The guys at my break were wonderful. Looking back I am so appreciative of their patience and good humor. I made some appalling mistakes in my early days. Once I even dropped in on a shortboarder and got 'hooked' onto his board -- he just stayed on the wave dragging me along while I looked up apologetically. I think also that I was also very lucky to learn at an 'integrated' break. None of the 'stand ups' ever gave me any grief about being a sponger. Most of my best surf buds were longboarders (which may be why my brother, seeing me take a wave for the first time, noted that I did my take offs like a longboarder!) I have learned that much of the joy of surfing is connecting with surf buds out there on the reef.

Still, the surfers of my heart have to be my online friends. Over the years I have slowly come to know the quirks and craziness of my one online newsgroup, alt.surfing. Through this internet connection I have met (face to face) some of the finest people I have ever known.

My first 'encounter' with alt.surfing people was about two years ago when some of the Hawai'i posters emailed me an invitation to dawn patrol at Diamond Head. I was still quite a newbee, but was familiar with the break and was comfortable with the forecast (low enough wave heights for me!). These were serious surfing guys -- North Shore surfers, long time surfers. Bud and Neal quickly became my favorite people online. They have always been generous with their support and advice

This Sunday I had another session with Neal and Bud ... along with Bud's brother, Rich, and, added in -- two more visiting alt.surfing buddies! Denny, "The River Rat" was visiting from Kauai and Evan "Wavslav" was in town from Santa Cruz. This was a special meeting - I had been typing at these guys for three plus years; they had seen me going through all the angst and ecstasy of becoming a surfer.

I arrived at Diamond Head by seven, but was not thrilled with the scene -- heavy clouds, brisk winds blowing up whitecaps and looking out from the lookout, the waves looked 'mediocre'. By the time I paddled out I was marveling at the 'optical illusion' of the beach view. We had some juicy overhead sets coming in! I saw that our "team" was dominating the outside break -- these are all powerful surfers, three longboards, two shortboards, at least three who had done competetive surfing in their youth. Even though the wind kept us paddling to stay in place, everyone was in high spirits and catching some awesome rides.

I generally feel happy if I catch two waves per session at Diamond Head ... partly because it is a right break (I pathologically favor lefts) and partly because the lineup always intimidates me. There aren't any newbees at this break. It is a long paddle out after a long hike down the cliff. The 'deep ocean' waves are not forgiving -- these are not Waikiki waves.

I enjoyed myself, notheless. I loved meeting the new (old) friends; hanging with the guys and talking about babies (yeah, that was the main topic of the day with all the new dads!) -- but I did hang back from the waves. Neal saw this and began egging me on. At one point (camera in hand) he was yelling "Go for it! Go for it!!" ... and I did. I found myself looking at a caving wall, and so ended up soaring out into space -- airdropping, and then doing that 'rag doll' thing in the whitewater. I told him as I paddled back out, "That isn't surfing; that is sky diving!" He was all happy about it just the same. Later Neal was over my way again and once again yelled, "It's all yours, Sus!" . It wasn't. (Why do I trust this guy?) The shortboarder on my left was skilled enough to sweep just under my takeoff as I yelped (I definitely have to learn to look left when taking a right break!) ... and got caught in the whitewater again.

Well, perhaps the bright side of spending so much time paddling out was that I got to watch a lot of really great rides. Bud and Rich did a 'dance' on a shared wave -- so close and so coordinated that it looked like a show (and this was after Rich's board had lost a fin!). Denny had the old style longboarder grace -- straight up and almost statue-like on even the most sheer drop. Evan was carving with his longboard -- swerving, and sliding up on the shoulder. Neal did a dolphin spin dive into a wave at the end of his ride. Perhaps I will have a pic of that next time when Bud gets his pictures scanned.

A special mahalo to Neal and Bud for all the great photos!

a hui hou!
Süs