Details of my first North Shore mission...

General Discussion
1

Wake up at 4 am

Drive 1 hr North

Get Coffee

Check a few breaks

Paddle out just before sun rise

The water is warm, its just my roomate, myself, and two locals for the 1st 1/2hr with plenty of chest high waves to share.

Then this old kook who thinks he is God comes out on a new glossy red 9’0 gun and drops in on me 4 times, breaking the steep waves everytime and leaving me in the mush. I think…maybe this dude is just a kook, so I let it slide, but the on the 5th time he goes again, I eyeball him and shake my head & he still paddles and drops in on me. I turn hard & try to get along side with him, but ate it because I dug too much of my rail into the steep face of the wave.

So I’m sitting out waiting for another set and this 250lb walrus paddles full throttle into my board…“Touch my board one more time and I’ll bust your fucking lip open!” he says.

-“What guy? Your dropping in on MY waves!”

“You have no respect!”

-“Respect?You were dropping in on my waves!”

He splashes me in the face and I push his board away…

“you have no respect”

-“What? you are dropping in on ME!”

-"Chill out, bro.

"

“NO, I’m not going to chill, and I’m not your bro! What are you doing out here? you have no respect”

-“I live here”

"yeah? my house is right there! You have no fucking respect.

Paddle your ass back in!"

-"I’m not going any where, dude. relax. were all here to have fun.

"

“I’m going to bust your fucking lip open! If you see me paddling DONT!”

-"Alright bro, I wont paddle for waves you’re going to snake me on.

"

He paddles off and starts yelling again.

“I know you want to LEARN how to surf, but this is not the place to do it! Have fun on your own time!”

-“Learn how to surf?! what are you talking about man? This is my time I got class in two hours!”

(I may not be a new school supper shredder, I’m a soul surfer on a 6’ 10lb trpple stringer single fin…but I have more style than this dude did)

he kind of stalks me for a bit, but ends up pearling on nearly every wave I saw him catch, while I caught one of the cleanist waves of my life…Nice bottom turn, fluid skate like pumping inbetween hitting the lip hard 3 or 4 times and faded out into an incompleted roundhouse…need to work on the fallowthrough still.

he ends up going in after about a 45 min session…most likley had some baby rabbits to drown…

Didn’t let it kill my stoke though!

2

Rhino,

If someone asks you ‘‘You like beef?’’, don’t say yes, he’s not asking about your choice of steaks. You might want to ‘‘walk a bit more gently’’ until you have been recognized as something of a regular fixture in the area breaks. You will find that after a few sessions, local guys will say hello, or give an acknowledging nod to you. Things always go smoother when you make freinds, than when you make enemies. Sorry to hear that your first taste of the NS, left a sour taste in your mouth. On the bright side, at least you didn’t taste a ‘‘knuckle sandwich.’’ Best of luck to you. You will get the waves of your life, on that seven mile piece of coastline.

3

Most of the guys over there are not like that …and if some other “locals” had witnessed that bullshit behavior they probably woulda told the ahole to give it a rest.

Hoot guys when they get a good one…surf alone…they will get to know ya and you will see that Aloha does in fact exist on Oahu.

Roger

4

dude you aren’t in san diego any more and you aren’t no hawaiian local. when he says hes going to bus your lip it ain’t talk he going to bus your lip brah. then your face be all hammajane. you got a lot to learn about livin in hawaii. good luck I hope you face don’t get all bus up in the process

5

No shit Rhino, your first time to the North Shore? I’d bust your lip too acting like that.

Respect in Hawaii takes the form many ways. 250 lb kook or not, some one living on the NS has right of way over everybody…that includes the pros too. Doesn’t matter about priority, wave count, etc. I get my ass burned all the time over there, and on some fairly large chunks of water. Just come up smiling, and buy everybody a beer back at the parking spot.

You can be the hottest surfer in the line up…doesn’t matter, everybody that surf in Hawaii is better than the best surfers in SD. They have seen it all, soul, shread, punk,disco,vibe, 5 summer session…whatever.

Your a tall, thin, long blonde haired Haloe that no body knows. I’ve been going there for a few years (doesn’t make me anything special), and my best friend lives & works on the NS (that makes him special). He never leaves the NS…and none of his buddies leave either, unless it’s to go the the HD or Costco for a Nail & Beer run. I surf with that crew and have become good friend with them, but I still catch ocassional heat from them…But the heat is always disfused by respect, respect in that the local is always right. If not just paddle in and tell the guy respectfully that you’ll be back later when he’s not there. The trick is to be invisible. Invisible means getting burned, and not making a big deal about it. Invisible is not making a face at the Moke when your paddling back out. Respect is not making a move for the same wave local is paddling for, even if local is in front of you.

The Local will burn you every time on the set wave, some spots they will tell you to go (like Sunset) even when you don’t want to go…It’s there job. Hawaii as you know is a different & special place. But as you have probably found out a very interesting place. There is a lot of testerone, and guys that can back it up. It’s not like California with a bunch of soccer dad, latte drinking, water splashing in your face, kind of surf altercations. When it goes bad in Hawaii someone usually gets hurt, and more than not, hurt bad. I’d consider yourself fairly lucky.

I’m glad you got some good waves…just the beginning of a long season. Keep the stoke.

6

my favorite part was when he guy kept pearling trying to snake Rhino…just desserts.

this is precisely why I’d rather go surf shit somewhere than have to deal with asshats in the water.

in fact, I get in the water to avoid the asshatery on land…why look for more?!

7

I hate those guys

probably a transplant who came over here less than 20 years ago and now “claims” the northshore as their own just like the rest of the “transplants”. If its an old timer (like 60+) then back off and ask first cause it could be Peter Cole, Jock or someone like that. That’s why guys like us who were born and raised here just don’t surf country anymore unless there’s a good reason. I hate to say this but I really hope the economy gets so bad that all these transplants just give up trying to make their own private paradise here and go back home… It probably won’t happen but the coming unemployment and increased cost of living will have alot of them rethinking their “investment” and reason for being here.

Maybe if all the homeless on the westside were kicked out and relocated to campout all along the so called 7 mile miracle the so called “new locals” would pack up and move on…

Resinhead is right…

real country locals would never act that way unless they were mainland or townie transplants.

If you’re patient and wait your turn even the harshest lineup enforcer will make sure you get a good one.

If someone like that pulled a stunt on me, my brother and my friends we would tell him to go home where he came from, or keep dropping in on him till he went it or even shoot a board his way every now and then to emphasis the point. If he was a real local he would be able to surf his spot with his eyes closed even riding behind someone in the pit which alot of locals have already turned into an art form. Who cares how big someone is cause if he can’t surf he won’t get our respect.

We’re the most “aloha type” of locals you’d ever find in the lineup but we’re old school too. So if you’re gonna be an a**hole prosurfer or not you’re gonna get a board up your butt or a gash across in your rail cause if you think we care about dinging our boards when we got 35 more at home you’re crazy if you think we won’t waste one to teach you the same lessons we were taught to be respectful…

So as long as you’re respectful, patient and like resinhead said low key you should never have a problem in most non-animal spots. If you’re gonna hangout with the animals or teach someone a lesson just make sure you’re a way better surfer than they are before you do. The lineup won’t care if you enforce against a kook even if its a local kook. The better more respectful surfer will always have the approval of the pack.

Oh yeah…

I’d cut your hair or at least pull it in a pony tail if you want that invisibility…

8

Yeah, in Hawaii ‘Respect the Locals’ is just

a euphemism for watchout for the violent lowlifes.

and around June 15th or 20th in the high school arena(h.s.graduation day) is ‘kill haole day’.

Every so often, usually on the westside, an 18year old someone does just that in commemoration.

‘Respect the locals’ in California just doesnt have that same Hawaiian flavor!

9

I ran into similar situation on Kauai, at Waiohi

surfing with Shorty and Big Larry (transplants)

I was on a fresh 9.6 fungun first time in decent waves

this young local singled me out to harase because I backed out of a wave (for him) and then he missed it.

now the down talk starts and Im a spoiled haole with a fancy board and “go or go home” words comes out, the usual drill

so I just sat for a bit and kept to myself

Shorty paddled over to me and said that the kid was starting shit with everybody around him

I said I thought I did something disrespectfull unknowingly

Shorty told me the kid was just an ass cause this was the only spot working and the swell wasnt coming anytime soon (frustrated)

and the other locals were being cool to all the tourists

so Shorty and I decided to realy piss him off and we got it in gear and split the peak on every set wave that came through

the kid was shut down and he was pissed

and he left

10
Quote:

so Shorty and I decided to realy piss him off and we got it in gear and split the peak on every set wave that came through

the kid was shut down and he was pissed

and he left

yup

that’s how it’s done

one in front and one in back

box em in and make em go straight

or take off in front and just fade em into the pit

or take off behind and do a bunch of fins out top turns by their face

all bound to make them think twice

one day I would love to be able to launch over the top of someone and land on the other side of them…

that would be the ultimate “time for you to go in” move

I guess I shouldn’t be giving away all these secrets.

amazing how the “locals” new instinctively who was right and who was wrong…

11

haven’t been there in about 5 or 6 years and i’ve only surfed the NS a few seasons…

i remember my first time going, i was kinda stressing off all the stories i had heard

about localism and being a scrawny haole surfing by myself, i was just waiting to get

called out… it never happened (in the water at least)… i probably just lucked out but i

do remember getting dropped in on more than a few times… just grin and bear it… my

thing was that i didn’t know who was who… by no means am i a scrapper and i’m not a

local anywhere but i put up with stuff over there that i wouldn’t have allowed anywhere

in california. i kinda felt like i was a tolerated guest and i was really just trying to get

some of the best waves of my life. eventually i would get the smile and nod from some

of the regulars that i would see, other than the faces that i recognized from magazines,

i didn’t even know who was “local” and who was ???

you’ll get your waves for sure. there’s plenty there especially if you go at off peak times

like in the almost dark, or when it’s raining or,… i’m not trying to tell you how you should

act at all. what do i know? but, you might not want to make enemies anywhere over there not

knowing who’s who and who knows who. it could come around to bite you in the ass when

you least expect it. you’ll definitely get some good waves, i did… and one last thing unlike

most surfers in California, when guys over there say they’re gonna pound you they will follow

through… it’s not just talk like it is over here most of the time. so unless you’re ready to go

at it, it’s probably best not to call anyones bluff.

12
Quote:

and around June 15th or 20th in the high school arena(h.s.graduation day) is ‘kill haole day’.

Every so often, usually on the westside, an 18year old someone does just that in commemoration.

Did you get this information first hand? Been living on Oahu since the 70’s… my experience as a hapahaole graduate of Waianae HS (1981), somehow I lived through every supposed ‘kill haole day’ in my school days and never heard of anyone getting beat up, let alone killed just because someone proclaimed it was kill haole day. Sure, a new caucasian kid would probably have been anxious after hearing about such a ‘day’, but that’s the idea. It’s just the kind of thing perpetuated by word of mouth, encouraged by those who take advantage of schoolkid fear.

13

From my memory, 77’ or 78’ Waianae Army Beach guard killed or shot by youth.

Happened on Kill Haole Day, attributed to ‘kill haole day’

in the media. Dont know final motive from investigtion…only know what I heard in the media initially while I was living there.

I payed as much attention to the news back then as any 20 year older.

Couldnt find any quick interent references. I’ll look harder.

back then, besides it being racist sentiment that was passed

on as tradition, physical violence and hazing, that incident made it real enough.

Caught up on a bit of reading of ‘Kill Haole Day’ seems to

be subsiding.

14

My 9 foot shinny red glossed gun friggin works great. My first few waves I had to work the kinks out. I was taking off too late, really deep in the pocket and I pearled a few times. Then I got it nailed.

Of special note there was this dude out there on a single fin 6 footer talking to himself. I over heard words like respect, soul surfer, class, stoke, brah, looking at his watch all crazy like. I had to really keep my eye on him cuz he was was scaring me. He needs to work on his semi complete roundhouses too.

I can’t wait until mid december when only the dedicated regulars will be out there.

16

Is this you, dude?

If so, small world,aint it?

It seems that the general consencious is that Locals rule & I drool. And next time I see you up there I’ll be sure not to disrespect you & let you have the right away. But what you did monday was totally uncalled for.

Actually, right when you paddled out I ment to complement your board & ask you who shaped it. I’m sure we know a lot of the same people.

And you totally did not have to back off of that 1st set wave as I was paddling out that got you agro in the first place.

-I dont own a watch by the way…and we are all learning something new everyday. I’m one who who embraces the good in life and try to overloook the shortcomings of misanthropist.

I’ll be out there alot in the early mornings before my classes at UH, so I hope we can find some mutual respect at one point and share the stoke together.

Cheers.

17

those guys were just drunk and high and looking to rob or rape anyone at gun point…

Pack mentality

none of them would’ve done anything if they were by themselves too chicken…

My classmates did the same to hippies along the north side of Kauai all through the early 70’s

Kill “insert race here” Day was usually the last day of school.

It had nothing to do with killing anything but more like the original “Mosh Pit” of the public education system where the kids ran wild because they knew they wouldn’t get into trouble anymore. Nowadays they just set something on fire or blow something up with a pipebomb or M80.

There’s no racism here just pure violence.

Like the father that floored the military husband with a punch to the throat and then body slammed onto the asphalt his wise mouthing wife in the waikele parking lot now serving time in prison. Or the 300-400lb samoan wife beater who hunted down his wife who was in hiding with a restraining order then ran her off the road her bludgeoned her to death with the stock of a shotgun and punched out a 65 yr old ex marine grandpa who tried to intervene. Or the ice addicted pizzahut harrasser who took his neighbor child threw him off the freeway overpass into traffic in the middle of the day. Or the ice addicted homeless local ex-football hero who killed a european kid just starting medical school who wanted to take his picture with one punch to his head. These are just the one on one incidents that happened recently not including all the punk stabbings and shootings that have been happening at Ala Moana Park and Velzyland where the “he is a good boy” shooter was just sentenced to prison.

Last week at an important dinner we hosted for some out of town guests on the Mariposa veranda in Neiman Marcus our dinner was interrrupted with a traffic stop on Ala Moana Boulevard right infront of the shopping center bus stop below us. Sirens blasting from 6 cops cars and at least 6-8 cops screaming at the occupants with guns drawn. You never see something like that in such a busy public place. But there was an armed bank robbery 30 minutes earlier in Kahala.

so yeah

Kill Haole Day is a figment of everyone’s imagination.

It’s more like Poof you’re dead, oops I’m sorry didn’t mean that…

And Austin don’t let it get you down

In Hawaii you just let your surfing do all your talking

the rest will always fall into place

18

…I had a feeling you were at home torturing bunnies James…

19

In the rest of the world we talk about how bad localism is, but it is ok in Hawaii. Oh, I forgot its called respect over there. Gimme a break, that’s why I stopped going to Hawaii a long time ago.

20

I think I met that guy once, at Kamiland. He had a function in that he made me realize I had a mainland attitude and I calmed way down after that.