The beginning of April had a ray of hope, a sunray that is, which was something we had not seen in a long time. After more than 40 days and 40 nights of flooding, Hawaii residents set out like doves in search of our regular lives, but even a month later we are still picking up the pieces of our Paradise Lost.

Not only did the did the islands have to declare a state of emergency to help people repair their homes and property from the freakish weather and flooding for the past 6 weeks, but the massive sewage spill in Honolulu is now being looked into as possibly the worst spill ever in the nation. If anyone questioned if it was safe to go in the water; it wasn't for long.

Oliver Johnson, a 34 year old surfer and mortgage broker died after falling in to the boat harbor just inside of the famous Ala Moana surf break. Though Hawaii State Health officials will not state that his death was connected to the water, everybody else knows. When Johnson fell into the contaminated water with open wounds he developed flesh eating disease and died. Another man was said to have developed a horrible staph infection in his foot just from walking on the sand in Waikiki which is now also being tested for bacteria levels along with the water.

Even on the North shore, the water is still brown and somewhat shark ridden after a month of sunshine. A 6-8 foot great white shark was sighted at Sunset and there were several other sightings this month. I think at this point there are probably more people on the North shore with ear infections and sinus infections than without, but we still have it better than town. Ala Moana Bowls has been vacant all month which is supernatural in itself. The best spot in town with some of the most hardcore surfers on the island and there is no one out tells just how bad the sewage spill really was.

AlaMos

The waves on the other hand haven't been much which depending on how you look at it, is a blessing or a curse. Either you go out in some junk waves and get sick and say well that certainly wasn't worth it or you stay out of the water because it was so junk and its a blessing because if it were really good you would be out there getting sick. We did have a few swells, the last one with some sets nearing 10 ft, but the blustery trades have demolished pretty much every bump that came along this month and the funky swell directions didn't help much either. Things just seem so out of sync with each other.

Even with all the humbug; surfers carried on. World Team qualifications which were held at Kewalos and had amateurs from all the islands had to cancel final rounds and return the next week due to the sewage spill. Raynos Hayes is leading the team and there will be a fundraiser hosted by Local Motion on April 30th to help fund their trip.

Magic Island

The Lifeguards Annual Bodysurfing Event sponsored by Quicksilver got underway in mercury mushy Pipe which must have been a bit of a temptation to sharks who frequent the line up these days, but all made it through okay especially Pete Johnson who won the event held right in front of his house.

Kawekah Bay

Turtle Bay

Former champions Mike Stewart and Todd Sells placed in the top 3. Legendary lifeguard Mark Cunningham and the Lets Go Surf Coalition is leading the charge to stop plans which are in place to build 5 new hotels near Kawela Bay with some 5,000 condos. Rumor has it Donald Trump even has his golden wand on this one. Its going to be tough to stop. Meanwhile traffic continues to worsen on the North shore even without the 5 hotels.

Kamehameha Highway near Turtle Bay

To surf or not to surf; still, the question remains on most surfers minds as swells begin to set up for the south shore which usually pumps this time of year before the drought. Some say it will take a year for conditions to improve since sewage is still leaking out of the Ala Wai and constantly flowing out to bowls. What a shame and a disappointment as we begin to "surf into summer".

Ala Moana Bowls

by Lane Davey