I would say it was probably better than the typical Hawaiian July, but thats not saying much. I left on a two week trip at the beginning of the month stressing hard that I was going to miss out on the best swell of the summer. It did get pretty good a couple of days, I heard, really nice clean perfect down, but as usual it was not the Hawaiian 6 foot surf predictions they had been hyping for nearly three weeks.
And, being that this summer has hardly had any sizable swells, it was up there with anything weve had yet, but hopefully not the best swell of summer, now that would be a bummer. Solid 2-4 ft town for a week straight in July is pretty good. Since then, there hasnt been much else though; little 1-2 very occ 3 ft days without much punch.
Northshore surprised us a bit this month though. There have been some days well above flat and even the typical summer dribble that is barely ridable. There have been a few fun little days at Lanis with occ 3 ft mushburgers
and we even got a fun little 1-3 ft west and east swell mix that lasted a few days. Some were estatic about the little country swells but most of us were just happy to have something to ride without having to drive to town.
When there werent any waves in the country some Northshore residents had incredible experiences with the Dolphins who came in droves this month and swam with the humans.
Sharks were also lurking once again in July as a snorkeler was attacked at Bellows Beach which resulted in serious leg injuries.
Several contests carried on through the month. The Christian surfers event was held at Queens in tiny surf. Three Longboard events were held during this months summer slumber. The Steinlager Longboard event and China womens events at Queens were held in pretty good size surf at the beginning of the month while Steinlager event #4 at bowls was pretty puny.
Next years Northshore contest season is heating up already as promoters pry for permits. Reid Ignoye was not issued a permit for his WQS Monster pro which is our locals main event and qualifying event for the Pipemasters, meanwhile the Bodysurfing event is back on this season along with the Backdoor shootout and the Rockstar Bodyboarding Event.
The women are not on the schedule this year either after a three year run of a historic event. It will be interesting to see what contest directors will do to get their events run this season. I can feel the tension rising already.
Hawaii is still getting it's fair share of media exposure. On fuel TV there is a new show called 808 which is featuring the Wolf Pack, and Hawaii lifeguards are also getting props on Court TV in a reality show called Beach Patrol.
Keala Kennely is sending a shockwave through the surfing community with her acting skills on HBO's John from Cincinnati. Personally, I think her character is more believable than anyone else on the series which is a bit confusing and does not necessarily portray surfers in positive light, but Im still watching anyways.
Jazz Minds is my new favorite nightspot in Honolulu. They have a full venue of different Jazz musicians all week long, local crowd, nice atmosphere and the best thing of course, no TOP 40! Authentic Hawaiian artists are on the venue. Tempo Valley plays on Saturdays which is a cool band mixing Jazz, Reggae and Hip Hop. Their live instrumental includes a DJ, drums, guitar, even Chello (or something that looks like that ) Even Hawaii's rap group, Direct Decsendants show up from time to time. Anyways, check it out if you get a chance.
Maui local Surfer and artist Ron Cassidy died this month while surfing in Mexico where he was believed to have wiped out and instantly broken his neck. His body was found out to sea. Sounds like he was a genuine guy who will be well missed.
The Brazilian food joint by the Maui totem statue and all the vendors booths have been shut down. Dont really know whats going on there but we will see if they can get up and running again for winter. They are still fixing the road at the Bay. One of the workers fell from the cliff and experienced serious injuries this month.
Some strange rumors have been coming up about the Oak Tree Project, but we will have to wait and see what happens.
The Haleiwa Arts Festival was held this month and was a nice exhibit of local talent as usual with some great food vendors as well. The annual Surf Auction was a big hit as usual. When I was there, a Dick Brewer board sold for $33,000. I couldn't help to wonder if the shaper himself would receive any of the proceeds or how many times the board had changed hands before it made it to the auction in 2007.
Other such notables as Gerry Lopez, Greg Knol, Rory Russel, Terry Fitzgerald, Mark Richards and Ben Aipa attended along with film maker Jack McCoy. A great place to learn some surf history and to say Hi to all your friends you havent seen in a while because there hasnt been surf.
by: Lane Davey
Oceanic Time Warner Cable's Community Website
