November 8, 2020
With the election finally called, things feel like they might change, for just a moment. Kamala Harris talked about how little black and brown girls know they can do it and I kept thinking about all the white men that need to fucking learn that lesson. Joe Biden talked about science, and empathy, and how he is the husband of his wife, the public school teacher.
And also the trade winds picked up, bringing with them east wind swell and trade showers. The moon is halfway to new and the tide is high even when it is low, about .4 feet hours before dawn rising to over 1.5 feet by 10:40. Nothing about today fit the description of good conditions, but when I met M— at the cliff over Mahaʻulepu, we saw the waves rolling in through the wind and chop and we headed down for the first surf in less than stellar conditions in quite a while.
The tide was so high, we had to walk over the rock outcropping instead of around it through the tide pools. We both paddled out in front of the house and headed over to the peak. The sets were coming in near head high, but the high tide was giving them a step on the take off. We had fun, despite the conditions. As I have said, catching waves is fun, conditions be damned. We talked about the election, our lingering paranoia, children, finding a partner in the wake of death. We talked about our puppies too and surfboard fins before we were joined by two guys on incongruous equipment. One of them, who looked like a vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was on a Papa Sau gun and the other, the balding beponytailed magic juggling substitute teacher, was on a huge NSP longboard. I recognized them from earlier in the summer and they stayed out of our way, mostly inside and deep to the left.
The waves were mostly fat and crumbly but they had some power, by Mahaʻulepu standards. I had switched out the fins of my Seaside, replacing the quad set for a hatchet keel twin set, and the difference was obvious. The board was incredibly loose, easy and fast to turn but not out of control. Iʻll have to try it in steeper conditions, but I was pleased. M— found some fun ones, snapping the top off a wave or two, and I caught a handful of very fun rides on top of the dozens of other waves. I managed to land a nice air, found the inside bowling section once or twice, and generally just enjoyed the morning.
It feels colder now, suddenly winter in the tropics. And change is good.
Jonathon Medeiros, Writer Teacher Learner 