Black Friday at The Bay

I woke up at 2am to my house shaking. “Earthquake!” I exclaimed to my sleeping Fiancé. “Babe, we’re on an island I don’t think there are earthquakes here,” he said as he fell back asleep. He was right, it wasn’t an earthquake, it was waves, crashing onto the shore so violently they were shaking our little house.

We drove down to Waimea Bay in the pre-dawn light and saw the ocean had been reclaiming the road all night. Sand covered Kamehameha Highway, and bits of coral heads and debris were strewn about.

When we arrived at the bay, a crowd had already gathered behind the caution tape lifeguards had laid on the beach. Everyone was watching one brave soul who had paddled out solo in the dark. It only took one closeout set to confirm what I was nervous about. It was “Eddie size,” meaning the prestigious Eddie Aikau Invitational could have run on a day like today.

I had almost written off surfing for the day, but then Polly showed up. “We’re going out!” she said with zero doubt in her voice. Her confidence gave me a boost of encouragement, but I still wasn’t sure. I had never surfed a day like this at the bay.

We timed a lull to see how long we had to paddle out before getting swept into the infamous shore pound. 5 minutes. Doable, but only with impeccable timing.

Polly led the charge and paddled out safely. Jake and slowly suited up and decided to wait on the beach until we felt ready. After about 30 minutes, we finally decided it was time to take the plunge.

We ran into the water and started sprint-paddling to the safe zone. My heart was pounding, and I was focused on my breathing. 5 minutes, you can do it, I kept telling myself.

We timed it perfectly. No waves on the head and we made it safely to the lineup just as the next set was forming. Arriving to the lineup was like walking through the door of a speakeasy. There was a whole party going on in the water, invisible from the beach. Vibes were high as those who had braved the paddle were now hooting each other into perfect, big waves.

I played it safe. I knew there were closeout sets and didn’t want to get caught in the spaghetti tangle of 10-foot boards and leashes.

After a couple of hours, I moved into position. A wave came my way, and I paddled. It was a smaller one for that day, and I was on the shoulder, but it was a wave. I kicked out in the channel, saw the coast was clear, and decided to head to shore before I pushed my luck too much.

I might not have gotten the wave I was hoping for that day, but paddling out, learning the lineup, and coming in safe on an Eddie-sized day felt like a huge accomplishment.