I always knew I was gonna go to Hawaii at
some point… although it was not on top of my bucket list, I have always had
this feeling that I almost owed it a visit as a tribute to all it is and to all
it’s made possible for surfing.
An unforeseen set of circumstances ended up
fast-forwarding that otherwise procrastinated experience. All I had in my mind
was the raging crowds, the rogue waves and the irregular bone crushing reefs. I
was preset to be scared of it since I was a grom.
Even if that was the case, I left all reluctancies aside when I opened my e-mail one day to see this offer of a Coolangatta-Oahu return ticket for $700. On the same day, Julia’s grandma passed away and she cried for 7
hours non-stop. It was clear enough that I just had to get 2x adult tickets
right away.
That sorted everything. We took off about a
week later. I had no major expectations.. my “quiver” was nothing but my 6’1.
Somewhere on the back of my mind I must’ve been hoping to use the lack of appropriated
equipment as an excuse not to get huge waves haha
We stayed at a friend’s house in Backyards.
It’s just about the best place to be based on on the North Shore. To make it even
harder for me to steer away from the bombs, my friend Guga made his whole
quiver available to me! So now I had anything from my 6’1 till a 10’ waimea gun.
Everything is Hawaii seemed so… made for
me! But with extra challenges added to it. I will never forget my first surf…
it was in Sunset. The sand was extra thick, making the walk on the beach a
struggle, then when you get close to the water you realize that there are
pieces of reef everywhere, so you need to find a keyhole even though you don’t
know to what extended it’ll be free of rocks. Then there is the shorebreak.
Massive waves explode right on the beach where you’re supposed to jump in. You
have to time it right… good luck doing that with a gun that doesn’t allow
duckdiving. Once you’re out, you may be a little freaked out by the size of the
waves, since you probably never saw anything like that before. But the worst
part is when you ask a Hawaiian how big it is and they say it’s only 8ft when
you could’ve sworn it was about 15 hahahaha all that’s left now is to pick anywhere
you like to sit and wait for a set to come and wash you through almost back to
the beach!
That first paddle out was definitely a humbling
experience, and that was still nothing for Hawaii’s standards. I knew right
away that it was gonna be a long way, quite possibly extending to my whole
lifetime, but the fear was partially gone.
After that first big day, the swell dropped
and I found out that the North Shore has a whole bunch of super fun uncrowded
breaks! We also drove all the way around the island and scored a few on the
West Coast. Hawaii was already
right up there with Indo and Mexico as far as a destination. It wasn’t all
blood and bones afterall.
We only had 14 days all up, so luckly, 2
massive swells hit in our last week and I got to experience the real deal.
“Unfortunately” they had the comp on at Pipe, so I missed out on a few days of it. One
of the days was so big that even Pipe was maxed out and they put the comp on hold. It was a no brainer, the
whole North Shore was in Waimea. After a frustrated attempt to surf maxed out
Sunset, I had no other option but to join the crowds at The Bay. It was my
second surf there, bigger than my first. They were calling both days 20ft,
which made me stoked since that’s what I was there to experience. I got 3 or 4
waves… none of them that big compared to the biggest sets, but still, my 9’ was
flying and it felt like multiple orgasms! Still, I felt like something was
missing, since I didn’t wipe out or got caught inside a single time in Waimea.
I could have basically done it all without even wetting my hair. That was
somewhat disappointing, as it was a good opportunity to put myself safely in
a hairy situation, since it’s the most patrolled surf spot I’ve even seen.
My good friend Ian arrived a few days
before it was my time to leave. The comp in Pipe was over so I got to give that
a shot. I was on a 7’6 and had absolutely no idea what to do. Ian was out on
the 3rd reef getting the bombs and threading his way around the
crowds, all I could hear once he was past me were atomic explosions, but I had no
idea what was really going down. I was humbled once again. After sitting in
every possible zone and not getting a chance, mostly because I probably didn’t
want one, I found myself a little
far from the main spot, hoping for a runner to come my way. Eventually, it did,
and I had to go for it. It wasn’t even that big, just really difficult
especially on that 7’6. It was less the blink of an eye from when I was getting
on my feet to when I was underwater getting bashed by that thing. I was
particularly sketchy about the reef in Pipe because in a smaller day, when I
got a backdoor wave, I punched the reef accidently on my paddle back out, at a
zone where I could very well be jumping off my board head first! Since then I
knew how irregular the formation was and that wrecked my confidence. When I
popped up from that pipe wipe out not having hit the reef or my board or other
people, I was as happy as I could be. It was the last wave of my trip and I had
a Commercial Pilot’s Course to go back to. Getting worked and not getting hurt
was exactly the outcome I was hoping for at that stage! I knew form then that it
would take me years, to dominate Pipe.., if it ever happens.
Besides all the adventures, the highlight of the trip was how absolutely awesome the people are there. I never felt more at home in the sense of having similar values. I was born in Brazil and grew up there, but I hate soccer, samba, capoeira etc and can't dance for shit. I am an Australian Citizen but will never be able to keep up with their drinking, play rugby or make vegemite part of my diet. And I am massive fan of the Balinese people, but I will never ever be as nice as them and content with nothing like they can be, even if I wish I could. However, I just so happen to be very similar to Polynesians. As you may have noticed by reading this blog, a great part of my life revolves around the ocean, and just about everything I do is influenced by surfing. Even if there was no surfing, nature dictates what will happen. From what to do each day to where to live and who my friends are.. it's all completely linked to being as close as I can to what makes me whole. No wonder they were so welcoming and treated me like a brother, I actually believe we are all children of the ocean.
Humbled down after my first surf in Hawaii
West Coast
Waimea
Fan
Slater makes it look so incredibly easy.. I was in shock to get an idea of how much it really takes to get that comfortable in pipe
