Last Week Recap

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.

Honolulu Tsunami

False alarm. Went to the grocery store at 6am and spent $160+ on water and supplies....

Gonna return the water and canned supplies to get some of my money back.

The sirens put a serious vibe in the air.

I was prepared after being in NYC for 911 and the Black Out.

Had 6 friends come over.

We walked over to a neighboring building rooftop to see the tsunami hit,

but nothing ever came.

then we came back to my house to BBQ and drink beers.

Then went to Diamond Head to surf.

Caught some fun waves.

The Chile earthquake brought some juice.

Hope there's still waves tomorrow.

-Manny

Realization

Ok lets say you are the best skater in the world and get a million dollars a year to skate...

what are you gonna do when you get that million?

Help others and what?

Skate. Don't abandon the thing that got you to where you are.

tales of a Honolulu Homeboy

drinking beers and skating is alot more crucial than drinking beers and surfing.

in the former, you are paying with blood or broken bones.

Tales of a Honolulu Homeboy

It was a combination of no wind, a setting sun, over 10 years of surf and skate experience, and a little bit of magic that made Johnny surf the most stylish line he had ever drawn in his entire life. The fact that his friends were watching as they paddled back to the line-up didn't hurt. Johnny loved witnessing his homies catch good waves. But this time it was his time to shine. And shine he did. With his friends in the corner of his eye he caught the next wave and dropped in with a smile. He did the tic-tac shuffle across the wave and danced into a cutback to set himself up for another round with the lip. At first sight, it looked like Johnny was break-dancing on water.

All of his positive energy culminated on that one ride.It would be tough to get in any more turns on such a modest yet gorgeous wave...
He surfed with ease, speed, and grace... Aloha.

Dynamic Movement

The key to a youthful and alert spirit is dynamic movement
in both the Body and MInd. In the Body, movement beyond up and down and side to side, but all the diagonals to upside down.
In the mind... feeding it concepts
and filling it with humor and connecting thoughts from past, present moment, future, and
unknown.

Dynamic Movement will keep you healthy all around.
There are vehicles and tools for easy access to Dynamic Movement.
A skateboard put you in millions of spaces in one linear back to back moment.
Good rhythmic music is a great guide for the body to bounce to
for your body to dance
and great lyrics activate the mind even more
make your mind dance.

Dynamic Movement by any means necessary.

Dawn Patrol Drama