the tropical Hanalei Valley and clouds coming over the mountains, and whatever
the point to the west was, it was beautiful to see, sitting at Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii, with Cliff and the Rocket and three
other Cali guys scrapping it out. It was my turn for a decent set wave for No. 3, and two of the other three guys gave me the nod,
but a guy crossed me over and I backed out. I looked at one of the other guys and he said, "Wasn't that your wave?" And I said, "Well,
it most definitly was, but he looked more local than I do so I let him have it." So there you have it, good judgement on the first
day. In many respects. The one guy from San Fran (who asked me if it was my turn) and I got along really well. Plus the lineup was
thinning out with everyone going in because it was getting kind of dark quicker because of the clouds. But we decided to stay out
longer. I wanted more waves because, I mean, I was reef-walker-less and actually enjoying the smaller warmup surf and trippin out on
the coral below. Dude, you just can't let your feet or body go three feet under the water. I asked the San Fran guy about this and
we concluded that it was deeper out further where it breaks on bigger days. I certainly hope so. But I still feel it would help
out my confidence for sure to have those walkers on dude. Just something to push off the bottom if necessary.
You just can't believe how far out the break is, and seeing the Princeville Hotel or whatever it is. And now it was pretty uncrowded,
it was glassy the whole time (from the plane coming in, the ocean was glassy even over the outer waters), and we were having a lot
of fun, so it was a fun surf, not a harrowing, 6 to 10 foot day at the bay and being terrified the first time out. After about six waves,
I was pretty dialed in, and it showed on the 7th wave.
It was a little bit of a larger wave, a few larger sets came in, and I had the confidence to paddle for a couple. Including No. 7.
Nice and fast racy section, chest high, zooming along, trippin on the reef and the clear warm water, and then realizing that I'm
about to get a little barrel section. No kidding. Couldn't believe it. So I squatted down, dragged a hand and lo and behold,
got my first Hawaiian barrel. I did not get barrelled, or close to it, on Oahu or Maui and that was a sore spot with me. And now
that spot will be etched in my mind forever, as my buddy from San Fran was paddling over three feet of reef, and I was getting
barrelled in front of him. It was like two or three seconds, squatted down low, nice and steep and open, not way back in there, but
just cascading nicely over my head, disappearing from view for a few moments, then coming out and standing up with a big ass smile
on my face, let me tell you, and a nice on the board kick out. Paddled back out and San Fran and I exchanged the look that only surfers
can exchange, you know, and at that moment, I knew I was on Kauai, I knew that I was a surfer, I knew the Rocket would work today,
and I knew I could pull this whole last minute gig to the islands off. So I just sat there like one of those feral roosters,
didn't crow, but raised my feathers up a little bit. Gave me all the confidence in the world for today's situation. It's so much like
my first trip to Oahu, really. Everything feels the same. It really does. Except I got barrelled on my seventh wave. It was so gentile
and clean and nice and warm and, well...it just was heaven after being on a plane, trashing the hotel room to assemble the board,
hauling ass in the SUV to somewhere I did not know anything about or where it was...you kind of sit there scratching your head going,
"Is this really happening?" Indeed, it is. And it's supposed to get better. Everything, I hope.
There ARE small prices to pay. Try wearing a 3/2 or a 4/3 and booties and a hood, then wearing nothing but boardshorts. Talk about
dumb ass baby ass tender skin. After today's two hour surf, I have wax and friction burns on my inner thighs, my chest is a little sore,
and I got stung by jellyfish FOUR times. The other guys were getting stung, too. Every once and a while you paddled and some tentacles
ended up between your fingers, or on your forearm. I felt a stinging around wave three or four, and told San Fran about it. He didn't get
it but later he got stung, too.
It was getting dark. So it was time to take No. 8 and get back to the beach. I went for a little larger wave and made the first section
and then it shut down and of course, getting dark, I'm like, "where's the reef" kinda feeling. Get me out of here now. So I went down on the
board and just let the whitewater (gentle) take me in and paddled for the west channel. Getting darker fast. Faster. Had to use the pier
as a reference point, and fires now in firepits on the beach. The tough thing was that it seemed like I was not making much progress,
and I was paddling pretty hard. Then these wierd pockets of much cooler water started to come up, and it freaked me out a little bit,
but I surmised that it must be river water, and that it was harder to paddle IN than it was to paddle OUT. Which it was.
Took almost twice as much effort and time to get in. Spooked me too much. Don't want to stay out that late again! Exactly the same thing
happened at Ala Moana dudes. Pitch black as I got to the sand area, finally. I was the third to last guy out, and the others were right
behind me. It's the "fly and surf on the same day paddle in at dark" syndrome.
As I set foot safely on the sand, the fires were burning on the beach, and it started to rain. Not just a mist or a drizzle, but a light
rain. Enough to make you wet. I really liked it a lot. Coming out of the water with the Rocket and just wearing boardshorts. My inner thighs
hurt from the chafe, my feet were intact, thank god, and it was way dark bruddahs. Like, pitch black. No lights anywhere. You don't know what
darkness is living in a city of 2.3 million people and street lights and 10 lane freeways and supermalls and strip malls and a zillion
red lights, stop signs and all that wonderful stuff, you know. So it was like I could hardly see at all. The smart people had the fires.
Drying off, three local guys who were out earlier were checking Surfline on a hand held device and talking about what is coming. A bump up
tomorrow, then a larger bump on Monday, then a holding pattern, then down NW on Tuesday morning with possibly a SSW coming, then a major
bump of raw, shorter period swell forerunners Tuesday night, then kinda booming on Wednesday and Thursday, and they were saying the direction
and stuff was perfect for the bay. Made me a little nervous. And wanting to wear the reef walkers and like, a helmet, too! Maybe some
body armor.
I hung out for about 30 minutes and got washed away in the experience of planning the trip and getting here on basically three or four
days notice. How wild is that. And the rain picked up even more, making me close the doors and the hatchback of the vehicle. I also knew that I forgot
my "bike pants" which I used on the North Shore. You put them on under the boardies in case the boardies slip off, and in my case,
for extra protection for the white, wet-suited guys who have been wearing wetsuits their whole lives. I remember telling myself to bring
them, or to go pack them, got distracted, and they got left behind. Need to get some locally.
Which led me to Hanalei Surf Shop. Oh, disaster avoided big time. Dude, here comes the Waikiki Shopping Spree Feeling again. What a mistake
this could be. I went looking for the neoprene or lycra pants, and the moment I walked in it was like, "I want that, and that and that
and that and this, and ooooh look at that, and weeeeeee, I'd look great in that, and I want to buy this for her, and this for him
and was like no, no, no, no, no and NO. Not on the first night! God save my credit card balance, please. Just get the damn shorts
and get the hell out. Which I did. Thank god. Whew. That was almost as bad as almost hitting the reef.
Then I realized exactly how late and dark it was, and raining, still. And how people told me that the entire island shuts down at 8 p.m.
or so, and I had about a 40 minute ride back to Kapaa. And I had to organize my hotel room, unpack the rest of the gear, set up shop,
go food shopping, all this stuff, and it's 8 p.m. now. So I came out of the surf shop and saw the Aclypso Restaurant, which is the marker
for turning off to get to the bay, and said, well, you better eat. I had been up since 5 a.m., traveled over 2,300 miles, missed lunch,
went to get the car, hauled ass to Kapaa, surfed, hung out, whatever, and I was only about half way done with my first day, so to speak.
So I went in and had a fantastic Ahi fish sandwich, fries, onion rings, and the crappiest lemonade you could possibly want to have. I mean
it was just terrible, I couldn't drink it. When the waiter came back I was like, "Dude, that's the worst drink I've ever tasted, what did
you do, put some powder in the glass and mix it up?" And the answer back was, "Yeah, it's minute maid." Disgusting.
The drive back was scarier than the reef, in the dark, and raining, one lane road, no lights. Very difficult. Then to Safeway, bran muffins,
granola cereal, yoghurt, guava juice, bananas, honey roasted peanuts, milk, orange juice, paper towels (the windshield inside made the drive
difficult too because it was dirty), plastic utensils, salt and 5 pounds of sugar (to make my own gatorade drink), a gallon of water (to drink,
then make the gatorade in), kool aid packets (gatorade flavor) and bananas. $60 bucks. Hella expensive. The shorts were $50, total ripoff. Costly
mistake.
Took three trips to get the Rocket and supplies upstairs to floor no.2, like, the room furthest from. But I dealt with it. Dove in the pool
in total darkness after the last trip to cool down. Rain stopped. I've been up for 20 hours. I'm officially exhausted.
Welcome to my Kauai. I'm going to sleep. Don't drive at night. And don't straighten out on a bigger day, keep your feet off
the reef and on the board.
- Cliff
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