Haven't written in a long time.
Last week was a big South Swell.Surfed twice last Sunday.
Surfed Sleepy Hallows with friend Aaron that morning.
He set up for a barrel into a huge close out.
I was on the inside,
and saw him, then looked up and the wave was three times as tall as he was.
I was like "HOLY FU#%!"
He realized it was just a huge close out.
then dove of his board and the lip came crashing down on his head and shoulder.
I thought we were gonna paddle in after that one.
I screamed WOOOOH! when I saw his face.
He smiled and screamed back.
and turned around immediately to paddle for more.
He's rad. He drops in deep a lot.
Far enough where it looks like he's not gonna make it...
and usually makes it every time. Gnarly.
We caught a bunch of waves.
mostly close-outs but a some make-able.
I went over the falls twice on 15ft faces (6ft Hawaiiian scale)
but somehow the South side swells are a little more forgiving than North Shore... or South shore spots like Browns...
My last wave I caught from Sleepy's all the way to 25 yards away from the reef pole at the end of Suicides.
When the waves get big, distances shrink it seems.
rips pull you all over the place.
I saw Aaron so far away, I paddled hard toward him and all of a sudden I was like 5ft away
from him.
Later in the day we surfed closer to Waikiki where the waves were holding up better.
Rice Bowls to past Publics were holding up real good.
I paddled out with Aaron, Luke and Scratch from Kaimana beach to Rice Bowls. Pretty far paddle.
Aaron got the barrel of his life at Rice Bowls, so he said.
I believe him. I got the wave right after him and pulled up seconds after his ride,
and he sounded like a different person.
He was all, "Fuck Manny!" in a deep unfamiliar voice!
I said "what happened?"
I just got the BARREL OF MY LIFE.
The lip at Rice Bowls throws far when it gets 4-6ft and bigger.
You can totally stand up inside and spread your arms out like wings
and still be inside the barrel.
He dropped into a 6 footer (Hawaiian Scale)... 15ft plus- face.
I didn't get tubed that time, but almost.
An intense moment went like this...
I dropped into a set wave. Around a 15ft face too....
as I was dropping in, one of the dudes paddling back
yells at me "JUST WAIT BRO! JUST WAIT!
The wave started dieing out, so I cut back into the soup.
then all of a sudden the wave double up...
the whole flat front of the wave came sucking in.
As if the wave was sucking in its gut.
The flatness sucked up into a heaving wall and all
of a sudden I'm going mach speed down the line into an eventual close out.
but the seeing the wave do what it did blew my mind when it happened.
My face turned all mean with a hint of smile at the site... as I screamed WOOOOHOLY #$%#$!
I dove through the face and made it through without going over the falls which was
good.
Then we paddled back over towards Kaimana and caught a few more waves at Old Mans.
It was good to surf all together with Luke, Scratch (Mathias), and Aaron at Old Mans.
the small crowd at Rice Bowls was intense. Old Man's was a lot more mellow.
But the sets were coming in well over head... and lining up.
My last wave, I caught from Old Mans past the wind-sock into the inside reef at Castles.
It connected. I was done riding as I past the wind-sock but the wave just kept on going.
So I was like.... "OK"
There was a heavy rip that was going towards Publics.
and the paddle back towards the wind-sock and channel seemed endless.
Apparently the life guards were pulling people out of there non-stop with the wave-runners.
I made it back more tired than I ever was.
All I kept thinking was a Beer and a Burger awaits me...
A Beer and a Burger... and a hot dog.
and a Beer.
I never wanted a Beer and Burger so much since getting out of a wood shop with Jimmy Lynch
on a Friday in Brooklyn after a long saw dusty week when we invented the "Brooklyn All-Star" rum drink at some bar that doesn't exist anymore on Bedford Ave.
But that's another story I must tell another time.
Signing off.
Manny Skate da Surfa Artist.
