Woohoo, caught my first wave!

[Big E]

I'll have to post a full TR when I get some pics back (yes, I still use film!), but I scored a trip to Kauai, Hawaii last week for work and managed to get two surf days in. Only surfed once before, on a previous trip to the same place 3 years ago.

Day 1, took a 2 hour group lesson, 3 people registered, other 2 didn't show. Lessons were at the beach in front of Kiahuna Plantation for anyone who's familiar. 30 minutes or so of on-land instruction, then an hour out in the water with the instructor, then another 30 minutes by yourself. I ended up catching a bunch when the instructor was out there. At the beginning they give you a little shove to get you into the wave, but by the end he was just holding the board so I didn't float away and telling me when to paddle and stand up. Caught a bunch, rode several all the way to the shore Slim pickins after he took off, though, didn't really catch any. It's not intuitive at all, I can only imagine how much experience it takes to get the timing down. Lack of caught waves was compensated by the hottie that showed up w/ her board and was learning as well. Surfing definitely has the edge over skiing here.

Day 2, rented a board, went out to the same spot for about 2 hours or so, didn't have a whole lot of luck, and the waved seemed much less regular than the previous afternoon, but the highlight of my trip, I caught a wave and rode it 100% on my own, no one keeping the board steady or telling me when to go.

Definitely psyched. Hopefully will be less than 3 years until I surf again.

May as well include a pic of the beach...

[TheDingleberry]

Fuckin A bro. Ya gotta start somewhere. Hawaii is a good place.

[Superstar Punani]

Definitely psyched. Hopefully will be less than 3 years until I surf again.

May as well include a pic of the beach...

Nice! Now you just have to paddle out Sunset, charge Pipe, get beat up by Da Hui, find a legendary shaper to take you under his wing and coach you how to big wave surf, then enter the Pipeline Classic.