HNL Surf Trip

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:57:00 -0700

First time to surf on Oahu in the winter...timing was perfect as a monster swell arrived the day I left
Met up with fellow Erosurfer from Tokyo, Toru, in Waikiki.

Sunrise over Ala Wai Canal
Headed to the west side, just north of Ko'Olina, to a surf break called Tracks.

Shallow reef, mostly short boarders. Shoulder to head high with some decent rights. Toru brought a 6'0" Fish for me...struggled with it but I had good time anyway.

ES and Toru

Toru
Monster swell was on its way, so the next day we headed back to the west side hoping for some wrap around. Swell was down and the wind was up. Even headed all the way out to Makaha, but again, too windy. South shore was junk with the Konas blowing...only other option was the North Shore.
On the way, had to stop, for the second day in a row, at our new favorite breakfast stop, Koa Pancake House in Waipahu.

Located off of Farrington Hwy., just behind the McDonald's in a small strip mall, this place serves up the best pancakes I've ever had at a restaurant. The vibe is like Jack's Inn or Tasty Crust on Maui, but the food is so much better. They have eggs paired with all of your local favorites, Portuguese sausage, spam, corned beef hash, etc. and a variety of omeletes. Day 1, Corned beef hash and eggs with 3 pancakes, Day 2, spinach, mushroom, and cheese omelete, with 3 blueberry pancakes all for $8!!

Definitely be back!!
In route to the North Shore. You can see the white water at Haleiwa from the highway.

Our first stop was Chun's. Eight guys out, overhead sets coming in, nice-looking wave but the water was brown from run-off...didn't look inviting, shark bait. We moved on to Sunset.

I'm not familiar with the names of all the different breaks, but we paddled out about 50-100 yds. right of the lifeguard tower. I was told upon returning to Maui via a third-party, that where we paddled out was "retarded" and that where we surfed "was not really Sunset". Anyway, I was pretty nervous before paddling out. I watched the surf for about 20 minutes. Saw a Japanese longboarder paddle out, snap his leash trying to get over a wave and come in within that 20-min. period. The paddle out wasn't bad, just have to contend with the shore break when you first paddle out. In the lineup there were about 12 people, mostly short boarders. I rented a Donald Takayama 9'0 tuflite epoxy board from town; I really liked that board, unfortunatley, they run around $850. My first wave looked about head-high, but by the time you drop-in the backwash from previous waves jack up the face another few feet...you have a pretty steep drop. The rights held up most of the time...a really fun right, but a really powerful wave. Caught 4 good waves, then the wind picked up and it wasn't fun anymore. The last wave in was pearl, down the falls, wipe-out, held under for awhile, regroup, ride the next wave into shore.

ES and Toru at Ehukai Beach Park

Ogasawara and Kanemura in Waikiki

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:40:00 -0700

Left to Right, Kanemura (Hanshin Tigers), Marcy, Ogasawara (Tokyo Giants)
Ran into two Japanese pro baseball superstars on Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki. Ogasawara was with his entourage and he noticed my t-shirt (katakana version) and said, "Erosurfer!" Got that picture with a cell phone camera. Marcy said later that there's no way he would have stopped for a picture had it not been for the distraction of the EROSURFER!!

Erosurfermaui

HNL Surf Trip

Ogasawara and Kanemura in Waikiki