This time I had both my laydown gun and my standup gun on the boat but after my long windsurf session I opted to just watch the crew surf, and save some energy for the next day. The next day, Kai and I were back out there pretty early and there was no wind in the forecast. I was determined to paddle into some waves, crowd or no crowd. (I have a thing with crowds…on the water or off. If I had to stand in line for food I would probably starve to death. This is certainly one of the reasons I was so drawn to windsurfing as a kid and later to SUP…both sports free you up from the crowd and open up new horizons, new spots, new waves, and let you leave the “pack.”) Word was out and of course the peak was filled with boats and skis and surfers. With over fifty guys in the lineup on the Jaws right I decided to paddle around the peak and focus on surfing the Jaws left. I am goofy foot anyway and I’m much, much more comfortable going front side on the left than I am going backside. With loads of guys on the right and only three or four of us on the left it was also much more attractive. The main Jaws right has a wide-open channel. The left can shut down into the rocks and can as a result be very, very intimidating. I once got caught inside on the left tow in surfing and thought that I was a goner. So when you surf the left you just have to make sure that you get out of it early. One cut back too many and you may find yourself closed out and climbing the rocks. As it turned out I caught several nice waves and only had one close call with getting stuck inside…just barely squeaking over a wide one as I paddled back out. My rides were all pretty short, but it’s the take off, drop and bottom turn that are the most thrilling anyway! All in all it was a very good session. I was riding my Hokua 10’8” LE gun, and it felt really good; long enough to paddle in with relative confidence but still small enough to be able to get it on the rail and develop speed. I have begun riding my guns in the quad fin setup this season rather than as thrusters, and feel like I am developing better speed.
Surfing the right you can spend several hours out there in the crowd and only end up with one or two waves. So from a wave-count perspective I was stoked! Kai surfed for a while on the right but caught his best waves on his standup. Kody Kerbox also caught a few nice ones on his SUP, as did Chuck Patterson. We may get another late season swell and another chance to SUP Peahi…but likely not. For now I am pretty psyched to have been able to catch a few this year, and unlike last winter and the one before that, I did not get any on the head!! SUP
