surfing during covid

1905, 2020

Falling in Love with Surfing Again

By |May 19th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

I remember my first winter surfing on the North Shore. It was so exciting! Waking up each morning to a horizon stacked with waves for days, seemed like a dream. Sunburnt skin and salty hair were the only price I paid, or so I thought. Not realizing it, I was falling in love, deeply in love with the ocean and her children, the waves. I was faithful to my love for many years. I travelled to Bali each summer for five years in a row to ward off the summer blues of no waves on the North Shore. (Note there are excellent beginner surf lesson waves in the summer on the North Shore) During the winter months, I faithfully rode Pipeline every time she broke. I slept like a baby and lived off of ramen noodles to save money. Life was simple. My only care was to surf.

Sadly, as it can happen in love, I was distracted. Politics called my name, and I threw my heart and soul into the game. Campaigning is all-consuming; shaking hands, kissing babies, and posting yard signs soon caused me to forget to surf. I swapped […]

2904, 2020

Day 39ish of Hawaii COVID-19 Surf Sessions.

By |April 29th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

In January 2020, I remember hearing about China quarantining millions of people and looking out my window, thinking, “I guess I could isolate here. Little did I know that mere weeks later, I would be under some of the strictest quarantine laws in the nation, except for surfing. Hawaii allowed surfing, fishing, and all water sports categorized as essential activities, a testimony to our elected leaders being in touch with the reality of living on an island. The rest of the life in paradise was locked down hard with Kauai leading the way and having a nightly 9:00 PM curfew and mandatory 14-day isolation for all airport arrivals. So with little to do but surf and shop for food, life became pretty simple, fast! With a series of seemingly endless west swells forecast, a daily surf mission with my best friend was the ticket. Dawn patrol started sometime around 8:30 AM after coffee gets consumed and hot water bottles filled for after surf rinsing. Boards and gear tossed into the back on my Nissan surf school truck, and away we went. It was hard passing perfect Pipe each day.  Lucky for us secret right-hander we had designated as our goto […]

1104, 2020

Life on the North Shore of Oahu During the Corona Virus Pandemic

By |April 11th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Amazing life on the North Shore in some ways is better than ever. We are allowed to surf, but there is no traffic. It feels like I’m living back in the 1970s when one car and hour would drive down lonely Kamehameha Hwy. North Shore surfers once again rule the Laniakea parking lot as there are no visitors allowed on the island.


A DRIVE ON THE NORTH SHORE WHEN THE COVID-19 QUARANTINE FIRST STARTED

Along with no traffic, there is almost no economy. Most businesses have shuttered their doors, even Matsumomoto’s famous shave ice stand closed. The outlook is dire as current projections have Hawaii not being open to visitors for up to 18 months.

Still, if you’re a hardcore surfer, life could not be better. We may have to go back to living off packaged noodles, but the waves keep crashing, at least for now. Summer is just around the corner, and the thought of enduring months of super small waves and long hot days has me a little depressed.

North Shore Surf Girls Surf Student having fun at Chun’s Reef

One odd part of the quarantine is that you can’t sit on the beach and rest. You always have to be moving, […]