KKs Vacay: Final Day of Pipe Masters and Saying Bye to the Dojo 121413

Surf Report: 10-12 foot Pipe
Water: Warm
Atmosphere: Buzzing with energy
Winds: Offshore

We wake up the next morning and I prepare a Kale smoothie for all of us.  We have to clear out the fridge, so we do our best to eat all the produce.  We start our walk down to Pipeline.  The morning is damp, and the sun is just trying to peak over the mountains.  As we walked down to Kam Highway, a truck pulls over.  Francis's friend is riding in the passenger seat.  He offers us a lift in the truck to Pipe.  So, we climb into the truck bed, where they had picked up two Japanese girls en route to Waimea Bay.

Pipe Masters!!

We get dropped off at Pipe, and there is a huge crowd assembled already.  It's only 8:30 in the morning, and hundreds, maybe a thousand, people are lining the beach, securing a spot for the final day of the Pipe Masters. 

Our front row seats!!

We sit down right in front of the scaffolding.  We see free surfers taking off on bombs.  The waves are HUGE today.  There is barely any space on the take off, but the line of priority is clear - the locals and pros are all taking off on the best waves. 

We see JOB, CJ Hobgood, Nathan Fletcher, and a slew of other pro's surf before the event.  JOB breaks his board going for a bomb, and has to swim in.  We see groms paddling out to Pipe too, as they get dragged from Backdoor all the way to the channel before they even get to the line up.  Wakita-san and her two kids are here too.  She says to me, "You made it!  So you cancelled your flight?" 

"No, I'm just here for the first heat.  I needed to see some of it before I left!"

"Well, that's good.  Hope to see you again," she tells me.

The event is on hold until 9:30 AM because of the morning sickness.  We have to leave here by 10:00 AM so Nicole can get to the dentist, and I can make my flight back home.

I line up to buy t-shirts.  It's a long ass wait, and much of the heat is underway while I wait.  Francis and Nicole come join me to line up, saying that they almost got washed away from a set. 

"The family next to us, their daughter almost got dragged into the water.  All their iceboxes and seats got washed away.  We were lucky to get all our stuff up before we got washed away too," Nicole says.

We watch from the shore after buying the t-shirts. We watch Mick and CJ's heat only.  CJ was on fire the whole time!  He took great wave after great wave.  Mick on the other hand... was off.  He would take off late under the lip and not make the drop on more than one instance.  I thought to myself, "Aw man, his timing's off.  He's not gonna win the World Title like this!" 

As we walk away from the beach, the countdown begins.  And then, we turn around to see Mick slide into this foamy wave.  The wave reforms as he fades out, and so he pulls into the tube.  It seems like eons before the wave spits, and then Mick comes flying out of the barrel.  A perfect 10, hands down.  Mick wins the heat, and later on wins the World Title. 

Blazing HOT

We walk back to the house.  I am sexting while walking, and stub my toe on the speed bump.  I can say that I got this from Pipeline. 

I got it from Pipeline, I swear!!

We see Alessa Quizon and Caio Ibelli pull up to a parking spot further down near the parking lot.  They are late to the party.  We make it back to our house and the sun is blazing hot.  I have most of my stuff packed from the night before, so all I have to do is clean out the fridge and get all my stuff into the car.  Francis and I eat the leftovers from last night, including the ice cream, as we watch the Pipe Masters on my phone. 

We pack all of our belongings into our cars, give a big hug, and say good-bye.  It's time for me to leave the North Shore and head to Town.  My mind is racing on all the things I need to do before my flight.  Go to Mitsuken, pick up garlic chicken, head to the Dojo, say bye to everyone, head back to the HNL airport, get my stuff checked in, and then have a beer. 

First stop is Mitsuken for some garlic chicken.  I ordered it last night so it was waiting for me at the front.  All they do here is garlic chicken, so you know it's good.  I grab my 60 pieces of chicken and head out. 

Second stop is the Dojo.  On my way there, the H1 East bound had traffic up the wazoo.  A car was overturned, and was blocking all traffic.  "How will I get to the airport on time with that traffic?" I thought.   Only Shizzles is home at the Dojo, so I say my good-bye to him.  Alex comes home right in the nick of time, and we say our good-byes too.

"Man, Klaude, you changed the way I think," Alex tells me.

"Oh yea? How so?"

"Seeing you here, and how much you got done... just seeing how active you are, and how much you took advantage of the things we take for granted, it's changed the way I see our island.  We have all of this, every day.  And you showed me how much we should be doing here."

"Aw thanks bruh, it was only fun thanks to all of you.  You guys made this trip a trip of a life time," I told them. 

Justin wasn't home, so I had to call him to say good-bye.  He left me a shirt from Fitted Hawaii and a red and brown LA hat with Hawaiian print on as a parting gift for me.

 I make my way down to the H1, and traffic is backed up to Kokohead.  I couldn't believe it, but at the same time, I knew this was going to happen.  I take the exit for Nimitz Highway, and take Nimitz "highway" (which is really just surface streets along Waikiki) all the way through to HNL airport.  I made my vehicle check in time and felt relieved, and sad. 

I get on the bus, and start talking to a couple next to me.  The husband, Mike, is a retired Navy Seal, and they are enjoying their retirement years.  We talk about San Diego, Los Angeles, Oahu, and Kauai.  He hands me a beer from his cooler, saying that I should enjoy it before my flight.  I thank him for it as they got off the bus.

I am the last one on the bus as the driver slows down to a halt at United Airways terminal.  He helps me get my stuff off, and wishes me a safe flight.  I see airport security on my left and right.  I sit my backpack down, bust out the beer, and start chugging it.  It's an IPA in a can, and it tastes so refreshing.  I toss the can into the recyclables trash can, and head to the terminal. 

"That bag is going to cost you," says the lady directing traffic.  "It's over 75 pounds."

"Well, I paid $100 when I came here," I inform her.

"It's going to cost you $200," she says.

I roll my eyes, thinking this is bullshit. 

I do a self check-in, and see the option of checking in luggage.  25-50 lbs is free, 50-70 lbs is $125, and 70 lbs or above is $225.  I select the 50-70 lbs weight range, pay my $125, and check my luggage in at the odd-sized baggage area. 

"You havetah walk over der, and drop it off over der, k?" says the lady.

"Over there?  Where there's no one?"

"Ya, over der.  Someone come pickitup later," she answers.

"Are you sure?  There's NO ONE THERE."

Another attendant chimes in.  "Dun worry, someone will be der.  They come pickitup, no worries.  You betta hurry up, your flight soon," he says.

Ok, fine.  I walk it over... sure enough, NO ONE IS THERE.  I stick some FRAGILE stickers on just in case, say a little prayer, and leave my surfboards there. 

I lug my heavy ass bag with 60 pieces of hot garlic chicken in it, along with my uke, and my backpack, all the way through the TSA checkpoint, and then to the bar.  I have to have my ceremonial tall glass of beer before I board. 

Finally, I get to my terminal, where most of the passengers are already boarded.  I guess I could have missed my flight if I had done anything differently that day, but I was on time, ready to go back to Los Angeles.  I send out a few more texts of thanks to people I saw on this trip, smiling, recounting all that had happened on this trip. 

Last beer before leaving Hawaii

I set out this trip to surf and relax.  I set out this trip to see the Pipe Masters live.  I set out this trip to meet my surf heroes.  I set out this trip to meet my friends I haven't seen in over a year and a half, some of them more. 

What actually happened was far and beyond what I could have ever expected.  I got to surf world class waves, and relax in a more than comfortable beach house.  I got to see many heats of the Pipe Masters, and met a lot of my surf heroes, some more times than one.  I got to see a live concert where a lot of surf superstars were present.  I got to hang out with a lot of my friends that I haven't seen in a long time.  We played ping pong, ate, drank, smoked, surfed, cooked, laughed, and cheered.  I got to meet a lot of new people too, getting to know them, even just for a moment, and how our lives intertwined on this small piece of volcanic rock floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

"Next time, we're finding you a local girl so you stay here, ok Klaude?" Nicole and Francis said, before we parted ways.  I suppose that was the only thing missing from my trip. 

I am grateful for the wonderful trip I was able to share with all my friends and with myself.  I am grateful for the waves I caught and the lessons I learned from the ones I didn't.  I am grateful for the very seconds that ticked on as I enjoyed my first vacation in over a year and a half.  This trip was indeed a trip of a life time.  I felt that my time on this island has gone far beyond my expectation, and that I probably won't have a trip this amazing again. 

Who knows?  I may have to travel to a different destination now in order to write another KK's Vacay blog entry. 

Oh, and my surfboards never even left Hawaii.  I got them two days later.  Go fucking figure.  At least nothing was damaged or stolen. 

Mahalos to all my ohana that I got to see on this trip.  Mahalos to the beautiful island of Oahu, for treating me so well.  Mahalos to everyone I met along the way on this trip.  And most importantly, Mahalos Mother Ocean for being so great to us.