Every surfer wants a pic of himself (or, herself) riding a wave. Perhaps its so they can prove to their future grand kids that they were once cool. Or maybe it's just so they can pin it up on their wall and remember the good old days. Regardless of the reason, it's usually a picture of the surfer getting barreled, riding the lip, or making a cutback turn. For me, it's a walk on a beach.
I'll grant you, I don't have any other pictures of me surfing (at least, none that I'll show any of you), but this one captures so much...to me. Perhaps it's not worth a thousand words to all 1 of you who may read this blog, but it's worth much to me because it involves many stories.
This is the North Shore. Just a few days earlier, the 1st heats of the 1st event in the North Shore's Triple Crown were held at Haleiwa just beyond the trees there in the mid-ground (above my head). The world's top surfers converged on that spot to secure the 1st jewell in the crown. The 2nd Event is to take place next week at Sunset Beach, perhaps 4 miles behind me (and the person who took the photo). The 3rd Event is in early December at Banzai Pipeline just 3 miles behind me.
Driving down from Laie, you can't see Pipe from the road, but you can see Sunset and Waimea Bay (a big wave surf spot) and they were remarkably flat. I was getting worried because this was my last day in Hawaii, and last (and only) chance to surf the North Shore. This is on every surfer's to-do list. It was not an option for me to come back from Hawaii without surfing it. I would have to have missed my flight, sleep on the beach, and hitch a ride back into town to get a flight back. But Laniakea looked great. All the others were flat, but Laniakea was firing.
Arriving at Surf and Sea surf shop in Haleiwa, I was given a stern warning about the dangers of surfing the North Shore, and the expense of replacing a broken rental board. I was already concerned about surfing a reefy spot, a new spot, on an unfamiliar board, with much faster and heavier waves than I was used to. This guy at the rental spot added to my anxiety 5 fold.
As is my practice when I get to a new spot, I spent some time sitting on a rock observing the scene. Where were the waves breaking? This was pretty easy because the waves all break at the reef (whereas in Oregon, the break moves with the sand bar). Where are the crowds of surfers? Predictably, they're at the primary break. There are a few, however, hanging out at a secondary break. It appeared that the primary break wave had a hard time connecting with the secondary break wave. And, there were a few surfers parked out at the secondary wave. That's my spot, I knew. I didn't want to get in the way of the locals on their wave, and I didn't want to get in the way of any pros who might be out there.
Localism is something big in surfing, but also big in life. Rule #1 in surfing is to respect the locals. I feel that it if I want to impose myself on the people who's backyard I am paddling into, it is my responsibility to prove that I am worthy. And since I knew I wasn't worthy, I took the secondary break, was quite happy with the hour or so I was able to spend out there catching a handful of waves with other haole tourists, and paddle back in to be with my hot fiance again, returning my rental board to the shop in one piece.
Ah, good times.
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