June 1999

Saturday June 5, 1999
6:15a-8:45a
"Lighthouse" - Southeast shore
Avg wave face   2-3 feet
Sets wave face   4-5 feet
Overcast; Moderate sideshore winds

Just about the worst surf I've ever had at Lighthouse. Bizarre peaks everywhere, pitching real well but instantly mushimg out into wall-less crap.

There was never more than 2 others out so me & Rich spent the whole session fooling around; Purposely going over the falls, flinging ridiculous aerials & trying to stump each other by singing (loudly) the most obscure 80's songs we could think of.

South swell is on the way. . .

'loha,

Bud

Sunday June 6, 1999
5:30a-8:30a
"------" - Southwest shore
Avg wave face   4-6 feet
Sets wave face   6-9 feet
Overcast then clearing; Light sideshore winds

3/4's of our regular crew (Rich had to work) piled in my truck and we headed out to a fave outer reef spot to catch some of the approaching south swell.

Waves turned out to be very disappointing; very inconsistent and mostly sloppy. By 7:30 it was packed (for this spot) with at least 10 other surfers. There were some moments of quality though, and I was fortunate to score a few of them. I had a some satisfying lip blasts and a decent dry tube ride (a guy actually paddled up to me and said that he caught with a telephoto camera from the beach).

Makani, back from 2 weeks on the mainland, had only one surf the whole time at a wave pool somewhere in Palm springs Ca. (I bet the "locals" there figured he was a professional). He said he was struggling to get back in rhythm, but still ripped the waves I saw.

I know the sponge was bumming about the lack of waves and crowd- he was fully looking forward to surfing some juice on "his" "new" tank (an inside joke). As usual, he seemed bent on taking off in the most critical sections of the biggest waves available. And he made a fair percentage of them too. Me & Makani watched one wave where he stepped within a foot from getting his toes on the nose, then expertly stepped back as the wave shifted.

Overall, a good session even though we expected much more. . .

Good surfing to you,

Bud

Hooked up with my brother Rich for a early morning wave search. The expected windslop at Lighthouse was not happening at all so we booked over to Ala Mo Bowls. At about waist high it looked surfable, and the crowd wasn't too bad yet. Just before we got out of my truck, Aipa strolls over & mentions to us that the State Championships was "on" for later this morning. So, rather than get chased out of the water in an hour (plus jockeying with warming up contestants), we thanked him for the heads up & went over to Ala Mo Park.

Decided to have a go at Big Rights since it had only 3 surfers out (the big pack was a Concessions); Tide was very low and still dropping, so the tiny waves were super quick.

I struggled to muster enough speed to turn on the thigh high, low tide reef squeakers but Rich surfed them well. We spent most of the session rapping with a Laniakea regular and messing around in the small surf. I'd drop in on him, then he'd drop in on me; The one behind making the most of the bankable whitewater trail of the other.

The tide had fully bottomed out by the time we went in, that meant 75 yards of tip toeing across the exposed reef.

Water was crystal clear and conditions were perfect. Some surf would have been nice!

'loha

Bud

Sunday June 13, 1999
11:00a-2:00p
"------" - South shore
Avg wave face   4-6 feet
Sets wave face   6-9 feet
Almost cloudless sky; Light onshore winds

With 3/4's of a full "crew" (Neal was a "no-go" this weekend) on for a Sunday morning session, we exchanged a flurry of e-mails & phone calls about where to surf. The NWS report of increasing NW swell & nothing for the south shore contradicted the buoy readings for both shores.

I had some doubts, but Makani was confident that a certain south shore secret spot should have decent, uncrowded surf.
We decided time our assault with the incoming tide, about mid morning.  The break requires a 20-25 minute walk then a 10-15 minute paddle. From past experience we knew that if white water was visible from the beach, it was surfable. It *was* showing so we packed up for the walk.

The roar from a constant flow of 747's & other aircraft taxiing just 75 yards away made conversation almost
impossible during most our mini trek. Naturally we gave a wave & shaka to all the faces gawking at us from behind the
glass holes.

As we got closer to the surf, it was looking better and better. Finally we reached the jump in point and stashed our gear within the boulders of the runway breakwater (one session last summer, Makani's slippers were stolen by departing surfers).

After a wave or two at the inner break, we paddled across the channel to the outer break. The overhead waves were
great! Slight onshore winds made it easier to catch waves and perfect for off the lips. The sun was blazing in a cloudless sky, straight overhead; About  half an hour into the session, it seemed as if someone had turned on a wave machine! Set after set poured in. The three of us had the surf to ourselves and we were having a blast in the super fun waves.

The goofys (not me) went leashless but still had the pedal to the metal (each had to swim only once during the whole
session). In fact we pushed each other to test our lip bashing limits. The rights on the inside section were
doubling up then wrapping into a beautiful hook along the channel. We took turns with the disposable camera in this
section and fired off the whole roll.

If we could have paddled any more, we probably would have stayed out longer. But we caught so many waves that when they tapered a bit, we decided to head back. By now, the breakwater seemed like it was a mile away. . .

When we scrambled up the rocks, I spent 15 minutes searching for my slippers before we agreed that the spot I had hid
them was now underwater (quote Rich - "Hah! I told you you put them too low!"). My water softened feet were tortured on the loose gravel for the next half hour. Still, it did not lessen my stoke from our session.

Good surfing to you,

Bud

Tuesday June 15, 1999
12:15p-2:30p
"Laniakea" - North shore
Avg wave face   5-7 feet
Sets wave face   6-11 feet
Overcast; Light-moderate variable winds

Another off season NNW swell pulled into town yesterday and was forecasted to peak at noon today. I shifted things
around at work to accommodate an extra long "lunch." Neal managed a clean break from a seminar in Waikiki & met me in
the lineup about an hour later.

For me, the swell direction & time limits meant a bee-line to Lanis. I was stoked to see that the roadside parking wasn't too badly crowded (head high+ surf in town was spreading everyone out). I took the chance of getting pounded versus shorter distance & paddled out from the Holtons side of the small bay. Somehow I timed it perfectly between sets.

By squeaking through the "Holtons rights/Laniakea lefts" impact zone, it put me right in the outside peak for north
swell Laniakea (rights). With my hair still dry I stopped paddling about 20 yards farther out than the nearest surfer.
A minute later my good luck struck again when a nearly double-o set became visible. Since there was no one to
compete with, I let the first one pass to (hopefully) smooth out water & wait for a better (hopefully) second  wave.

I couldn't have written a better script- the first wave of the set caught everyone inside and smoothed the impact zone;
The second wave was a beaut and I was alone in perfect position for it. Just sat and waited. . .cocked my board,
took a stroke and stood. Bottom turned hard & square, right into a solid snap as the jumbled lineup was below me,
recovering from impact number one & preparing for impact number two. . . .I pumped a high line past the fast breaking
sections and threw in a few more snaps. Several waves later I even snagged a great tube- but had I moved so far forward
on my stick that I couldn't compensate quickly enough for the lip clipping me as I emerged.

Neal paddled out and immediately scored his first wave from way deep, almost from Holtons. Unfortunately Neal joined the
lineup about the same time as a large, kinda crazy looking local dude did. This guy would drop into the best waves
regardless of who was already on it or not. Turning around mid face, he would take off as if no one else existed. Neal
tagged back to back set waves and on the second one this freak fully iced him.

The wind did an about face halfway through my session and my luck seemed to be turning too. Neal decided to beat the
crowd & hang by Lani lefts and Holtons. . . .I finally snagged a great pocket with a long wall across the middle and rode it most of the way in. Two solid hours of solid surf and I was back in time for a 3:30 appointment. Stoked!

'loha,

Saturday June 19, 1999
6:30a-9:30a
"KMCAS" - East shore
Avg wave face   3-4 feet
Sets wave face   4-5 feet
Rain, clearing, overcast; Light-moderate variable winds
Crew to Crowd  3/5 (Firm)

Check out Neal's write up here

Saturday June 26, 1999
9:30a-11:30a
"Lighthouse" - South east shore
Avg wave face   2-4 feet
Sets wave face  3-5 feet
Mostly clear; Light sideshore
Crew to Crowd   1/6 (Avg)

  (leashless/swam once)

Sunday June 27, 1999
6:10a-9:00a
"KMCAS" - East shore
Avg wave face   3-4 feet
Sets wave face   4-6 feet
Overcast, clearing; Light-moderate variable winds
Crew to Crowd    2/7 (Avg)

  (started out no one/got crowded)