It was another wild morning!  The girls wanted the challenge again and today was just that.  Much bigger and a lot windier than yesterday.  They were so excited!  I wasn’t because my eyes were still burning from the past few days of strong salty wind blowing into my face.  Haha.

So happy to arrive a usually crowded beach that for now we have to ourselves.  Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is.

I looked down and saw the boat that capsized yesterday smashing against the rocks.  It will be another day or so until they can safely salvage it.  But I’m sure it’s in hundreds of pieces by now.

Looking at this photo, the waves seem manageable.  But it’s pretty hard.  I timed the wave intervals and it was 3 seconds between wave to wave.  Getting out took 50 waves rolling over your head.  Pretty cool to see the girls getting stronger and stronger.  Now they look comfortable out there in a very uncomfortable place.

The waves have so much power.  It just pushes you from one wave into another.  So connecting the waves was the way to success.

When I first got to the capsized boat, the first thing I asked was “is everyone accounted for?”  The reason is I knew the boat was full of people but didn’t know how many were aboard.  So asking if everyone is accounted for is important.  You don’t want to start rescuing people if some are missing.  The second thing I asked was “can you all swim?”  They answered yes.  I told them to jump in the water now and start swimming to the channel.  They had no idea that the strong current was taking the boat right into the lineup at Bowls. Less than 5 minutes later, the boat getting pounded by waves and ended up on the reef.   The last place you want to be is on a capsized boat that’s about to get smashed by a hundred waves.  I’m surprised nobody got hurt because so many things could have gone wrong…

Yesterday once more:  Capsized boat left at Bowls.  Leaking gas and still smashing the reef.  Bummer…

Good morning 4:10am.
North shore 4-8′ and bumpy. No PIPELINE PRO today.
Ala Moana head high, onshore, and WILD!
Diamond Head overhead and wild too.
Strong South/West winds so everywhere stormy.
Sun, clouds, and showers.
Going to the Boot Camp Challenge.
Have a wonderful day!

Nobody surfs on days like this because the ocean is too wild.  But now the girls love it because of the challenge.  And also because nobody is out except us.  So yes, why not?  

Getting out is tricky because of the strong wind blowing into your eyes.  The current is different, and you have to go through 40 waves each time you paddle back out.  Nobody said it was easy.

But the rides are amazing.  Your adrenaline is racing as you’re trying to hang on till the end.  

I’ve always loved days like this.  You feel so much more connected to the ocean.  We were having a great time.  Then I see this boat with a lot of people trying to go out through the channel.  I told the girls to watch because boats shouldn’t be out on days like this.  They try to go out, turn around, and when they were heading back in, a wave flipped over their boat.  All 7 of them went flying off the boat.  OMG!  

When we got there, they were all hanging on to the bottom of their boat.  Little did they know, the wind and current was taking them right into the lineup.  An angry lineup with overhead waves was going to make things twice as bad for them.  The rest of the story later.

I always tell people that days like today are the days you will learn the most.  The ocean turns wild and you have to react when things like this happen.  The girls got a hands on experience that they will probably never forget.  And a hands on experience that might help them save lives in the future.