Ben Aipa use to surf Bowls rights every single day. i would see him out there for years and years. we would talk about the past and he would still coach me till the end. this is the last photo i have of him in the water. so this is my treasure…
back in 1988, Ben coached me for years. he was strict, and yet quiet. he never yelled at me before but i remember being super nervous at times. just his presence was huge. i would paddle out to spots as he would wait on the beach watching everything. i remember him always telling me to be aggressive. he knew my level of surfing wasn’t close to the top surfers in Hawaii so if i wanted to win heats, i would have to get better waves then my competition. and guess what? it worked many times. i would beat better surfers simply by getting better waves then them. throughout the years, all i did was look for the best waves on any given day. thank you Coach Ben!
