Naish Big Brother/Big Sister Event: Updated

My editing program crashed while I was preparing this article, so the first version lacked a lot of the pictures. This is now the full article. The full photo gallery is at: http://gallery.me.com/billbab#100285…

…What a day. A beach full of kids, Stand Up board everywhere, new toys, old friends, new friends, and a sprinkle of celebrity. So what if the waves were wimpy, it was all fun.

The Naish crew was at Launiopoko before sunrise, getting the area ready

Looking down the beach reminded me of our board showcase last year–except nearly all the boards were yellow

Bill Foote, Diane and Sam. Diane shot most of the photos.

One thing was clear–there’s no lack of heart on Maui. The turnout of adults willing to give their time to help some kids was amazing–there were more instructors than kids. Quite a few of the people I met were preparing to make the commitment to be a big brother or sister. For many people that’s a lifetime thing. Most of the big brothers and big sisters I know are close to the kids they helped even after their “littles” have families of their own. I can certainly see the attraction. These were all great kids, and they were extremely open and interested in interacting with an adult willing to give them time, direction and attention.

Kids and instructors getting the skinny on the day

Nice kids, they were all happy to be there.

I was also very impressed with the organizers from Big Brother/Big Sisters. They were very focused on safety and controlling the environment. It was a little chaotic, but they established boundaries for the kids and charged all of the instructors with keeping the kids in bounds and safe.

Frank from Lightning Bolt Surf Shop and I looking at the glass-bottomed SUPS Naish is testing

Dave Kalama, Noah Yap and another ripping young SUP surfer (I didn’t get his name)


Diane’s a Dave Kalama fan. I’m surprised ALL the photos don’t have Dave in them

The Yellow sea

Clapping Game…

… Dissolves into giggles

She’s ready

Now THAT’S how you hold a paddle

Frank Forbes, Byron Yap and his wife, and some lumpy guy that jumps into pictures like Forrest Gump

Robby Naish was right in the middle of everything, taking kids out tandem on his board and being extremely patient with their fears. He and Dave Kalama took the weakest swimmers and shuffled them out to the waves. They spent a lot of time with two nervous little girls who transitioned magically from clinging to the boards, afraid to put their faces in the water to taking over a board together, trying to paddle into a wave with Dave and Robby watching them nonchalantly and intently at the same time. We should all have such qualified lifeguards. It wasn’t just all paddling and boards. I watched Robby spend a great deal of time teaching one of the girls to duck underwater.

Robbie and Dave giving some safety instructions

the kids broke up into groups. I think this was the “pretty good swimmers”

This was the good swimmers. When a kid on Maui tells you they’re a good swimmer, it means they’re a fish.


This was definitely the “not so good swimmers”. The little girl on the far right will eventually undoubtably be the President of the United States.  A pint-sized Force of Nature.  The two tallest girls gained enough confidence under Robbie and Dave’s tutelage to take over a board on their own.


A little shore-side instruction in holding a paddle and off we go

One little guy who got very scared on my board (I swear it wasn’t my fault) spent hours digging on the beach and playing in the water with Noah Yap. Noah is a talented SUP surfer, probably 13 or 14. His kindness and willingness to hang out while others were out playing in the surf to entertain a little guy who was a little too intimidated to climb back on a board is a credit to Byron and his Mom. Cool kid, and his brother is a crackup. I told him he was famous on the StandUpZone, but he needed to keep his shorts up when people are taking pictures of him. He thought that was pretty funny.

Sam always likes to be an active participant

Bill Foote, Kai Lenny, Frank Forbes, the Schwiegers–lots of folks turned out to make it a great day for the kids.

Laird Hamilton showed up with his daughter Reese, a very composed and
delightful eight year old. She was talking with Diane when the
organizers started passing out goodie bags and said “Do you think all
the kids will get those? Even ME?”

Sad to see Laird letting himself go like that. And I always carry 12 foot boards by pinching the rail.

Everyone puts on a little spread for the holidays. His looks to be mostly in his shoulders.

Tandem madness

This is a great sequence. First, determination.

Preparation

Committment

Celebration

Future SUP God. He might be pretty good when he’s grown up–like perhaps when he’s 10

Don’t be scared, the surf’s only chest high

She was alternating laughing and screaming

The group was so wide it takes two shots to include everyone

Nice lunch. Ham, Kahlua Turkey (tastes just like Kahlua pork), veggies, stuffing, and Ahi Poke. I had an embarassing amount of the Poke.

Robbie, Laird, Dave and a very Hawaiian Santa passed out goodie bags and signed autographs

And it was a great day. I ran out of kids willing to paddle with me pretty quickly. I think a lot of people did. It was a little tough knowing who wanted to get more lessons or a ride on a board and who was just hanging on the beach. Maybe next time the kids need special t shirts or something to identify them. A couple of little girls conned me into schlepping a glass bottomed SUP to the Laniupoko pond so they could use it as a boat. Bossy little buggers, but it was fun to watch them scamper over the thing.

It all wound down about 1:30. We tossed our boards on the truck and headed out.

Well done everyone.