4/27-5/3 Kanaha

[Ralph Morrison]

I'm back now but here's the recap of last week . The first day was exciting with 7m winds and good waves (for this time of year). There were alot of people out and you had to pay attention close to the launch with all the cross traffic. The waves were a blast but I was on my twin tip and wished I was on a surf board. The next day I went into the Neil Pryde store and I rented a surf board from Jake's brother, Micah. (he said to say hi Jake) The wind was 10m and the waves were still good. The surf board made it even more fun. I was worried about being able to switch feet in the ocean swell but once again, the practice time at Deer Creek paid off and I did really well.

The days after that were good wind but the waves went flat. It was still fun cruising and jumping and stuff. We surfed every morning on the south side near Lahaina. The south swell came up mid week and we had a few great days from that.

On our last day we surfed Hookipa. There were alot of locals out, and I didn't want to step on any toes, so at first I sat to the side of the lineup, trying to work my way in. After awhile I did figure out how to get onto the peak and caught some waves. It was very intimidating. The waves were overhead (big for me) and pushy. It was scary and exciting. It was also an interesting wildlife day for me. I was sitting on my board and something bumps my leg. It was a turtle coming to the surface. He came up, looked at me and swam on. Later that afternoon while I was kiting, I made a turn on the outside and there, 30 feet in front of me, was a 10 foot shark. He was just swimming easily and didn't seem aggressive and I veered off wind around him. I was thinking, what do I do now, try to warn everybody? I realized it was impossible so I just kept kiting. Part of me was hoping to see him again, and the other part was glad I didn't. I told Micah about it later and he said "yea, there's alot of them out there".