The month started out with the Burger King Hawaii State Championships being held at Ala Moana Bowls. The waves were pretty killer throughout the whole 3 day event. The 2-3 foot surf in great conditions opened the door to some bowls regulars like Ha'a Aikau who won the jrs and Scottie Shimoda who took the masters divisions.
The very next morning at twilight, a 6 foot wave rolled through the big bowl totally unridden which might have been the biggest wave of the whole summer so far, but that was just the beginning of long span of swell which would last virtually all month.
There was one whole week of solid 3-5 foot surf in town which surged in at different times and even pushed through a couple bigger sets, but stayed very consistently in the 3-5 foot range. After that we had solid 2-3 feet with epic conditions and a perfect direction from the middle bowl at Ala Moana.
Other spots that people were raving about were Threes, Yokes, Diamond head side, even Ewa Beach. We had a few days at Bowls where the place was practically empty. One day a 6 feet wave rolled through when there were just 7 guys in the Big Bowl and one guy at the middle peak.
I heard reports from other spots that were similar. Kirby Fukunaga told me he was surfing Kaikos all by himself. With all the grumbling about the crowds in town, I think its safe to say everybody got their share at one point or another this month because it never once went totally flat. A lot of the Northshore surfers were staying in hotels and kept having to book an extra night........ until they ran out of money or energy. Surfing is becoming a more expensive sport for us as gas prizes seem to rise each week. Its pretty much over $4 a gallon here now
Some of the locals were getting their props this month. Mike Akima was featured in the Honolulu Advertiser hooking into a round pit and Ronnie Boy Ongos received a double page spread in Heavywater Magazine. The Advertiser's record of the south shore surf became a threat to some who were playing hooky from work. An unidentified surfer came out the next day wearing a Japanese Wrestling mask just in case he was caught in action.
On the pro scene Kekoa Bacalso claimed the 6 star Srilankan Airlines Pro with Dustin Barca placing second and Joel Centeio 3rd.
The event was held in epic conditions allowing Hawaiians to dominate the event, grabbing 5 of the 8 quarterfinalist. Makua Rothman made Semis and Sunny Garcia is most certainly making a comeback, last I heard he was 4th on the WQS.
Freesurfer Flynn Novak has also joined the WQS this year and has made some decent results. Jamie Sterling has been spending time at Mexipipe. Indo seems to be the trend this summer. I guess Jamie O'Brien said he recently got the tubes of his life on a recent trip there, meanwhile back at home his Dad Mick caught an 150 pound Ahi at local fishing contest. Sean Davey caught a ride on the Best of the West Dolphin tour with Sail Hawaii on the west side. He got some interesting images of the spinning Dolphins who have been spotted all around the island in top form this year.
During the summer, Sean views the Northshore as his own natural aquarium. It has been really good for that too lately because there has hardly been any waves in the country all month. I think one day there were a couple three foot waves at Lanis,but other than that its been less than 2 feet and even more consistently not even riddable.
The month was just a frenzy for local surf contests. After the states, they held China's Wahine Classic which was almost cancelled this year due to lack of sponsorship. Thankfully 88 Tees and Steinlager chipped in to make it happen for the ladies. China considers the event a stepping stone for Hawaii's Wahine Longboarders and he gives a share of the proceeds to Kapiolani Women's and Children's Center.
I guess you could say the 21st century rerelease of Primo has received a good welcome since it sounds like most stores can't even keep it on the shelves. They hosted the Primo Standup Challenge this month which was a race starting from the Kailua pier to the Elks Club where the $20 entry included a free lunch and tee shirt. On the Northshore, there was also a standup race which also included standard paddle boards.
The Shaka Longboard Series had a hard time kicking off their event at Flies due to a conflict with too many other events but eventually kicked off at Queens. Kamu Auwae took the pro division and Ikaika Kalama the stand-up. The Keiki Oceanfest had their first annual event at Waimanlo Beach Park. Last but not least, the annual all military contest was held at White Plains and in some decent surf. On top of all that the Pan Pacific Festival held parades, a block party and several festivites in collaboration with King Kamehameha Day. It has been kinda like one big surfing Pa'ina (party) down the beach this month and everyone is crusing around with sunburnt smiles. Its great that we saved those parking spots at bowls because the Aloha truly lives in that beat up old parking lot that where we all hang around talking story and waiting for the best time to paddle out.
Surfrider celebrated International Surfing Day with a beach cleanup at Magic Island. The state recently added a new buoy just outside the Ala Wai channel to regulate water quality at our surf breaks and are active in meetings concerning Hawaii's growing problem with the so-called Super Staph virus. They are not sure what is causing it. They also organized a viewing of the documentary Rokkasho Rhapsody at UH. The film gives an inside look at Japan's reprocessing plants.
If anyone had any extra energy left to go clubbing, DJ Q-Bert played at Lotus. They had a big 80s fest with Klymaxx. Lisa Lisa and others which I heard was jampacked at Aloha Tower. The Blue Scholars from Seattle are performing at Next Door next weekend. A big dance show is coming to Fashion 45 this weekend with stars from MTVs dance show.
Several graduation ceremonies rang throughout the islands. You just can't beat a graduation ceremony in Hawaii with all the leis and Aloha that circulates through the spirit of family here. Congrads to Aisha Akima who celebrated with a killer party at Pipeline cafe that drew a large crowd of local surfers!
Hana Hou Barry O! On June 4th, Barack Obama became the first African American and homegrown Hawaii boy to become the democratic Presidential nominee. Rumors have it he may have enough time in the water to claim first surfing president as well.
Looks like the waves will coninue at atleast fun size all the way through the holiday weekend and the Northshore is expecting a bump.
