Innaguration

Today in History; February 11, 2010, devastation occurs on the south shore of Oahu, Hawai’i upon the arrival of the first out of season south swell. Here one commonly sees a surfer walking up the beach with two pieces of what used to be one surfboard. My reaction is always sympathetic mixed with a little bit of reverence. If they broke their board, they MUST be good. Right? Well, as I was walking out of the water on Kaimana beach looking into the restaurant under the New Otani hotel and seeing the tourists cupping their mouths and pointing at me made me realize how it felt to be on the other side of that sympathetic look I know so well: it felt sad.

Stewart, my 9’6”, hydro-hulled, lime green striped boyfriend was tragically taken away from me. My emotions are most certainly sad, however, so euphorically happy at the same time. Morgan, a professional stand up paddler and friend of mine, and I met up at Old Man’s to go surf the peak of the south swell this morning. As Morgan has a much better view of the horizon than I, she informs me that there are whales a few hundred meters just past the break. We paddle out to get a closer look. Once we get closer the whales retreat, but hundreds of dolphins in a couple different pods show up to play. Sweet!! I LOVE dolphins!! There’s babies on their bellies splashing and even the older ones jumping fully out of the air and twirling around a number of times almost as if to tell us, “haha…you’re not one of us!” It was euphoric by far. One of the best experiences I have had since moving to Hawai’i. What a good way to start what is shaping up to be a perfect surf session, right?! Wrong!

Who would expect of all places on the island that something like a longboard spot called “old man’s” could break a board?!?! I’m confidently sitting in the line-up after having a few good long rides under my belt. A big set rolls through. I paddle out to try to get in position for one of them, and I spot the one I like. It looks like it’s going to be a right. My favorite! It lines up, peaks, and I go! It’s definitely and overhead wave. That smile of pure joy comes across my face as a race down the line and try to get in front of a section that looks like it could produce a small barrel. In a split second I realize I’m not going to be ducking into any barrel, but rather bailing ASAP to avoid the massive closeout that is about to occur. I dive through the face of the wave and save myself while selfishly leaving Stewart to fend for himself behind me. As I come up and turn around to grab my leash and quickly get out of the way, I see the split end of my board about 5’ up and I think to myself, “are you kidding me?!?!” It seems appropriate that just when I get too confident the ocean reminds me whose boss. That’s what I love about surfing. I hope you enjoy the pictures.






That’s life, you’ve got to roll with the punches and look forward to the next good thing, of which there are many. First off, I will get to go home soon to see my friends and family in Florida that I have been missing so much. Then there is the thought of summer time and more south swells. Finally, there are my travel plans. Two months worth of adventure (and hopefully not too much board breakage). July 1 will take me to South Africa. Upon my arrival on July 3 I will be picked up by my good friend Marizanne, one of the “mother-land” locals. She has planned the itinerary for the first week of the trip. Here it is:

“Hey Dude
I was thinking the following
7 July Leave CPT to vleesbaai
9 July Leave vleesbaai to J-Bay ( Billabong pro starts the 9th)
10 July Watch WC game in P.E
11- wheneva stay in J-bay or whateva
Maybe move up towards east london or cintsa etc”

Perfect.

I will be exploring the controversial and beautiful country until after my quarter century birthday on August 7, at which point I will get on a plane for Madrid, Spain. There I will spend 3 weeks traveling and watching another dear friend of my, Angela San Juan Cisneros, get married to her long time boyfriend, Alejandro.
So in the grand scheme of life, should something so small as a snapped board really spiral me into a state of depression? I’ll let you decide.





This is Africa.

Aloha, and Go surf!