Just another day in paradise

Morning at Keauhou Bay

Nothing like spending the morning in the ocean. Recently, I have been taken under the wing of a experienced paddler, Lorrin. He offered to take me surfing in his 2-man canoe. I jumped at the possibility to get more 'water' time in with paddling. We went out early Sunday morning and paddled to Kahalu'u. The waves were flat but I was able to get a understanding of surfing with an outrigger canoe. When we got back I told him that I would go again if the opportunity ever arose. Tuesday night I saw him at practice and he said that the waves would be up for the 4th of July. So 7:30 the next day we rigged the canoe and paddled out. Instead of going to Kahalu'u we went to Lyman's. I was unsure when we began as to where Lyman's was. As we continued along the coast I felt the burning sensation thru my arms and back as I pushed my muscles more then ever before. It took us about 45mins of continuous paddling to reach our destination, and boy was I happy to reach it. There were already 20+ surfers and stand up paddlers in the water. As we sat there, I found it interesting how he watched the waves and patterns. Then it came, the intensity of his face told me that he had found the perfect wave for us. We started paddling and I synced with his faster pace. Breath, punch, focus. All of a sudden the wave grabbed our canoe and we surged thru the water. Over went the paddles to the right side as we skimmed them lightly on the water.  I glanced over and saw the wave beside me. Wow, it was huge. The front bow skipped and dug into the water a bit. SPLASH! We got wet from the spray. Watching Lorrin carefully, I leaned hard to the left and we existed the wave. We sat still in brief wonder and then he yelled "Way to go!" and we smacked each other a wet high-5. Out we paddled again and again, catching waves. We came back to Keauhou Bay 3 hours later and rinsed and put away the canoe. Then I joined him for breakfast at the famous Sam Choy's. The view from the restaurant was gorgeous as we could see the whole coast.  I traced our path with my eyes and wondered just how far we had paddled. The omelet and ice cold water was refreshing as we sat and talked about paddling, surfing, and all things water. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the experience, but if I just close my eyes I can go back there.  




I have since figured it out to be 8 miles round trip