Kauai (sorta long)

Just returned from my first visit to Kauai. I was in Hanalei all of five minutes before I ran into former New Break/Sunset Cliffs local Tom Lockwood. He has been living in Hanalei for over twenty years. He invited my family for a get together that very afternoon with a bunch over expatriate Point Loma surfers at 'Pine Trees'. It was great to see a lot of the old guard from the 'Cliffs'. Moon Lockwood (Tom's son)gave me a quick rundown of the best places to surf. My first surf was at Waikoko on the West side of the Bay. Fast, head high, waves peeled left across a shallow reef. I was the first one to hit it at dawn. I immediately got barreled and made it. I was stoked. Soon 4 locals came out and we shared some very fun waves for 3 hours. They told me I was very fortunate to catch the spot so clean with offshore winds and no crowd. The next morning I hit Waikoko again. This time it had a cross wind on it and was more sloppy. Still had a fun session with no one out. I think the 76-78 degree water temp had a lot to do with the high fun factor. The trade winds blew in and never stopped (all night and all day)for the rest of the week. I spent a lot of time driving all over the island looking for surf. Spots that had any surf were blown out and spots that fair conditions had small to tiny waves. My family and I cruised all over the Island and had a great time snorkeling and checking out every beach. I have to say the North Shore with Hanalei Bay was by far our favorite. Rich in Hawaiian surfing history and blessed by lush tropical vegetation it was heaven on earth. I was impressed with the surfing talent of the little groms who just shredded the tiny waves. Although it would rain about a dozen times a day (it wasn't rain the locals told me, it was 'blessings' we still found enough sunshine to enjoy the beach. The day before we had to leave we attended a birthday barbecue for Moon Lockwood. He turned thirty, which made me feel very old. I used to shoot photos of him when he was just a grom at the OB pier. Once again the gathering was held at Pine Trees. Great food was shared by all and messages were given to me to deliver to the 'Cliffs' crew back home. It was tough to leave but the it was unanimous with the family, we will be back! On a more somber note, my wife tried to enjoy the time on the Island knowing that ,on her return, she was facing potentially disfiguring cancer surgery on April 16th. Just before we left on vacation she was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. It was found on the cleft of her upper lip so a plastic surgeon will do the surgery to try and reduce scarring. There isn't a lot of flesh to work with on the lip so this makes the surgery more difficult. So all you ASers listen to Foon. He does make sense once and a while. Wear lots of sunscreen! Wear a brimmed hat and stay covered. Go for cancer screenings (it took nine months of convincing by me to get my wife to finally go). In the long run you won't regret it. Aloha!

<Nice 'It's a small world after all' story snipped>

Urrgh. I hope she recovers.

After spending the first 21 years of my life in the Upper Midwest (not much sun exposure, except for the 'lifeguard' summer). I lived about 23 more in FL, of which every point is closer to the Equator than San Diego. I got a couple blistering burns

Best wishes to her and your family! Heal quickly,

George, let me second G on that...and anything I can do, let me know.

As for 'disfiguring'..... any woman who wants to hang out with a damned kneeboarder like you has got to be about three thousand kinds of beautiful. As you well know. And, I am sure, you'll tell her.

Just wanted to echo what G & Doc have said.

Very Best & Most Healing of Thoughts,

Much Aloha,

Dee Dee

Thanks for the kind words. It means a lot to me. The plastic surgeon put off the surgery for ten days. He feels very confident that there will be very little scarring. That information lifted my wife's spirit. OBsurfr(kneed4speed) use sunscreen and stay covered!