Living Well Is The Best Revenge

George Herbert said that sometime in the 1600′s, still true today. Stand Up Paddle Surfing has plenty of detractors, none of whom have the slightest idea of what SUP really is.

For example, yesterday started off inauspiciously. The North Shore of Maui was due for a decent swell, so I rousted myself early. Ho’okipa was closed out and nasty looking when I passed it at about 6:00AM. A handful of hardy shortboarders were trying to punch out through the channel, but they weren’t getting very far. I rolled into Kanaha about 6:30, polished off my Everything Bagel and coffee from Paia’s wonderful coffee shop–Anthony’s–and got into the water. I have to admit I wasn’t enthusiastic. The sky was lead gray, the water felt cold and clammy, the waves looked messy. There was only three stand up surfers and one longboarder in the closeout waves. I paddled through the channel and decided to try the lefts into the channel because it looked like the best opportunity for a clean shoulder.

The problem with taking lefts into the channel is that the spot you need to line up on is the most likely place to get caught inside. Sure enough, just as I missed a punky head-high wave I turned back out and saw a double overhead face already starting to crumble. I dove into the face, went for a little leash ride. Paddled back out, caught a decent wave that petered out quickly when it hit the rip in the channel, got pounded again and decided to try the rights at the far west end. As I paddled out around the break a really big wave reared up far outsode. I paddled like mad for the horizon and barely squeaked over the lip. The four other surfers weren’t so lucky, and one SUP guy and the longboarder called it a day and headed for the beach.

I caught a few waves, but they closed out almost immediately and turned into foam rides. I finally decided I wanted sun, easy paddling and knee-high surf. So I loaded up and went to the west side. I put in at Launiopoko, paddled west and ran into Randy Royse, and Randy and Chan Strome at Woodies, caught a few waves there, paddled on to Puamana, caught few waves there and caught a bunch of stinkeye from a guy I’ve met a few times who always gives me a cold shoulder. I don’t know what his deal is. He’s a smooth surfer but I only see him at Puamana. That’s not exactly an exclusive venue, it’s often crowded with new wannabes on rented soft tops.

Paddled on to Hot Sands, caught a few there, went to Hole In the Reef (my name, I’m sure it’s called something else) and caught some mega-nice rides there, paddled into the lagoon behind the Lahina reef, stopped at Pacific O for some lunch, paddled on to the Lahina Breakwall which was going off big in it’s usual weird way. There must be a surf amplifier out there somewhere, when everywhere else is knee-high the breakwall is getting overhead sets. Paddled to the Harbor and caught some nice rides there, back east to Hole in the Reef, then hot Sands, then back to Puamana.

Stink Eye dude paddled back out when I was catching waves. He said “why don’t you get a real surfboard”. So I told him what I had just done while he was sitting around waiting for the crappiest waves and shortest rides I’d encountered that morning. I said “If all you want to do is catch a few crappy waves then I guess you’re on the right board”. He didn’t say anything, so I paddled about fifty feet out, caught a nice wave and rode it to the east end of puamana, and paddled back to Launiopoko by way of Woodies and Guardrails.

In the late afternoon I did a great nine-mile south side downwinder with Scott, Randy, Chan, Mark Raaphorst, Jack Dyson and Randy Royse. Keihi Wharf to Makena Landing – a nine mile run in something like and hour and thirty minutes. What fun.

I know the surfers that hate SUP think we’re going to crowd out their breaks with wobbly newbies. Certainly true to a minor extent, but SUP enables people to do so much more on the water than surf in one little measly break. Exploring, fishing, running down a coast taking rides anywhere a wave appears, downwinders, races, lake and river paddling. For those old crusty guys and the sheep that follow them I say “Living well is the best revenge” . We SUPers have more fun on a dinky day than they have all week.