South Swell Strike II
By Lane
Last weeks swell was another whopper. We thought it might be smaller than the first one, but there were a couple sets early that morning that reached code red magnitude. I saw the buoy get barreled around 5:45am. Wade Tokoro said about 10 minutes before I paddled out, there was a set that white watered outside both the red and the green buoy. I paddled out with Garrett McNamara who had just made it back from some beastly barrels in Tahiti for first light Ala Mo Bowl. I remember him saying, at least three times to his photographer that the direction was once again too south for the Big Bowl. We watched about 3 sets come close to closing out the channel and paddled out on the fourth one. Then the swell seemed to back down for about an hour. Garrett caught a nuts wave from the middle which guys will be talking about for a long time. He took off grabbed rail and got barreled all the way from the middle peak through the Big Bowl, proving that sometimes a bigger board is better. After that, Michael Ho and Derek Ho paddled out and went to try their luck from the middle. An hour into the session two macking sets came that had me paddling way outside the green buoy in an attempt not to get caught. I made it, and the waves looked ridable from the outside, but the question is where would something like that take you; the rocks the piling, the channel, nowhere, who knows? We donʻt get to see it that big very often, but this year we have had two, once in a decade back to back swells. Eric Haas, Randall Paulson and Wade Tokoro caught some of the biggest bombs that morning and Kainoa McGee got the hooking barrell of the session. The energy from those two macking sets and the surging tide, swirled that current into a whirlpool again. There were 6 foot sets consistently and the whole line up was paddling the entire time. I felt like I was surfing Haleiwa in the middle of an obstacle course. After three and a half hours, I gave up and went in. Thirty minutes later, I noticed that the crowd was sitting in the line up without having to paddle. To be honest, I was a little jealous of that after paddling in circles for an hour. Then the swell backed down just enough to hit the reef better and the tide or the direction turned just enough that the Bowl started hooking and doing itʻs thing. It still was not the real SW that we want, but it was big and barreling and there were a few waves that were really working. Mike Akima got some of the best waves all day. As one of da boyz explained, it looked like the whole channel was folding over him. Derek Lyonswolfe, Ronnie Boy Ongos, Davey Boy Gonsalves and a few of the other regulars were catching some bombs and pulling into some beautiful green barrels while Northshore guys like Flynn Novak and Jonah Morgan were getting in the mix. Most of the guys from the morning went back out, Greg Quinn paddled out and got a bomb before the tide got too high and kind of killed it. Unlike the last swell, it barely lasted through the next morning, but it was a lot cleaner, nicer and even a bit bigger on some sets that the first big swell. Unbelievable!
What I admire about the guys in town is that they are able to hold down full time jobs, raise a family and still make it out to rip every single swell at their favorite spot. I am not sure any pro can top that, yet these dedicated regulars rarely get a mention in modern day surfing. Sure, we all enjoy a bit of recognition for what we do, but more importantly there are no better role models for our youth. The hype of modern surfing obsesses over fame, name dropping, and a mirage of living the dream, but in my opinion, the regular guys are the ones who really have it all!











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