i pulled this photo off the internet to show you what laniakea looks on a good day. remember, i said a good day. looks 4-6′ and pretty perfect right? well, the day before yesterday, it was much much better than this. i’d say it was an epic day. one of those few days i could say it was perfect. and i’ve been surfing laniakea for 30 years. it was bigger, 6-10′ to be exact. it was more offshore, 35mph south/west winds to be exact. and it was uncrowded, lucky to be exact. the reason why it was empty? in the morning, the waves were small out of the north/west direction. wrong swell direction for laniakea. right about 10am as we were watching the volcom pipe, the big north swell started to show. north swell best for laniakea. off the wall and rockpiles started to show 10′ sets, the same swells heading right to laniakea. nobody expected the swell to pick up so fast, not even surfline forecasters predicted that. we go back to laniakea and it looked like a totally different day. the swell just showing and most morning surfers already went home, or in for lunch. perfect timing! 6-8′ with 10′ and super big barrels!
the strong current and big wave flags were out. it was the real deal. Kubota-san never surfed the north shore before. it was his debut. a debut on the biggest laniakea days of the year. he was nervous and i don’t blame him. all i could do was laugh out loud to ease his nerves. not even that worked. we paddle out in pure silence. all i kept on saying was “stay close to me.” i know if he stayed near me, i could grab him if he couldn’t come up for some reason. yes, it sounds crazy, but it’s not. i knew there was a part of Kubota-san that wanted the challenge. most surfers do.
then it happened. a big waves coming our way. i yell on the top of my voice “GO, GO, GO!!” Kubota-san went! i thought he fell off and was going to get pounded. i kept on looking for him but couldn’t see him. then way in the inside at the end of the wave, i seen him pull out perfectly with his two hands in the air. a huge wave, and a perfect ride. he paddled back out with the biggest smile on his face and i already knew what he was feeling. a feeling that only a surfer knows.
it was all smiles after that. the biggest and best wave of his 8 year surfing career. a big confidence booster. a big step in his surfing that will lead him to bigger and better waves. i was just as happy as Kubota-san was for being able to experience such an awesome moment with him.
it’s two days later and i’m sure he will never forget that session. i sure won’t as laniakea was at it’s best in years! if you got it too, lucky. if you went home early that day and didn’t, sorry.
