KK's Surf Kronicles: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono

1-2 feet Hawaiian scale
Side shore
Warm water
Cloudy and Sunny

First time back at Diamondhead in over 2 years! So stoked to walk down the donkey trail with Fransauce.

The air was filled with the scent of fresh, living seaweed. I can always distinguish this smell from any beach in the world. The donkey trail doesn't seem so bad, but I still manage to ding my board lightly on a tree branch. It's been two long years since my feet have touched the sand of Diamondhad. I missed the grainy sand, I missed the perfect turquoise of the ocean, I missed the long paddle outs, and I can't believe I'm here to surf again! We walk out onto the rock and start paddling out.

Instantaneously, I smile from ear to ear. I could not help but smile. The water felt so good!! It was so refreshing to be in Hawaiian waters again! The winds blew the water down and the tide was a little high, but it didn't matter to me: I was in Hawaii, surfing Diamondhead, with Fransauce. There were only a few people out, and for good reason: it was a "crappy" day for surf. I caught one ok left and the rest of the time I was out of position for pretty much every wave. It still didn't wipe away my smile though. I was just so stoked to be in the water again.

Fransauce took out Alex's board, which seemed like one of those serious, high performance boards. The board was long, narrow, but had enough beef to it to paddle into anything. Fransauce caught a handful of waves, and seemed happy to be back home.

Fransauce - Back home at Diamondhead

Fransauce's flight took an unexpected detour to SFO because a lady in first class had a seizure. He was all the way in the back when the PA announcement came up, asking if there were any medical professionals aboard the flight. Fransauce raised his hand and volunteered to look at the lady. There was another doctor aboard too, but Fransauce was doing most of the work since he is and EMT. She started to vomit and urinate because she lost control of her bodily functions, and that got on her. As they were landing in SFO, she had another seizure and so Fransauce had to "bag" her by using the air bag and pumping air into her lungs, as the gravity shifted up and down while the plane made an emergency landing in SFO. They were stuck on the tarmac for three hours, while he was covered in her vomit and urine. He said it was pretty intense, and just an overall crazy situation. I told him it was a testament to his character and what he had trained for over the last year and a half, and it was brave of him to volunteer. He could have easily not raised his hand at that moment. But, he chose to raise his hand and save this lady's life. So, his flight was delayed 6 hours, and there was no surf for either of us Thursday.

This session was a baptism of sorts; a cleansing. It was for us to get reacquainted with Hawaiian waters once again. Fransauce's stand out wave was a right, where he turned so hard he created a splash that was deafening to the ears. He stuck the turn, and rode it out. He was genuinely stoked for that wave.

There were so many dark, tanned chicks surfing!! It was so nice staring at their nice butts in bikinis. ONe of them knew what she was doing. The others were meh. But hey, they surf! Automatically hot in my books.

There were a lot of long boarders in the water. A lot of Japanese surfers too. Apparently, this area of Oahu is heavily populated by Japanese people. But if you think about it, Hawaii is populated with a lot of Japanese people.

This one dude on a single fin was killing it today. His bottom turns were so deep and stylish. He looked on the brink of falling because his bottom turn was so deep. he caught every set wave and took them for nice, long rides.

Diamondhead Market & Grill

there were some short boarders out today too. Some of them were rippers, others like me were just noobs, making the most out of the conditions. We surfed about 3 hours and had smiles on our faces from ear to ear. Although i didn't catch any good waves, I was super happy to be in board shorts surfing Diamondhead again.

This day, Fransauce and I ate a quick breakfast at Diamondhead Market and Grill. I had a mahi mahi plate. The Aunty in the window recognized Fransauce immediately.

"Hey, I remember you," she said, with a glowing smile.

"I remember your face too!" Fransauce said.

Lau Lau

Fransauce is just that kind of guy: people remember him because he touches them in special places in special ways. Even after two years, this Aunty remembered him from then.

Pipikaula <3

And then, for lunch, B-sauce (Banana Sauce, aka Justin) took us to a spot called Helena's. This is a local grind for authentic Hawaiian food. The wait was long, so we got a side order of Mitsuken garlic chicken to share (only $2 for 4 pieces!) We had everything from Lomi Salmon, Pipikaula, Poi, Ahi Poke, and Lau Lau. My god, my mouth was having mouthgasms from all the delicious food. Pipikaula is a meat on the bone cured by hanging them atop the grill on wires. I have serious withdrawals about that place now.