More of the Same

I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries here at Planet Haolewood asking about what surf conditions on Kauai’s North Shore have been like lately. The answer is VERY GOOD, so good that blogging has taken a back seat to surfing. This winter has been by far the best of my surfing career. While there will still be good surf before it goes flat for the summer, the peak of the season has passed and this weekend it’s looking pretty flat.

Jay sustained serious damage in an unfortunate incident at Hideaways in which the leash became wrapped around the tail and pulled so hard during a wipeout that it dug into the rail and became embedded halfway across the board. By the time I had extracted the leash, the gash was so severe that I probably should have taken it to be professionally repaired. But I opted instead to apply my meager fiberglass repair skills to the task. After a couple of weeks in dry dock the result is ugly but functional.

A highlight came for Emile (the board) when Emile’s brother-in-law (the person) borrowed it and went out to surf some very, very large waves. I was a little concerned about the possibility of contributing to young widowhood for Emile’s sister. I still feel guilty for the adolescent cruelty my friends (you know who you are) and I delivered upon her. We came up with a variation on a popular song that essentially placed responsibility for ALL EVIL in the world at her feet. Needless to say she had done nothing to deserve such bad treatment and was then as now a kind soul. The fear that our cruelty inflicted permanent psychological damage hangs over me to this day. To see her standing pregnant on the beach as the sun went down over an ocean that had just swallowed the love of her life while I tried to explain why I had encouraged him to take my board was not a possibility I relished. But happily both Emile (the board) and Emile’s brother-in-law (the person) emerged unscathed from a session with the monsters. While I may never work my way up to surfing those kind of waves, it’s nice to know one of my boards has experience out there.

Even as the surfing season begins its ebb, the paddling season has begun and the longer days find me just as likely to be sweating in a six-person outrigger canoe as bobbing around in the line-up on my board. This time of year presents a dilemma for an ocean enthusiast like me. Paddle or surf? I can only do one at a time. Last year I went to every practice at the canoe club and missed out on some good spring surfing. This year I have reasoned that there will be plenty of time to paddle during the summer when there’s no surf so I skipped the first few weeks of paddling and have resolved to bail on practice whenever the surf gets good again. A senior paddler who asked me where I had been during the first weeks of practice seemed to find my explanation an acceptable excuse. Only in Hawaii.