State Championships kicked off at Bowls 2 weekends ago and they scored some pretty nice 3-4 foot waves during the contest. Have not been able to get any real results from the contest yet, but I know Mike Akima got one of the best waves of the day in between the contestants while he was helping water patrol. Northshore had a nice little swell during that same weekend, Rockys was 2-3+ ft with pretty epic conditions. The surf went flat after that for about a week and then picked up again on Monday in town. Sunny Garcia, Mason Ho, John Gomes and plenty others were coming to the Bowl for a little town action. The Northshore came out from its slumber last night with a 2-3 occ 4 foot north swell. Melanie Bartels is competing this week on tour, you can check out her updates on Facebook. Some of our young surfers have been doing well in the amateur international meets, I think Kalani David and Dax claimed a recent victory. Garrett McNamara and Nathan Fletcher both cleaned up in the XXL awards this year, with record breaking rides. Nathan is set to star in a new TV advertisement campaign for Jagermeister. He is such a silent warrior and humble guy, it is good to see him getting some of credit he deserves. The flat days have been beautiful out here with super clear water and nice sunny conditions. Rainbows have been popping up in the sky before a little shower of blessings, then the sun will come out again.

Since my last post, which recorded my own personal encounter with a shark at Pipe the morning after Joshua Holley was bitten at Leftovers, I learned of several other shark sightings. On that very same day, I heard of other encounters at Off the Wall, Sunset and Chuns reef. These sharks appeared to be larger than the one I spotted at Pipe. The boyz at Bowls in town also mentioned that a large shark had recently passed through the line up and then today, beaches were closed in Kailua due to a large shark. I have definitely been much more cautious than usual, avoiding the early mornings when there is nobody out and keeping my eyes peeled for the men in brown stripes. It just adds to the strangeness of this surf season. It it almost like some kind of April fools joke; we wait so long for the crowds to leave, but now we are afraid to surf by ourselves.

I did not have to worry about the lack of crowds last Sunday morning however as the Northshore finally came back to life after a good month of junky waves and weather. We had a solid 6-8 foot swell arrive Saturday evening which offering a few rogue 10 footers that lasted through midday Sunday. That Saturday as the swell was coming up, the backwash was crazy. The bounce was so big that some waves seem to be as wide as they were high. The boogies were getting a rush as some waves sent their feet flying over their head, just before launching them into some thick pits. Early Sunday morning was probably the best as calm winds and a little less backwash provided some sick barrels. Most the main local guys were on it early and for every makable wave, it seemed there was one that was just as unmakeable. Even some of the best guys like Tamayo and Kawai were getting launched from the top of the lip by the big backwash, but I guess it paid off because I saw both of them lock into some sick ones! I guess we have to thank Tamayo because it arrived just in time for his birthday! Any other Pipe guys with Birthdays coming up? As with most Spring swells, it didn't last long, but today we had a little 2-4 ft reinforcement out of the north. Click here to see a gallery of Saturday-Sunday's northshore swell: http://seandavey.com/14150/latest-photos/its-been-lively-round-here/

Town has been waking up from hibernation as well. Unfortunately, the more southerly winds were chopping it up even in the early mornings down there last week. I guess Wednesday and Sunday were the biggest days.

Local surfer and artist Heather Brown has released her new iPhone cover collection. 15% of your purchase will support Kokua Foundation, Seathos Foundation and Wyland Foundation. They cost around $55 each. You can check it out at: http://www.truprotection.com/collections/heather-brown-collection.html

Friends of Kewalos is calling upon the community to rally against development in Kaka‘ako. They will be hosting a rally at Kaka‘ako Gateway Park (Ala Moana Blvd and Cooke Street) on Saturday April 21st at 9am. Click here to read more:
http://www.change.org/petitions/petition-to-oppose-house-bill-2819

It is pretty nice and peaceful here on the Northshore except for the constant roadworks and Turtle traffic at Lanis. Sure is a nice break after what people are calling one of the most crowded surf seasons ever. Last Sunday, I fully enjoyed having a 2 hour session before 8am, not being rushed out of the lineups by jet skis for a surfing contest, and enjoying waves with people who actually live here. Plus there were not a million tourists on the beach staring at us like we were animals in the zoo. It has been a fun little week of waves all around the island. I think everyone is pretty stoked!

This morning when I paddled out to Pipe, I had pretty much put yesterday's shark attack out of my mind. There has never been a shark attack at Pipe and we often think of it as one of the less sharky spots because it is one of the furthest spots from river run off. The waves were pretty junk this morning so I was so paddling around trying to find a couple waves and suddenly a 6-7 foot creature popped up within 10 feet of me. It was brown, but because of the slight curve on the top of the fin, I thought for a split second it might be a dolphin. It did not swim like a dolphin however. So I did something I do not think I have ever done which was paddled in yelling "shark". Due to yesterdays attack, I really wanted to warn the others in the line up. The shark had surfaced and then submerged and was moving towards the line up and if you have ever seen a shark, you know they move very fast, this is why I knew it was not a dolphin. Almost everyone came in, however we did not see the shark again.

As most of you know, Joshua Holley was bit by a shark yesterday. He survived with 42 stitches in his foot and a couple severed tendons. He said that after the shark bit his foot, it came back again for a second attack. Experts are saying this is unusual.

Also, I do not know where I heard this, but quite some time ago some Hawaiians were telling me that ancient Hawaiians stayed out of the water for a period of time every seven years or so. It just so happens that March 28,2006 (6 years ago) the women bodyboarders had to cancel their Pipe contest final because of an aggressive shark that would not leave the line up. hmmm. You can read about the event at this link http://www.news.saltwater-dreaming.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=75#axzz1r6RiWhEg

Certainly, there are always sharks around, and a most of the time we do not even bother going in when we see them. There are other times however, when the sharks seem to be around more or are at least more visible to us and also more aggressive. I think this might be one of those years. I had a very small shark jump right next to me earlier this year at Pipe as well. We are all kind of wondering what brings them in? Is it the recent massive river run off from Waimea, the La Nina (if we are still in a La Nina pattern), some type of shark mating pattern, or what? Whatever it is, ancient Hawaiians seemed to be on to something long time ago.

Other than that, the waves have been really fun everywhere for the past few days. We had whipping winds for about a month and really cold weather for Hawai‘i. Even the guys were shivering in the line ups. Last week Thursday both town and country came up and by Monday, the strong winds finally died so we have all been soaking up the sun, surf and beautiful conditions. The Northshore had some 6 foot sets yesterday. Pipe was right on the beach, but at least it was breaking. V-land was probably the best as the wind was perfect offshore there. Town had a couple 4 footers Saturday-Sunday, but the swell lasted through yesterday. Fun for everyone!

Stay safe and I'll see you on shark patrol!

Right in the middle of last weeks wild weather, they held the Women's Pipeline Pro. With the persistence of N-NE swells, the contest was forced to move to Ehukai. It convinced right in the middle of a high flood warning, severe thunderstorm warning, 3 road closures, several school closures, reports of up to 5 inch hail and a tornado. But it doesn't end there, the list went on to include a high wind warning and brown water advisory. I guess you can imagine what the beach park might look like under such conditions. It was onshore, with solid 6 foot plus sets in full on storm surf and the current was so strong, the girls had to be escorted out to the line up by jet skis assisted by water patrol. It was our local girl Alisha Gonsalves however, who pulled through in the end to take the title for the Jr Women's division. She defeated last year's champ Tatiana Weston-Webb. Alisha is the daughter of Davey Boy Gonsalves, a well know professional surfer and waterman on the island of Oahu. He is also known to be a professional surf coach, which may have given Alisha an advantage in this situation , but I think for the most part her results are a testament to her strength and ocean instincts in the line up. Alisha is a class act and we are all stoked to see her representing the wahines here in Hawai‘i! Bianca Valenti from California won the women's division, Melanie Bartels won the longboard heat and Karla Costa Taylor took the bodyboarding division. Pipe local Claudia Ferrari was able to pull out in 3rd place even in the sloppier surf at Ehukai. As for the Jr Men's division which was put on by Liam McNamara, I have no results yet. The Jr Men ran their event at Ehukai as well, but conditions were much cleaner and more riddable.

Since the severe rains, floods, thunderstorms, tornados and 5 inch hail we had last week Friday, the surf has not been much good. I think it has been about 2 weeks since we had any kind of west swell. We were suppose to have a small WNW yesterday, but even that did not show up. We had a large NNW around Sunday the 4th that seemed pretty poor at the time, but now it would be epic compared to what we have recently. At least for Pipeline, the season seems to be coming to an abrupt end. All those N-NE swells have pushed the sand into a bad spot and it would take a large WNW at this point to move it. There is no such thing in sight. While we can always have hope for a resurgence of surf, especially here on the Northshore, I have kind of been expecting the surf to end the way it started for some reason, ..... slow. At this point it certainly seems to be panning out that way. What a crazy winter, no pre-season, no late season and in between has become what most people are calling the most crowded winter ever. Even with the junk surf, it is nice to turn up to the beach and not be surrounded by a bunch of big eyed people who are preparing for a surfing competition. What a relief. I am looking forward to the weather warming up, it sure has been cold on the Northshore lately, even in the middle of the day. Town has started stirring a little bit. There have been a couple small swells, with a couple more predicted.

The Sea Hawai‘i Women's Pipe Pro is on today in hazardous conditions. The surf is onshore 3-5 ft and too north for Pipeline so it is actually the Ehukai Pro this year. I am sure contestants began their adventure as they drove to the Northshore this morning from all sides of the island under a flash flood warning, severe thunderstorm warning, road closures and in some areas 5 inch hail. There were other days they could have run the event, but they held out until the last day in hopes of better conditions. Whoever wins today, will earn it. The Jr mens and women's bodyboarding contest will have until March 15th to finish. The forecast does not look too good, but I don't think it gets much worse than what they are running in today. It was the first day all winter I did not go to Pipe first thing in the morning. I tried to leave early and after driving through 5 deep puddles on the road around Vland, I turned around and went back home. The rain has let up a lot since this morning and the roads are clear, but in one area it looked like half of the road fell off the pothole was so big. Don't bother coming to the Northshore today, the water is real brown everywhere and the waves are terrible.