This is a SURFING Report from Amy Smith
She is a special education teacher in Hawaii.
Amy is a long time Ocean City, Maryland
bodyboarder and surfer and provides us
with this interesting commentary on surfing
in Hawaii.
Her Email address is enclosed
at the bottom of the commentary
should you desire to drop her an Email wave.

July 1998

    The south shore of Oahu has had a few swells so far this summer. One
swell hit a macking 8 feet!!! The waves on the south shore are a bit
easier, as they seem to be more forgiving, which is the exact opposite
of the North Shore. The south shore waves, especially Waikiki, are more
slopey, and are easier to drop into. Although you will be happier on a
longboard due to the fact that every other surfer is on a 9ft. board or
longer!!!Longboarding is no longer an old guys sport!!!There are so many
young "whippersnapper" rippers here who do both long and shortboarding.
It is so much easier to have more foam underneath you to make it easier
to paddle and get into the waves.    I recently went on my first
outrigger canoe ride. We went with 3 "Beach Boys", you know the guys who
rent out the boards. The other 2 girls and I are all avid surfers, so
the guys knew we were experienced waterwomen, and would be more willing
to take chances. Wow.... were we in for it!!!The paddle out was a fun
workout... They said I was a natural!!Once we were outside, we sat and
dived, and played around while we waited for a set. The set that came
was a huge bomb!!!!!The lead guy shouted "Paddle hard!", and we took off
trying to copy the exact speed of the approaching wave to be able to
launch our canoe into its whitewater. Once it was behind us, I mean
ready to break on us, I turned around and a scream came out of my
mouth!!!!That sucker was like 4 feet over my head and I was sitting in a
huge canoe!!!! Then the ominous thought of "pearling" crossed my mind.
What if  we "pearled"? Julie shouted, "Don't even say that word right
now!" Well, we were going on this macker wave, I would say solid 5 feet
Hawaiian, and getting ready to bust through the surfers sitting on the
inside. Boy do they get out of your way  when your'e on a huge
canoe!!!!! At last, the pearling feeling was gone. We were flowing on
the whitewater, towards the shore. Wow.... that was the biggist wave I
had caught all day!!!!Pretty neat being on a canoe and riding a wave on
it!!!! Try it out when your'e in Waikiki!!!!!

    By the way, check out my new website of Hawaiian products!!!
It is at  hawaiianexports.com

Aloha, Amy

  Email Amy