Surf Safari

A surf day turned into quite the adventure. We paddled out from the beach at Honokohau, and found a spot about a 1/3 mile out with some fun waves. We were getting some good rides and I was happy, but I think Chris was getting impatient waiting between sets. You know how the grass is always greener down the road...we paddled the entire length of the harbor beach scouting better spots, catching waves as we went. Then a few good sized sets rolled in and I got pounded a little, then spent some time fighting white water. We were now about a mile from our starting point and I wasn't about to paddle back. So we opted to walk back, but our ocean exit was less than graceful. Rough a`a lava lined the shoreline. It was just too shallow to paddle, and whitewater made it impossible to see where you were putting your feet. My ocean luck finally ran out, I stepped on my first wana (venomous sea urchin) Kicking my leg to get the needle-sharp spines out of my foot made me loose my balance on the board and the waves smashed it into the rocks. Then I had the challenge of balancing over razor sharp lava with wana foot while carrying a nine foot board.

Honu
The incident was worth it, though, because on the hike back we saw on the beach what was by far the biggest sea turtle we had ever seen. It was massive! Then we gazed up at the view of snow covered Mauna Loa. Lucky we live Hawaii.

Close call
We returned to Chris' house for lunch and for a surf board repair session. On our way back from the hardware store we observed a truck with a trailer that had lost its brakes coming down La`aloa. It had slammed through a rock wall on Ali`i Drive. It must have happened just minutes after Chris and I sat at that intersection on his motorcycle. Chris figures we escaped death by a minute or two. Weird.

Enough Already!
Having our fill of adventure for one day, we chose to end with a romantic, full moon stroll along Ali`i Drive and on Kailua Pier.