Spent a week on the North Shore, met some cool people, surfed some great waves (rocky point, pipe, and went to look at wiamea but didnt paddleout.) It was a great surf trip with the fam but now im back on the east coast just in time for a solid swell. Yew!
lucky bastard! did you get to surf yesterday?? i surfed the lighthouse in the am, rodanthe at lunch for a bit and jeanettes until dark. jeanettes was probably the best ive ever surfed it. got a standup barrel on one!
Little brah dune!! Good to hear! Post some pics of some waves! That place is soo special... Soo many memories. I'm always watching the pipe cam lol probably saw you out there!
how crowded was it? I've never been to hawaii (yet), and have built up this mental image that pipe and a few other breaks are so packed that getting a wave is next to impossible because of the sheer number of people...
Considering I surf with one or two people a session at home, it was pretty crowded. But getting a wave every few sets wasnt a hassle. Most of the people out there are either pros or just tourist like me so it was definitely a good time only having a 2 hour session then getting out and not having to worry about when the next time you surf will be.
you cannot win if you do not play. its all there but you need a plan as well as experience/conditioning/proper equipment. not going for a surfer is just not an option though. it really is a 7 mile miracle.
I totally agree, and that's not really the issue for me. I was just genuinely curious about the crowd. Having never been, all I have to go on is what others say. Based on the articles I've read on places like surfline, and the fact that it's constantly referred to as the "most crowded wave on the planet" I had just built up this mental image of there being so many people (as in hundreds) vying for waves at this one spot with a relatively small takeoff zone, that it would be next to impossible to score unless you were super dialed in. I paddled out at 1st street in vb one day last fall on a sb when it was chest high and super clean, with almost everyone else (30-40 other people) on longboards. They literally caught every single wave that came through, and gave nothing up for the four or five others (me included) riding a shortboard that day. People were dropping in on one another (as usual) like crazy, I have never seen it so bad there before or after. I think of pipe as similar to that situation, just exponentially worse. Dune made it sound more manageable, and since he's actually been there, I was curious as to his take on it (and was pleasantly surprised by his answer).
So you surfed Pipe? How big? What was the swell and wind? How many sitting on the peak? What percentage were sponges? Did you get barreled or just hop a shoulder? How many waves did you actually ride? What board did you ride? Did a local stuff you after you got too many? You can't just pop on here and just say "Oh, I just surfed pipe" without elaborating. Be honest now.
I'd be curious to hear more about his experience with the wave. I've been surfing for over ten years but have always thought of pipe as being beyond my limit. I'm not rushing out to the north shore anytime soon, but wouldn't mind having that experience someday.
Oh, one more question. Did you get your ass handed back to you? I think that is part of the equation on a North Shore of Oahu surf trip in winter. You neeed to get thrashed to within an inch of your life or maybe you didn't really experience it.
the short explanation is you CAN get a wave at pipe. takes about 3 hours; 2 if lucky. you'll never crack the hierarchy.... but scraps do occasionally fall from the table.
Few people sitting on the peak but the day I surfed it was closing out a bunch so you kinda couldnt really take off behind the peak but not really shoulder hopping, yes I got barreled (I wasnt leaving until I did), maybe 3-5 (at pipe), the only board I rode at pipe was a 6'2 JS Blakbox II, didnt get stuffed, and sorry for not elaborating. I did get to talk to Parko. So that was a pretty cool plus to my trip. And the days were below average maybe 6-7ft east coast?
