|
Stand Up Paddle Session North Shore, Oahu |
|
|
|
|
By: Nate Burgoyne
|
|
Tuesday, 12 February 2008 |
When I showed up at the beach yesterday, it was macking. The pro longboarders were ripping it up in Haleiwa and the phographers were all lined up on the beach. It's truly inspiring to watch the greatest short and longboard surfers in the world getting barrelled in 3x overhead surf and pulling floaters which, even to attempt them, is pure insanity. Just amazing! So, using my better judgement, I went over to a break nearby that was picking up the swell indirectly where waves were still well overhead and fun. It was truly good times making friends, catching waves, and getting caught inside. It was was of those swells where the ocean in completely calm until you see the swells rolling in on the horizon and you paddle to get in position. Yesterday's sets were averaging about 8-10 waves which made for plenty of waves for everyone. I personally tend to take the later waves in the set so that I get a clear lineup and takeoff when it's my turn to ride. I don't need to get the biggest wave in the set, I just want to connect and ride. Sometimes the best wave of the set is the last one and sometimes it's the first but they're all fun to me.
We also ran into Evan Leong out on the water. His blog is at www.standuppaddlesurf.net. The last time I saw him was at the Steinlager Shaka Longboard Series over the summer at Ala Moana Bowls. I've never surfed with Evan before and it was nice to see him again and share some waves. He was testing a Blair quad. Evan is full of stoke and it was a good to see him again. He put up a great post about the session and you can read it HERE.
Bill caught his biggest wave ever on his stand up board. We were totally stoked on that. I was somewhat inside. I saw the swell come in and peak up with Bill at the top. I was sure he was going to get pitched and it was clear that he was at the point of no return. Down he went. I caught the next wave in the set only to meet up with Bill way on the inside. He made it and we were both stoked!
The swell is supposed to be HUGE for the next couple of days. There's talk of the Eddie Aikau possibly running on Thursday, and if not, most likely the Ku Ikaika Big Wave Stand Up Paddle Contest will be on.
Until then....Aloooha!
 |
EDITORIALS 
