Okinawan Nightmare…

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good morning. 6:30 am wednesday morning. north shore came way down. pipe is maybe 3-4′? a little morning sickness conditions with nobody out. guess what? town has another little south swell. it’s chest high at some spots and PERFECT!!! light tradewinds and nobody out at bowls now. i don’t think anybody knows there’s waves. well, gotta get going. i’ll be surfing all day long!!! have a nice day!!!

i finally had a chance to look through some old magazines. i grabbed a Surf1st mag when i turned to this page, i had flashbacks…. here is the spot with no name that isn’t really surfable but we surfed. it seemed like years ago but it was only a few months ago. i was unprepared of what was going to happen to me that day….

here is the wave i got hurt on. as i was coming to the inside section, i was in control and getting ready to pull into the barrel grabbing my rail. then all the water was sucking up the face because the reef was sticking up in the inside. see that step under the front part of my board? yeah, i was grabbing my rail over air a second after this. then comes the nightmare. fall, slammed, hit reef, get hurt, almost die.
surfing is dangerous and if anybody ever tells me again that i’m just playing, i’ll take them out to this spot and throw them over the falls. i’d say an average guy has a 5% chance of surviving that….

here’s one i didn’t want anything of. i tried to paddle for it and then thought to myself “no thank you, i’ll go on the next one”…. then i went on the next one and almost died. oh well, life goes on….
**what’s funny is that sometimes i get a call from a friend or somebody trying to sell me life insurance. they tell me i can get insured up to a million dollars but there are guidelines. one of the questions they always ask me is “Do you do participate in any dangerous recreational sports?” you know what i tell them? “hey, i surf dangerous waves, i drive crazy, i travel to dangerous countries, i eat anything, i drink anything, i dive with sharks, etc….” they stop me right there and say, “sorry, you are not qualified for our insurance.” haha… i think that’s pretty funny….

PHOTOS BY: NAOYA KIMOTO/SURF1ST

KIRBY FUKUNAGA
ハワイで生まれ育ち、プロサーファー、フォイラー、スキンダイバー、カメラマンの肩書きを持ち、ウォーターマンとして、海で多くの時間を過ごし、海から多くのモノをもらいながら生活しています。彼が伝えようとしていることは、海がある生活は僕らを豊かにしてくれるということ。そして、自分だけではなく、いろいろなことをみんなにシェアし、人生を楽しむということ。現在は、ハワイでプライベートサーフィンガイドを主催。
カービー福永のハワイサーフィンガイド
https://go-naminori.com/kirbyhawaiisurfingguide