Around The World In 80 Waves

I bought a local surf guide to talk me through the local breaks. When deciding where to get in the water today I spotted this about breaks off Makaha. I’m so glad they told me she is friendly!

I have hired the worst car in the world for my stint on Oahu. It has no power and has the turning circle of a small planet, but I am letting it off because it is a Chevvy Malibu and a Malibu board is what I have surfed most of my life.

After being woken by the wild roosters running around the garden I take it for a spin to check out all the surf spots and see what king of boards the islands can offer me. However there are surprisingly few surf shops on the north shore. I have only seen two which actually sell boards or even wax! It is like trying to buy surf supplies in North Wales back in the Eighties.

Whatever I do end up buying will be my trusty chariot for most of this trip so it is important I get something I like and that suits my style of surfing. Several years ago I bought in haste what I call my ‘rebound board’ after snapping the Williams longboard I had surfed for over a decade. I have never liked the rebound board and even now rarely take it out. In many ways it is like a dance partner and some are just better suited to one another than others.

Historically I have always surfed a bigger board, not least to ensure it is bouyant enough to keep me afloat, but because it is also suited to my style of surfing. However anybody who has tried to move a surfboard without a car of their own (as I will have to do freqeuntly on this trip) will tell you the longer it is the more ungainly it is and at times it is just a painful experience. I remember crossing London at rush hour once with a board under my arm. Never again. As a consequence what I buy will be a compromise between portability and surfability. Buy a performance shortboard which is nimble but unstable like a rowing boat or a cruisy longboard which is very stable but hard to turn like an oil tanker. The bigger the board also needs bigger fins to control the turning and they are not always suited to the reef breaks which I will be trying to surf along the way. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!! So many to choose from, but a board from the islands is a necessary souvenir of this trip.

After a lengthy chat with Bruce at Surf N Sea in Haliewa I opt for this stick that is known as a Strive Bully board. It’s dimensions are 7’10” x 22½” x 3″ with a swallow tail and it has very funky concave grooves on the deck by both rails which supposedly add strength for extreme aerial manouevres (not that they are that likely with me riding it.)

Like the stoy of my love life it is not necessarily the prettiest thing in the shop window, but will guarantee me a great ride, and we are going to have lots of fun together while it lasts, even if it is ultimtely not what I want long term. The sophisticated ones with the best legs and styling were a little out of my price range and I failed to talk them down to my level. However I will make sure she is not neglected whilst in my company regardless of all the above and I will make every effort to get her wet every day on this trip.

I think that is about as far as I should push my double entendres don’t you. ;o) I do however need a nick name for it and would welcome suggestions.

The science of waves breaking is quite straight forward. Each wavelength has a crest (the top) and a trough (the bottom), which happily travel across the sea together at the same speed until the trough is slowed down by the friction of moving against the bottom of the sea. At this point the crest of the wave is unaffected and overtakes the trough which we see as the wave breaking. The extent to which the top of the wave overtakes the bottom generating what is known as a lip is dependent on the size of the wave and the severity with which the trough is slowed down by the sea floor.  There are three types of breaking wave:

1. Beach Break – exactly what you might imagine. The waves break when they are slowed down by the seashore regardless of what that shore consists of. E.g. sand, rock, vegetation.
2. Point Break – no bank robbing or FBI involved here just something sticking out into the water like a jetty or pier or most frequently the cliffs at the side of a bay. The water breaks on the shallow water by the point and then peels off toward the water adjacent to it on the left or right.
3. Reef Break – typically a coral reef but hardy souls such as myself are more used to rock shelves in the colder waters of the northern hemisphere. However reefs can also be man-made such as a shipwreck or the artificial reefs that have been installed at a few locations around the planet specifically to make wave break in a predictable manner.

Pipeline, and much of the rest of Hawaii’s waves are such extreme waves because they have travelled across thousands of miles of very deep water, building in scale and speed, until very abruptly the trough is dramatically slowed down by the bathymetry (or shape of the sea floor) upon contact with the islands. All the Hawaiian islands have been created by molten lava escaping from the earth’s core cooling straight away in the waters of the Pacific only to be immediately covered by the molten lava that is behind it in the fissures escaping from the earth. Over time this process has happened so abruptly that the highest mountain on Hawaii would actually be taller than Mount Everest if it was measured from the sea floor rather than sea level. This sudden change in the water depth from deep ocean to shoreline is compounded by the coral reefs and as a consequence you get seriously thick lips to waves as the crest is pitched forward. Good surfers are capable of riding waves in the space that is created underneath (known as catching a tube), but great surfers can practically live in it.

The pipe masters is the last event on this year’s ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour and after tough competition in the events that have taken place on all the globe’s prime surf locations it will decide the three horse race between Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater or Mick Fanning to be crowned the 2012 World Champion. I should probably tell some of you that the wave is known as Banzai Pipeline because it is basically a suicide wave that I am not sure I will ever be good enough/mentally ill enough to ride. Waves 20 feet high break over water that is only a foot deep between the surface and the razor sharp coral underneath. People die surfing it, so not for the faint hearted. That it breaks so close to the shore allows spectacular pictures such as this, and enthusiastic amateurs like myself a unique opportunity to see the professionals at work at close range. You can watch it live if you like. (http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2012) I will do my best to get on screen.

Anyway enough science it is about time this surf trip involved some surfing, so I’m off to buy a board.

Hawaii is where people first started surfing, and is somewhere I have wanted to visit since watching Magnum PI and Hawaii 5-0 back in the day. I pay particular attention to the safety briefing on this 6 hour flight because the destination islands are only the twice the size of London inside the M25 and the next nearest land is over 2000 miles away. I’m sure that there will not be any issues but I realise how stuffed I would be in the event of any problems.

Thankfully there are none and after picking up a hire car in Honolulu I drive to the hostel I am staying in which is 200m from Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu. I realise quickly that it would probably have been a good idea to have some idea of the US highway code, but apart from one chicken run with another car when leaving the car park all is good.

The surfers reading this will know how significant the waves are on the North Shore, and again how big Waimea is compared to everything else along that shore. For everybody else’s benefit it can be HUGE!!!!!!

I have scored a great room for a few days so that I can find my feet on the islands without having to travel far to see the surf and surfing competitions on offer. In the hostel you can ordinarily feel the ground shaking as every wave crashes onto the shoreline, however it is actually flat when I arrive. The big swell arrives on Friday – 😛

My mother will be delighted to know that there is no chance I’m paddling out here for my first wave in months so I head along the road to Pipeline to check out the Pipe Masters contest going on there but it is sadly also flat there. and the contest is off. Later in the week though, maybe, once there is a swell running and I have warmed up a bit…

Time to settle into my new home so I do some shopping, enjoy a beer and kick back on the porch watching the sun going down. I am joined later by Ina & JP, a lovely couple from Tahiti who I am sharing the apartment with. Life is good

Kevin shows me some more sights before I head off to the islands. Before sunset we take in the staggeringly pretty view of San Francisco from the Marin Headlands, drive through the Presidio and on to Ocean Beach where I see people surfing for the first time on this trip. It is also the very first time I have seen the Pacific Ocean. It doesn’t look too intimidating so I am sure I will be enjoying a lot of waves in it over the next few months.

Other highlights include enjoying a San Francisco Burrito and seeing the trams. They are cable operated street tramways of which there are only three places in the world still in operation; San Francisco, Lisbon in Portugal and Llandudno in North Wales, which is a lovely reminder of home.

After an early night I get up early to travel downtown with Kevin, see the beautiful Ferry Building where he works and watch the sun come up over Bay Bridge which is the other hugely impressive suspension bridge in San Francisco Bay that never gets any of the press coverage of its more famous neighbour.

Walk along the shoreline of the bay where I see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. Many will know I like a bit of open water swimming and it was always my intention of swimming from Alcatraz  to the mainland whilst here. The original plan was to be here by my birthday and do the swim to show that turning 40 means nothing. However I was told it would be too cold after September and delays to the sale of my flat meant that me arriving before then was unlikely so I haven’t done the training I would need to. However the chat about the temperature is clearly rubbish because there is one guy swimming without even wearing a wetsuit. I ask one dude as he gets out and the water is still about 12C. It only ever gets to about 14C around the UK in the height of summer! Sea lions are clearly visible in the water and will come and check out each of the swimmers. A tad more concerning would be the big fish with sharp teeth that feed on the sea lions but ‘Escaping’ from the island is definitely do-able. Maybe when I fly back in after a few weeks of surfing in Hawaii…

I see a lot more of the sights and then head back to catch up with Kevin. I spot a knitting shop on the way and pop in to see if they have a sewing needle with an eye that is big enough for the whipping twine I bought in New Jersey to repair my rucksack because it was already showing signs of strain. I am met by a trio of game old ladies who say, “We don’t see much of your sort in here” as I step through the door. I have a quick chat with them whilst the owner finds something suitable for me and tell them what I am doing over the next year, including the five month overland trip down to Lima when I get back from Hawaii. Quick as a flash one says “I’m free for the next five months. Can I come with you?” Outstanding it is only a week in and I have pulled already on this trip!

Wooo-hoo! Cisco baby. I arrive late on Sunday and head over to see an old surf buddy Kevin who is now living in San Francisco. It is his birthday and he has been sampling some of California’s wines at a local vineyard for most of the day, so we have a quick chat before crashing out.

He heads off to work so I have a day to make the most of (ideally without ticking off maverick cops) before flying on to Honolulu tomorrow. I need to do some research here because when I return from Hawaii it is where I am hoping to buy my wheels for the overland leg down to South America, will check out some dealerships and the price of motors generally.

If you havent already guessed I will confess to being something of a movie geek, so will be on the look out for a few more film locations whilst in the area. All the following were filmed in San Francisco:

• 48 Hours
• Basic Instinct
• Bullitt
• Dirty Harry
• Escape From Alcatraz
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• The Love Bug
• The Rock
• The Towering Inferno
• A View to a Kill

Another city so another tour bus, on which I somehow manage to get a discount or being a member of the military. I see if I can spot the location of a few movies that were filmed in Chicago:

• The Untouchables (1987)
• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Backdraft (1991)
• Road to Perdition (2002)
• The Fugitive (1993)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Risky Business (1983)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

However I’m more interested in the possibility of surfing on a freshwater lake. Lake Michigan is one of the great lakes, all of which are so big that huge waves can be generated on them. A jogger was recently swept off the footpath near Chicago and drowned in the monster surf which can crash along the shoreline. Sadly there isnt enough swell close to town, and what there is has been blown out by the wind coming off the lake. Disappointing because I need to catch some waves before heading out to Hawaii next week and I am running out of time.

I am marginally consoled by driving down Pearson Street in the north of the city and have time for a couple of beers and a Chicago town pizza whilst watching the Chicago Bears play NFL before heading off to the airport.

Flying into ‘the Windy City’ of Chicago just to party on a Saturday night. Sinatra sang that it was ‘my kind of town’ and I have to agree. I love it here despite the freezing wind blowing off Lake Michigan

Chicago is the home of the Blues Brothers, Al Capone and more recently Batman because it was used as the set for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

I check into a hotel and am given a great room on thee 14th floor overlooking the lake. The bellhop tells me to head for the intersection of Rush and Division streets, where I find loads of Irish bars and quickly get chatting with the locals. I am introduced to the noble game of Beer Pong (http://www.angelfire.com/ak6/beerpong/) and am delighted to find that I am quite good at it. In a winner stays on style I am playing the locals for about an hour. All I will say is that the last cup is a knightmare every time.

There are an awful lot of santas about apparantly because the second Saturday in December is the day of the university’s festive pub crawl. As a result I get to see the great site of a whole dancefloor full of them boogie-ing away. I check out a few bars but spend the most time in one called Mother’s which was immortalised in the 80s Brat pack film ‘About Last Night’.

Lots of fun and a top night. Prohibition is certainly not in effect in the Chicago of today

I am somewhat surprised to hear this phrase when I forget to empty a water bottle in my bag at JFK. I am told I can keep the water if I bribe the security guard, which is all the more surprising given the proximity to the events of September 11^th 2001. I decline and then he says I can keep it anyway. All of which is very odd.