Ketchup and Mustard (Haleiwa)

Amanda on her red fish

My buddy Amanda was on the north shore of Oahu with her boyfriend when Scott and I were on the south, and we wanted to meet up for a surf. I'd hoped to time our trip up to coincide with Carissa Moore's wildcard heat in the Van's World Cup of Surfing, but the contest website was abysmal and provided zero information on when that might be. We drove up today to see what we would see, taking the long route meandering the windward coast and stopping at Turtle Bay for lunch at Ola, our feet in the warm sand, looking at the ocean.

Just after we'd ordered, Amanda returned my voicemail. She had a short window to surf and we agreed to meet at protected Haleiwa since I didn't feel comfortable in overhead waves on the still slightly-tippy yellow board. (If I'd had my own surfboard, Emm or Rocket, I would totally have been down for her suggestion of catching inside waves at Chuns. Damn airline board fees!) So I could find her in the water, Amanda told me she'd be on a red fish. I said "we'll be like ketchup and mustard," looking at those condiments on the table.

Amanda's directions were good and I joined her on the inside, soon launching into my first ride. On the next wave, I was just about to pop up when I saw two large rocks exposed in my path. My brain screamed "Abort! Abort!" as I quickly pulled out of the wave. We moved away and outside of the exposed reef, and had to paddle frequently to stay clear of that danger zone.

It was good to surf with Amanda but she had to leave after I'd been there only about half an hour. Funny that we hadn't been able to meet up to surf for probably the last three years in NorCal but managed it, however briefly, several thousand miles away. I got many rides on waves up to chest high, weaving through surf schools and over one none-to-bright swimmer. The waves were mushy and I had to catch them near the peak or just broken. My best was a left with a shoulder. When it started to slow, I turned back to the peak for speed, then left again. Woot!

Sadly, I learned later that Carissa's World Cup heat had started shortly after my session ended a few miles to the south. Had I known, we would've dashed back up to Sunset Beach so I could cheer her in person. (Grrr, Vans! I'm never ever buying your shoes.)

Surfline: 4-7 ft shoulder high to 2 ft. overhead, fair to good conditions. Haleiwa looking much more manageable than yesterday as the winds and surf has dropped down. There are some fun waves rolling through but it is already looking pretty crowded....remember to share waves and show aloha. Sunny, highs 74 to 81. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 9.1 s E 97 / WIND WAVE: 4.9 ft at 5.0 s E / WVHT: 8.2 ft / APD: 6.6 s / MWD: 82° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 8.2 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 110° / ATMP: 74.8° F / WTMP: 76.8° F. Tide: Less than 0.5' and rising.