Surf's Up!

This is what the ocean at Kepuhi Beach has looked like during my first nine days here~


...flat, calm, lake-like.



Here's what it looked like when I walked over Thursday night for sunset~



And then early yesterday morning~


SO INCREDIBLE!

I don't watch the news or read a newspaper, so I didn't know that high-surf advisories were in effect. (I guess thank goodness that it's just the remnants of a far-away storm and not a hurricane actually approaching... I could be in trouble...)

But you bet the locals knew...


NICOLE, A GRANDMOTHER!, RIDING A BIG ONE


PADDLE SURFER SHANE THE FIREMAN


DOUG (A GRANDPA!), WHO SURFS THE BIGGEST WAVES HE CAN FIND

I'd forgotten how much I love the ocean when the waves are big, and tossed around by strong winds. The energy, the vitality of it, just amazing... and contagious, the normally deserted beach humming. (Well, Moloka'i version of humming!) The first sets are in, man, I heard someone say. About two months early, from what I gather, this kind of surf generally a winter phenomenon. The excitement was palpable. The big "kids" straddling their boards, waiting for the perfect ride, while the little "kids" rocked and rolled in the big, pounding breaks, the shrieks of terror and joy rising above the roar.

It was great to be a part of it, even as an observer. I came back after about and hour and a half with 167 pics. The next day another hundred and fifty or so.

All I can say is thank god for digital - and the delete key.

If you're interested in more surfing pics, here's the link: (someday I'll learn how to "live-link" it.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha_debby/sets/72157622343940236/

Aloha, from Moloka'i