Epic surf day!

Staring thru the open sliding glass doors, I could see that there was no wind. Golf carts buzzed along the black strip of asphalt and I realized that there must be some waves. Within seconds, I was staring at the cam and what I saw confirmed my suspicion. The bay, which had been rough and disorganized, had become almost glassy and I could see a left peel off the ragged reefy point and continue diagonally across the 3-inch digital window. Grab my phone, call Bri on his cell – no answer, call Bri on his landline – no answer, and call Bri again on his landline – no answer. 5 minutes later, my cell rings, its Bri “I’ll meet you out in the water in front of the hotel at 3 PM."

While waxing my 9-foot long board, the sound of golf balls being ‘thwacked’ can be heard cleanly. All the doors are locked; I squeeze my board under my right arm and begin the 10 minute or so walk that will take me to the water’s edge. Before I get very far, I have to stop. Golfers are teeing off at the first hole and one does not want to distract a person swinging a club. Plus, there’s no need to risk getting bonked in the skull although the odds must be extremely slim. To my surprise, there seems to be 10 golfers up waiting to hit. After two hit, I make a run for it and don’t stop till I get safely out of the way.

I arrive at the edge and carefully make my way over the lava rock. It is high tide and I am quickly on my stomach paddling out over waves with the help of the current. There must be about 15 surfers out and even more folks watching the action from the hotel. The surfers are all spread out with most on the inside on long boards. I make my way to the outside, catch a wave rather quickly and then another after 20 minutes or so, as Bri paddle out. He beams with a big smile and I try to look cool, carve a little bit and then fall off the wave.

This is a special day. Even though there are 2 different swells, the still air is letting some nice waves form. This is a surf day with many highlights. At one point Bri and I catch the same wave, It walls up nice and takes us both on a fast ride, Bri speeds ahead and gets ahead of a close out, just before it takes me down my excitement boils over and I start yelling to Bri: “Go dog! Go dog! Go dog!” And then the wave crashes on me, knocking me off the board and into the warm blue ocean.

There were a few wipe outs too, but none as brutal as when I caught an overhead, flew down the face and nosed my rockerless stick which catapulted me backwards head first into the ocean – which at that speed felt like asphalt.

After being in the ocean for only an hour but just after a very long ride, my legs began to cramp in several different places. Since I was so close to shore, I thought about heading in. The ocean is no place to be with cramping legs. I floated around on my stomach, feeling it our and seeing if I could relax and squeeze some more surf time out. The 2 hours or so of tennis in the morning had taken their toll. I found away to get the cramps in my shins to subside a bit and pointed my board back out to sea.

Then the magic began. I ended up having one of the best surfing days in my surfing career. It was a love affair between the goddess of the point and I. Wave after wave came for me, I did not catch them all but I got most of them. Sharing this experience with brother Bri is just beyond words - dream come true. I’d looked forward to this trip for six months. Every day, I’d picture my brother and I out here, catching beautiful waves. And now, after being here in Hawaii for 6 and one half weeks; the day I’d dreamed about had happened. Tremendous gratitude to the oceanic aloha of Oahu, tremendous gratitude to my brother, tremendous gratitude to my parents and tremendous gratitude to my sister and brother-in-law whose trust in my house sitting for them, provided the necessary impetus to get me out of So Cal. Peace!