December 6-December 12, 2020

December 6, 2020

The tide was still high in the morning, when M— wanted to meet. C— was planning to head north around 10:00 to chase the rising NW swell. Knowing the tide would be too high for Mahaʻulepu and Playgrounds, M— and I met at Anchors at sunrise. Too many clouds on the horizon for another view of Oahu, but the water turned pink and orange, then silver and green. We decided to skip Anchors and check Kealia, with Anahola or Kahili as a back up.

Kealia was much cleaner, glassy and light blue. One guy was on the sandbar just south of the lifeguard tower, pulling into some clean, hollow rights. He was shortly joined by one more surfer, then the crowd ballooned to 20+ over the next 30 minutes. M— and I settled on the waves rolling in at Landings to avoid the crowd.

We talked about dogs and leashes, cookie decorating pirates and halloween gatherings that were designed for COVID but which turned out to be just large parties. We talked about the price of Toyota Tacomas and the car market, student loans and the potential for forgiveness, of loans and otherwise. And in between, we surfed. The waves were surprisingly fun, close to head high, with that hollow section on the inside that I love about Landings. The first few rights I found were smooth and fast but had all kinds of twists and turns and warbles on them, like flying through a dirt bike track. As the tide rose, the waves moved closer to shore and began just peeling, or closing out. I picked off a few more rights, one I took off on late, dropping in and tucking up under the lip before making it out to the shoulder for a nice snap. Later I found one or two lefts that completely pitched over for big, bright, wide open closeout barrels, the color of the sky if it was water lit up from the inside.

We headed out shortly after 9:00 so we could both be off to our various family things and the rest of our days.

December 12, 2020

The trade winds came up with the sun, followed by the tiny sliver of the moon. Erin and I used the newly acquired telescope to check it out before the morning sky fully brightened. Jupiter and Saturn are getting closer to each other each night, before they converge on solstice, and Gemini is guiding our eyes to the yearly meteor shower.

The wind made Anchors a no go after four or five days of perfect conditions but a busy schedule, so I checked Makaʻiwa, in front of the restaurant, before heading back to Kealia. I parked under a rainbow and watched the ocean for a minute. 

There was one guy out in front of the lifeguard tower, trying to make use of the sandbar. I paddled out to join him, surprised at the way the waves are always bigger right here than they look from shore.

I spent about an hour in the ocean, on the Ebert twinzer, basically popping up and ducking under the lip as the waves closed out. Every once in a while, something came in just a bit different and I found a corner that led me down a clean ride. I headed in as a few fat man-o-war floated by, stinging a young bodyboarder who had just paddled out with his buddies.

A pod of dolphins was cruising the lineup as I dried off and finished my coffee in the truck.