High surf pounds North Shore
By Curtis Lum and Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writers
WAIMEA BAY — Residents of the Islands' north- and west-facing shores were bracing last night for high surf that was expected to peak at 30 feet to 35 feet shortly after midnight.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
O'ahu lifeguards closed all North Shore beaches yesterday afternoon after a high-surf warning was issued, but they had to make relatively few rescues. As of 11 p.m., there were no reports of road closures or property damage.
Tanya Chin, left, of Kaimuki, and Patty Boonsub, of Manoa, checked out the surf at Waimea Bay yesterday. By early afternoon, waves rose to 18- to 22-foot faces and lifeguards warned people to keep their distance from the water because waves were washing over the roads.
By early afternoon, lifeguards said the waves had risen to 18- to 22-foot faces. Bodo Van Der Leeden, lifeguard captain on the North Shore, said people were warned to keep their distance from the water because some waves were washing over the road in areas such as near the Rock Piles surf spot at Sunset Beach.
Francis Pedro, district coordinator for O'ahu Civil Defense, said it was the biggest surf he's seen in two years. Officials said it would probably peak with the plus-2.2-foot high tide at 1:50 a.m.
Schofield soldier Frank Durand, an Iraq war veteran, had waded out into waist-deep water at Waimea Bay yesterday afternoon when he was ordered back to shore by lifeguards.
Durand, 34, who returned on Valentine's Day after 14 months in Iraq, said he and his buddies would talk about how they were missing the big surf season back in Hawai'i. But yesterday may have been too close for comfort.
"The currents were pretty strong, and I could already feel it sucking me in," Durand said. "I just wanted to go in where it breaks, just to get wet."
But the lifeguards, he said, "know what they're doing, and for good reason."
Salt spray from the pounding waves shrouded the North Shore like fog, and was so thick in the air that one could taste it.
A modest number of people stopped along Kamehameha Highway to watch the surf, but traffic was flowing through the community, according to several businesses. Bryan Smith, an employee at at Tropical Rush Surf Company, said traffic was lighter than usual but that he expects more today.
"There's a lot of strong surging that's washing up the beach," said Kyle Pao, a lifeguard at 'Ehukai. "It's just a big mess out here. Strong winds from the west and waves breaking everywhere, kind of out of control. No one is in the water at all."
Police stretched yellow tape at beaches, while lifeguards put warning signs and red flags in the sand.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We're afraid that people will come down when it's dark and they'll want to get their feet wet," said city Ocean Safety Lt. John Hoogsteden. "The surf is so big that it can easily wash them from the beach out into the ocean and there would be no one here to save them."
Tommy and Angela Larson of Pecatonica, Ill., sunbathed at Waimea Bay yesterday. Lifeguards closed down all North Shore beaches later in the afternoon after a high-surf warning was issued. Surf was expected to reach 30 to 35 feet after midnight.
Rough sea conditions resulted in an air rescue yesterday of two girls in their early teens from a rock just offshore from La'ie Point.
Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said the two girls, both local residents, swam out to the rock about 15 feet to 20 feet off shore from the Waimanalo side of the point but decided not to try to return to shore because of deteriorating sea conditions.
Fire officials received a distress call at about 12:45 p.m. and a Fire Department helicopter was dispatched to the scene.
Fire Capt. Ray Sheldon, of the Ka'a'awa fire station, said the helicopter picked up a rescue worker at Hukilau Beach in La'ie and ferried him to the rock in a net dangling from below the helicopter.
The helicopter then ferried the girls back to the beach one at a time and both were back on shore by about 1:30 p.m., Sheldon said.
Kaua'i lifeguards closed all north shore beaches yesterday morning due to rising surf.
Firefighters at the Kaua'i Fire Department Hanalei Substation yesterday afternoon said the surf was averaging 25 feet, with bigger sets. There were no reports of incidents requiring rescues.
Richard Samiley, a worker at Surf N Sea, a retail and rental business, said people were coming into the shop yesterday, talking about the waves and how they expect to do some tow-in surfing today.
On big-wave days the shop doesn't rent surfboards, he said, adding that the company works with the lifeguards.
"We gotta watch their back and they watch ours," Samiley said.
Advertiser staff writers David Waite and Jan TenBruggencate contributed to this report. Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025. Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
