H is for Home

One thing that is funny about Los Angeles is that I most of the people I know are not from the area. So whenever I meet someone new, the topic of where I am from comes up. Undoubtedly, the most popular question will get asked, "Why would you leave Hawaii?". My answer is always the same, I wanted to get away. In doing so I've realized two very important things. I discovered just how lucky I am to have grown up in Hawaii and, perhaps more importantly, that home is where your heart is. I've been living on the mainland for almost 10 years now (yikes!) yet I can not think of a time where I ever called anything but Hawaii home. 

Kauai Trip in Pictures

We have all heard the old adage "Time flies when you are having fun." Well time also flies when you are busy. It seems in hardly a blink of an eye, it has been a week since I got back from Hawaii. I've had a lot of catching up to do with both work and sleep and no time to write, much less post. What is the best way to help this? A trip review in pictures!

 

 

 

Afternoon sun at Hanalei Bay

 

The above and below pictures are of the Hanalei taro fields. 

  

 

Waimea Canyon. Also know as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific".

 Don't let looks deceive you, while it looks like no waves are breaking, I assure you they were. 

Just another sunrise. They can be pretty awesome. 

Morning surf at Donkeys Beach (This was one of my all time favorite surf sessions).

 

Mt Waialeale. It averages about 450 inches of rain a year so to see it without clouds is rather rare.

Sunrise at Waikoko.

It was quite an amazing trip. The weather turned out perfect. The surf was pumping. I couldn't ask for much more, well other than more time there. Kaua'i, aloha a hui ho.

Surfing on Kauai

The days leading up to my trip home, I wrote down a bunch of great things to do/write about while I was home. However once I got here I fell into this routine: Surf, Eat, Sleep, Repeat. Part of the reason is that my love for surfing is so great that given the option, I'll choose it every time. So what better choice that to write about surfing on Kauai!

Two of the great things about Kauai is the size and the surf. Everyone knows about the north shore of Oahu. Probably a similar number of people know about Jaws or Peahi which is on the north shore of Maui. The surfing on Kauai remains to be a nice, somewhat hidden gem. There are great breaks on all shores of the island which give us waves year round. Also, because of the vast majority of waves, you don't really have to fight too much in the way of crowds. The best part of all that is because of the size of Kauai, no break is more than 2 hours away. These are some of my favorite breaks on the island.

Shipwrecks - Located on the south side of the island, this is a beach break with reef bottom. It is known as a close out wave merely for getting barrels. But getting great barrels is what happens when the swell, wind and tides line up right. A hollow fast wave will be sure to give you your moneys worth. Drawback is that there is one main peak so the crowd factor can become a problem as well as localism if the waves are good.

PK's/ Centers - These are both located in the same area. PK's is a left while Centers is a right. These are both long fun waves when they are on. You can get a ride last 15-20 seconds. The bottom is reef but unless the tide is really low it is nothing you have to worry about much. Groms (little kids) tend to surf quite often here and sometimes they don't always have the respect thing down yet.

Pakalas - This one is one of the best waves on the island. Also one of the harder ones to find. To get here you would park along the highway, walk on the trail through the cow pastures (which no longer have cows as far as I know) across a stream to the beach. It is a left with several different breaks. Given the right swell direction and conditions, you can get a wave from the outside break all the way through giving you a ride of at least 30 seconds. The crowd is something you'll have to fight sometimes but the bigger worry is what lies beneath. There is an old sugar cane irrigation ditch which exits right near the break. This ditch makes the water constantly the brown murky color. The saying goes "If it weren't for the water color, between the sharks and the reef, no one would surf there." I've both hit the reef before as well as seen a number of sharks here before. So I wouldn't doubt part of that saying. But as the same time, when the waves are breaking, I find it hard to believe that some people wouldn't risk it.

Kalihiwai - This is a right handed point break like no other on the island. It breaks at the foot of a cliff. To get the best ride you want to take off on the other side of the point and ride in front of the cliff. Not as scary as it sounds but if you don't make it, you can easily end up like my favorite whiskey, on the rocks. Make it though and you have yourself and super fun right that will take you a long way. At the main point break, the crowd is sometimes an issue as it can be localized. But there are several other breaks which can still be tons of fun.

Hanalei Bay - This is probably the most popular break on the island. I would say the main reason is that it can handle wave sizes ranging from knee high up to 20+ feet. Get the right wave and you can get a solid 15-20 second ride in. One of my favorite breaks but because of the popularity, it is usually one of the most crowded as well. The people are can be pretty respectful as long as you are in return. Be prepared to wait your turn in the lineup. Also be prepared to paddle as the wave breaks at least a good quarter mile out.

Targets - This was the break that I lost my board. It is a fast, powerful wave that is known for barrels. Some times there are people towing in not for the size but for the speed of the waves. Catch it in the right conditions and it can be an amazing day of surfing. Catch it at the wrong time and you can lose multiple boards in a day (speaking from experience). It is some what out of the way so crowds are rarely an issue. Currents can be an issue but they are usually cross shore as opposed to one pulling you out to sea.

By no means are these the only beaches on Kauai. These are just a handful of my favorite. But the waves can be good anywhere at anytime. That is why I always just choose to surf while I'm home. I never know what the waves have in store for me.

Tribute to a Fallen Warrior

I'm going to start by taking a moment of silence for the recently departed. He was a brave soul. He always stood by my side and never let me down no matter what the size of the waves. Today he met his demise after dropping into an overhead closeout barrel at one of the more powerful breaks on Kauai. When he surfaced again, there was nothing I could do to help. He was a goner. Now before anyone gets too worried, we are talking about my surfboard.

The morning started off well enough. I found some waves at a break called "Targets". It got this name because it is in front of what used to be the target range for the navy base on the island. It is a strong break with sand bottom known for its fast barreling waves. To get there you exit an old sugar cane road to the beach. From there you drive onto the beach (4-wheel drive a must have) and down the beach about a half mile. The lazy side of me was very disappointed however to find that recent rains had knocked a tree over blocking the entire beach to drive on. So I was left to walk.

In retrospect, it wasn't so bad. As you can tell, there weren't many people there which made the waves that much more exciting. The walk was a nice time to take in everything. I took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. Mild breeze blowing and the sun was out the majority of the time. I couldn't help but smile. 

I paddled out and started my session. I was a little timid to start as the waves in Hawaii are generally stronger than they are in the mainland. After 30 or 40 minutes, it came back and everything started clicking. As I grew more comfortable, I started pushing myself more and more. Finally it happened. I saw a larger set coming in. I paddled over to take off on it. I dropped into the barrel (easily overhead) and watched as I saw the wave start to closeout in front of me. I bailed when I saw this happening and that's when I felt it. When I popped back to the surface, I found my board like this:

The other half was taken out to sea as I was unable to swim myself in while holding on to it. I swam in, gathered my stuff and started my walk back. 

In the end it was a good day. I got about 2 hours in before my board broke. During these two hours I got myself comfortable with surfing in Hawaii again (something I go through every time) and some nice rides. Also, breaking is really something that happens to every board eventually, it's existance comes to an end. Sitting here now thinking about everything I can do nothing but continue my day and

Quick Recap So Far

So as we all know, life does not always go as planned. I had intended on getting myself a GoPro® camera to bring with me on my trip home as well as to use on adventures in the future. However, due to various reasons, I am still without one. Fear not! Thanks largely to a good friend of mine, I have one in route. It should be here in a couple days. Once it is in my possession, you can expect quite a bit more pictures of my trip.

While we are on that topic, a quick recap. What better way to spend the first two days in Hawaii than, yard work! It's a tradition for me that, whenever I get home, I help my brother do some of the yard work that requires two people. There was actually an scary/dangerous moment when one of the trees we were cutting down fell the wrong way into some power lines (I was trying to tell my brother to stop to no avail). Luckily, no power lines snapped and we managed to get the tree out of it. Happily ever after. That has been the extent of things I have really done so far. That will change soon though since I am going to be eating breakfast and heading to the beach here in a little while. All I will say is, hold on to your hats, its about to get fun!

New Day, New Adventure

I came across this as I sit on an airplane currently flying over the Pacific Ocean going from Los Angeles to Hawaii. I started this blog for two reasons. The first one would be to allow people to follow me on adventures. The second was to push me to pursue more (some bigger) adventures for myself. This quote fits in perfectly with that second reason. With each day becomes a new opportunity to start new and fresh. You might as well be the best you can be. Everyone should make the most of each day that they are given. I strive to do that. My new years resolution was to go on one adventure each day. What is the easiest way to do that? The answer, to make each day an adventure. So I might make one amendment to the stated quote, “Tomorrow is the first blank page in a one page book. Write a good one.”

Home Sweet Home.. Almost

 Image courtesy of My Country Cottage

The holidays have come and gone. People return to work with stories of being home, seeing family and friends. My holidays are typically different though. It is much too expensive for me to go home and see my family during the holidays. Now that's not to say I spend these holidays alone. I have what I've come to call my "second family" whom are in Southern California. But nothing replaces seeing my mom, brothers and niece and nephew. Next week though, it is my turn. I'm leaving Friday afternoon for  10 days of being home. It will be amazing to see my family and friends. It will be nice to get out and explore some of the old stomping grounds as well as some new ones. Yes I have been looking forward to this for a long time. I will be writing up on some of the things I do. Be sure to check in. Oh yea,  did I mention that home is Kauai, Hawaii?


Yep, 8 more days.