November was a pretty good month for surf on Oahu. In the winter we get more waves on the famous North Shore (20 feet and higher) and the West and East shores. In Honolulu (town) the surf is smaller during winter.
We had the chance to surf at a break located within Kaneohe Marine Corps Base on a Saturday in November. You can't just drive in there, you gotta know someone with access if you're not military.
The surf break is called North Beach. We took one look at the waves and were ready to go. The sets had five to six foot faces and was a fun day! Here's a photo of one of the smaller waves. It was overcast and the photo came out dark.
Then, the tricky part. Getting back to shore. Sounds simple, right? Not at North Beach. There's lots of reef and rocks. We paddled back in and I let the others go ahead of me. I was concerned about a wave hitting us and we could bang into each other. As the others reached shore I paddled in. There's a narrow channel to paddle through. Go too far one way or the other and there are problems. This being my first time at North Beach, I went too far to one side. Result: rip current. I was paddling as fast as I could and nothing was happening. The others stood on shore and pointed for me to paddle to one side. I kept on paddling, looking up and not getting closer.
Finally, my wife's (adult) son swam out, grabbed my surfboard and instructed me to swim to shore. It was just 10-20 feet away, seemed like it would be okay. He surfs all the time and managed to get the board back to shore quickly. I'm a decent swimmer and started moving towards the shore. Well, the current was still there and I started getting tired within a minute or two. Next thing I know, I see a float land in the water by me and two lifeguards swam out to help me. Those guys had swim fins, which helped a lot.
A few minutes later we were up on the sand and feeling better. It was an eye opener. I think if I had been alone without lifeguards I would have made it onto the beach, however I would have climbed over the rocks and gotten beaten up by the waves.
Here's a photo of me with one of the two lifeguards, his name is Chris.
You can see the waves behind us, it was a nice day other than paddling in. It was also a great reminder that the ocean is powerful and we should respect it always.
Aloha, Mike
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