i had a great time with the Kakegawa-san newlyweds. after surfing perfect clean bowls, we went sightseeing. they had a guide book with the top 3 sightseeing spots in hawaii. number 1 was the king kamehameha statue, number 2 was moanalua gardens, and number 3 was tantalus. we spent 1 minute at the king kamehameha statue, skipped mounalua gardens, and then went to tantalus. to me, tantalus should be #1. why? because one visit is good enough for the king statue and the banyan trees at moanalua gardens. for tantalus? i’ve been there over 1000 times and still trip out on the amazing view. but of course, it’s best after midnight. haha.
the first time i surfed out backdoor was in 1987. tony moniz took me out and i started off at the bottom of the pole. the only good waves i got were the closeouts that nobody else wanted. i would pull into 6-8′ closeouts and actually try to make it out. the local crew back then were the heaviest in the world. i was scared to even look at any of them in the eye. all i did was sit in the inside and pull into crazy ass big closeouts. 6 years later in 1993, i started to get some pretty big open barrels. i think the locals felt sorry for me? haha. i remember the first barrel i ever made out there. yes, it took 6 years, but it was all worth the wait. back then, there would be hundreds of photographers on the beach shooting everything. paul gordinho was one of those guys shooting every classic moment. this one was almost 20 years ago, winter season 1993 to be exact. thanks gordinho for sending all those classic photos from all the glory years! i’m stoked to relive the moment!
