West sesh...

Yesterday, Daniel and I got off to an relatively late start to check the waves.  The forecast called for obvious offshores, a negative low just after noon, and a slowly dropping swell veering more to the north.  The day ended up being more memorable than I had anticipated.  The waves were perfect, and some spots were so good, in fact, that all I did was take shots with my camera.  I've grown addictive to lineup shots.

The 1st spot we checked was going off.  No one was out, and the size was perfect.  I managed to get a few shots until we decided to leave Spot #1 and head up the coast to Spot #2.

Spot #2 had some great moments.  Again, no one was out, but a few guys in the distance looked ready to paddle out for a fun session.  We decided to backtrack to see if some spots that we overlooked had some potential.

Sure enough, Spot #3 was really doing its thing.  Perfect, shallow, 3-5 foot heavers just waiting for someone to pull in and get shacked.  There were some gnarly benders that weren't rideable, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be dodged.  Although, with that in mind, we headed back to Spot #1.  (What a waste of time!)

Back at Spot #1, we could still see that the waves were good with nobody out.  On the sand, ready to paddle out, were two guys we knew, Jimmy and Malu.

"Shoulda just went out here in the first place," Daniel said.

We suited up as fast as we could and headed out to the two-man lineup in perfect 2-4 foot drainers.  I caught five unreal waves and decided to go in.  I spotted a few spots up the coast within walking distance; I really wanted to get some shots.

The pictures I took came out really nice.  I'm so happy to have shot epic pictures of the coastline I grew up surfing as a child with my dad.  Be it summer or winter, the west side never disappoints.

 

  

  

  

West again...

Daniel and I had a great session yesterday on the west side.  JB, Shannon, and Paul Benco were out in the lineup with us, as were some other surfers.  The crowd fizzled down to just me, Shannon, and Daniel around 10am.  We had it to ourselves for a little over an hour until all three of us decided to go in.  The conditions were still clean as we left, and the waves were still going off.  It kind of sickened me that we had to leave, but I had some business back home that I needed to take care of.  But what a great day for waves.  One of the more memorable sessions I've had at the spot.

 

Down the beach, a sick little shallow reef grinder was doing its thing.  It's looks better than it really was.  Although, some days, this right can go off.  On this day, though, the tide was wrong for it.

To the south was a nice little setup that looked like it had some potential.  It was definitely rideable, but some of the sets that came in were kind of big, and it wouldn't have been fun getting washed up onto the shallow reef on the inside.

 

And here's local boy JB on a bowler with Paul Benco wishing he had a water camera.

Ultimate west coast perfection...

For some reason, the long period west-northwest swell that hit this past week favored some spots on the west side.  Words cannot explain how good it was: super consistent, 2-4 feet, with some 5's and 6's on the outside, straight offshore winds, and bowling like a mutha!

Daniel and I got down to the west early.  We checked a secret spot that was doing it's thing pretty well, but when the sets rolled in, it was suicide.  Eight foot shallow water mutants would unload on the reef at times, so we decided that we'd check it some other time when the waves get smaller.

Earlier, we passed a spot on the way to the secret spot, and we spotted some keepers.  So after the secret spot check, we headed back to the spot we saw.  Sure enough, it was going off when we got there.  Perfectly groomed waves, straight offshore winds from the north-northeast.  It was kind of chilly, but that didn't stop us from paddling out.

As I sat in the lineup, it was the most crowded I had ever seen it; several Frenchies and Brazilians were waiting in line.  Fifteen guys totaled the crowded takeoff zone, all playing the aggressive card as the sets rolled in.  It wasn't too bad, though.  Daniel and I had our fair share of gems.  Check out the pictures.  It was as good as it gets.

 

The secret, but for those who know, know.

 

Born-and-raised West Oahu local boy, Brian Pacheco, checking the secret spot as well.  You know you're in the right place whenever you see him on the West Side.

 

The playground.

 

Yeah, it was all-time.

Downside morning session...

Daniel and I surfed Five-O's today.  It wasn't the best, but it was still fun.  There was also ten guys out, so it was kind of hard to get the waves you wanted.  I ended up paddling over to Uppers to dropknee a few rights.  Around 10am the wind started to switch onshore.  I took a shot of Marijuana's before we paddled out, and it's the only picture I have from today.

 

West side emptiness...

Daniel and I checked the west side yesterday and caught some really fun waves.  The winds were swirling every which way when we first got there, but it ended up blowing straight offshore about an hour before we ended our session.  Despite the weird winds, the waves were still really, really fun.  No one was out either, something you can always count on out west.  We got a bunch of barrels and some wedgy rights for a couple hours and went in when we saw a horde of surfers walking on the beach to paddle out.  Another fun winter day in paradise.

 

A little texture from the wind when we first got there, but it was still barreling.

This shot was taken after we surfed it.  The surfers are on the sand, about to score it with no one out.

Rainy OTW...

It was a rainy and gloomy day yesterday at Off-the-Wall.  The waves were pretty damn good for a short period, though.  In the early morning, the winds were a light offshore, with a steel tint to the water surface because of the ominous clouds above.  A could front coming from the west was slated to hit the island around late morning, and when it did hit it made for horrible conditions.  Within the two hour perfection window, Daniel and I caught some great waves in the overhead range.  We also got a chance to see legendary dropkneer Aka Lyman and his wife sitting in the lineup at Insanities.  It was a fun session for the time being.  I managed to snap a black and white shot during one of the rain lulls in what looks like a lonely bodyboarder scoring perfect and uncrowded Off-the-Wall.  Trust me, it wasn't uncrowded, but it was pretty damn perfect.