Big waves a dream for surfers, spectators alike
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
WAIMEA BAY — There have been brighter skies, bigger swells and cleaner conditions, but yesterday visitors and regulars alike got a taste of what makes the North Shore's seven miles of coastline world famous:
B
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ig waves and lots of action.
Big-wave riders were out in force yesterday at Waimea Bay. "These guys know what they're doing," said one spectator from California. "That's why I'm not out there." Another spectator said, "I've never seen anything that compares to this — it's very beautiful, actually."
"Look at that — seven surfers on one wave," yelled Jay Thompson as he stared in astonishment at more than three dozen bobbing bodies in the Waimea line-up.
"It's just a bunch of out of control people — it's complete carnage. The challenge is ducking people and dodging boards."
Still, Thompson, 19, admitted the day's wave action was the sort that surfers dream about.
Moments earlier Thompson had been lucky enough to catch a big wave by himself and ride it all the way onto shore as spectators oohed and ahhed from one end of the bay to the other.
Waimea Bay offered the best waves yesterday for those brave and experienced enough to face them. Humongous-wave riders who troll the outer reefs on boards pulled by personal water craft hardly knew where to begin.
"The tow-in guys are having a field day," said Ocean Safety Capt. Kenny Rust. "This is what they live for. The Jet Skis are everywhere."
For spectators like Kim Gimbal, a 51-year-old elementary music teacher from Chico, Calif., the experience was a dream come true.
The National Weather Service said the high surf should continue today with wave faces at 25 to 35 feet on the north shores, and 15 to 20 feet on the leeward shores of O'ahu and Kaua'i. The leeward shore of the Big Island should see waves of 12 to 18 feet.
"I've seen the pictures of the North Shore all my life," he said as he focused his binoculars. "I subscribed to Surfer magazine in 1962. But I've never been to the North Shore in the winter time to actually see it.
Surf forecast
"It's amazing. It's awesome. It totally lives up to its billing. There are probably some of the best surfers in the world out there today. These guys know what they're doing. That's why I'm not out there. I know better."
Gimbal, his wife, Paige, and 14-year-old daughter said they had only personally touched the waves of Waikiki.
Sacramento attorney Bob Holly said he had witnessed waves in California before, but "I've never seen anything that compares to this — it's very beautiful, actually."
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But treacherous.
Mainland visitors marveled yesterday at the North Shore's big waves, which were "awesome," as one spectator put it, and treacherous, too. Lifeguards made three rescues yesterday at Waimea.
Waimea lifeguard Taio Shipman swam to a distressed surfer about 80 yards off the Waimea shore. That surfer only needed a pair of fins to make it the rest of the way on his own power. But almost immediately another surfer in the same vicinity was waving for help.
Shipman used a rescue tube to get that guy to shore.
The surfer got into trouble when a big wave closed on him and took his board into the rocks. Then the rip current caught him, and he was losing strength and struggling when the lifeguard reached him.
In all, lifeguards made three rescues and more than a thousand preventions (personal warnings and interventions) at Waimea yesterday.
And that wasn't the only beach where lifeguards had their hands full. At Rock Piles, large waves surged across the beach and spilled over Kamehameha Highway, leaving rocks and debris and startled motorists in their wake.
It was all in a day's work for veteran lifeguard Lt. Pat Kelly.
"People don't realize how powerful these waves are," he said, as he grabbed his bullhorn to warn yet another straggler to avoid the beach. "They can wash an entire car away."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
