Covid-19 March 28, 2020 Surf Journal

Aloha All,
Its been way too long since I've written in this blog.
I need to practice writing so I'll just go for it.

Friday after work (I'll try to save you the details of my day job)
I came home around 4:30pm desperate to surf.
I called my friend to get the surf report of the waves in front of his house.
He said it was on.
My son Hayden joined me.


The spot we would go to has a few if not a lot of gnarly reef heads in certain areas, so I drew him a diagram of the reef of where not to go.

When we got there, we paddled out to find our friends in the water.
The waves were  a little  unruly and all over the place, with a little wind factor.
 Head High waves would jack up from little mounds. It was hard to figure out where you were in the ocean since there were waves all over the place, difficult to see which one to ride then you'd take off on a wave only to find yourself headed strait for the reef patch.

A set was approaching from the distance. In no time it was 20 ft away. Hayden says "Oh no dad! What do I do? and I said, I don't know" I paddled away from him so we wouldn't crash into each other. Later he said the wave made him do a back flip underwater and held him down longer than usual. He said at first he kept trying to swim up, but then he gave up because he didn't want to waste his energy, and I said good, that's a good thing to experience- exactly the right thing to do in that situation.

He took off on the next wave and rode it well safely.

He paddled back out, and another wave came which we both took off on.
He rode it on his knees and was headed directly towards the reef patch with no escape.
Thankfully, he rode high on the wave which took him over the reef.
All my friends were scared for him.
I was afraid too.
He rode straight over it and was deposited in the middle of reef heads.
He somehow paddled out of the danger zone unharmed.
We went home. Ate dinner and Crashed.

Today is Saturday and Hayden asked if he could surf Queens with his friends.
So that's what we did. We ate breakfast then picked up Reed and headed to Waikiki.
His friend Mars would meet us in the water.
With all the Covid-19 Park Closures, we parked over by Publics and paddled to Queens from Walls. We went around the buoys and avoided the boogie boarders.
There was Reed, Hayden, Marisa, Cruz and Myself.
We all rode long boards and Cruz rode with me with his floats on my Yellow board.
It was a gorgeous sunny day, and a beautiful 300 yard paddle in clear light blue water.
I was happy that my wife Marisa joined us.

Hayden caught some long ones from outside, all the way into Baby Queens. Possilby the longest wave I've ever seen him ride. He pushed his mom into a wave and made her happy.
I'm a proud dad.
I caught some fun ones too.
Johnny the Ripper was out, Connie and his blond girlfriend ( I forget her name), Lala and Poey. They were ripping as usual - everyone riding the nose and catching epic rights.
Cade, James from publics and his daughters and a bunch of others we knew were out.

Afterwards, I rallied up the boys to paddle back to Walls.
Hayden was getting hungry for Mack and Cheese.

We showered up and found Marisa by the minivan with Kate, Reeds Mom.
The boys walked the dog for a 20 minutes then busted out the skateboards and skated on the sidewalk for another 30 min.
We left and wend to the grocery store to pick up Pasta shells for Mac and Cheese and some Ice Cream. When we got back to the house, the kids did arts and crafts while Marisa and I prepared some Pepperoni frozen pizza, mac and cheese, and green beans and mushrooms.

Reeds parents came by to pick him up and we sat for about an hour drinking a couple of beers and a bottle of white wine, while the kids skated around the neighborhood.
Mars, Reed, Cade and Hayden. Then they left.  Mars stuck around a little longer and skated in front of the house until his mom came.

But now my son has played Fortnight until 11:30pm and is having a temper tantrum.
So. I've decided to take it away indefinitely.

Being a dad is one of the toughest things to do for me.
I'm hoping he just stayed up too late and was totally exhausted.
It's 11:30 pm.
Time for me to crash too..

July 17, 2017 1:20am

Aloha All.
I've been trying to juggle too much. And I am working on simplifying my life.
I have a bunch of old art work I believe to be worthy that I need to find a home for.
I need to find a new home more suitable to my needs as a lover of the ocean.
But in the meantime I am doing my best to enjoy the struggle.
Here are some photos of my family during my downtime.

• I'd like to show all my old work together with full captions.

• Show my "Surf" Art work at boutique surf shops on either East or West Coast shops

• I'd like to write a Skateboard Stories Book.

• I'd like to write a Surf Stories Book

• I'd like to do my comic Surf Life

• Portraits of Señor Fin

• Paintings of Iconic Surfers and Skaters

• And finish selling of Roll Skateboards.

I think that is plenty to do for now.

If I can accomplish this stuff within the next 5 years or before I die, I will be happier.

Short Surf Stories by Manny Aloha

Preface 
Aloha y'all,
Its been way too long since I've written in this blog. I've left Hawaii momentarily to have my eight year old son Hayden, and 1 year old son Cruz get to know there grandparents back on the east coast. I currently live in a beautiful apartment above my father and amazing step mother in Clifton, New Jersey. It's 10:13pm and I am just getting to creative time.

I've started a skateboard company called Roll Skateboards and technically I should be working on the website, but instead I am risking juggling too many projects by writing. There's so much I want to accomplish, but so little time.  One of the things I've always wanted to do is write a book called Short Skateboard Stories and another called Short Surf Stories. On top of that I'm always thinking about the next art show of paintings. And there's more, but I'll save my breath for the doing. So here I go risking taking on too much, by writing my first Short Surf Story, which I have to do now so I don't forget the memories.

Introduction
I have many surf memories, but some are more magical than others, while others brand into my brain scaring me for life.

Surf Story #1: Rockaway, NYC November 2005
It was a Tuesday morning at Rockaway Beach. My friend Colin and I wanted to catch one more surf session together before I left for Hawaii. Days of messy surf and gusty winds kept most inside, but we went anyway for a Dawn Patrol.

Woke at 5am in a warehouse space on Spencer St Brooklyn
Called Colin at 5:15
Hopped on a subway at 5:30.
Met Colin at 6
Drove to Rockaway and arrive at 6:45am.
Waves are totally blown out.
You'd be lucky if you could make it into the water without having your board blow away.

When most would turn around and go straight home to catch a few more z's before work, Colin says, "Let's go back to the bungalow, watch a movie, and come back and hope the winds shift and die down. I got Office Space or Forrest Gump."

All I could think was, Rad! What an awesome friend! It feels so good not to rush.

We get to the bungalow, and plug in the space heater. I find a surf video called Glass Love and ask if we could watch it instead.  Colin say's, "Sure". I hadn't seen it yet and was stoked, but remained silent because it  was early and cold. The outside patio furniture was blowing around, knocking into each other making noise. The movie, if you haven't seen it, has a peaceful vibe and focuses on respecting life and surfing's long tradition and spiritual aspects. It put us both in a magical state.

As the movie is coming to an end, I hear birds chirping. So I say to Colin, "Did you hear that? I think that means the wind died down. Birds don't chirp when they're about to blow out of their nest."

Colin replies, "I think you might be right. Let's go check it out."

He takes the bike and I ride the flex deck skateboard. We get to the beach and within the mess of waves, there were 3-4 foot sets coming through- perfect waves under cover dressed up as un-surfable nonsense.

Colin and I saw right through it. With x-ray vision we looked at each other, smiled and said, "Let's hit that!"

We cruise back to the bungalow, suit up, wax the boards, and walk to the beach. There is still not a  surfer in the water or on the sand which is unusual for Rockaway. We paddle straight out through what looked like choppy waves. The ocean was in on our good time disguising the surf conditions as "Junk" and sending all the picky surfers home. We had the beach all to ourselves, from the first wave to the last- catching close to over twenty waves each in two hours. A few waves we rode halfway to the sand, while the rest we rode all the way in from the top of the line up to the sand.

The waves were diverse and had all around personality- not your perfect pealers. You had to connect the dots, but all the dots were there to connect.

I never forget Colin's last wave from the top of the line up all the way in as he dismounted with a small leap onto the sand. I was so stoked I did the same. I still remember that session twelve years and over 1,000 surf sessions later.


More stories to come.
• The first time I surfed M$%LEE POINT.
• The Boneyard at M$%LEEZ
• My first shack at Rockaway
• My best deepest shack at Bowls
• Losing my board at Left Overs and almost floating out to sea.
• When the hold Island was a windy rain storm, and it was a Sunny perfect day at Makaha with Luke.
• The First Time I Surfed The Banzai Pipeline
• The Right to Left at Suicides
• Magazine Material at Diamond Head
• The day I forgot my board shorts at Publics
• The day there was a big tear in my board shorts right at my crotch at Queens
• The time I surfed with Gerry Lopez.
• JUST WAIT! at Ricebowls.
• Surfing Doubles on a Big Black Wave with Ethan
• The East Side Ghost Dude who did the board shuffle on a long board on the gnarliest wave.
• The Day I saw the Crouching Lion.

Atlantic Romantic

I had so much fun at my old home break catching waves with my son Hayden.

Hayden suited up fast and beat me to the ocean. 

I kept an eye on him while I suited up, and noticed him paddling out farther than I expected where the waves were waist high. I started to get worried, but I wanted to see how he handled. I knew the current was taking him out. A wave bigger than he's ever caught had his name on it, so he says. He caught it and rode it all the way to the sand. I was surprised how well he handled. I ran to him and gave him a high five and a hug. I was so prouder than ever. We paddled out for more.

Signing off

The Atlantic Romantic

-Manny Aloha 

Morning Thoughts

Aloha,
It's 6:50 am and my mind is on, body tired.
I'm at my mothers where I grew up, painting exterior of the house.

I remember there used to be a small forest just past my backyard where there are now homes.
Actually where the homes are used to be a 3-4 acre field where horses used to be roam. There was a stable at one end. Beyond the "Horse Farm" (what I used to call it) there was the small forest, maybe 30-40 acres in total, where my brother and neighborhood friends used to explore.

We didn't follow any hiking paths, we walked straight through it to get to the other side, or followed small streams walking in the middle of them with our waterproofed footwear (2 plastic bags on each foot over your socks then your boot). We played in the swamp literally. We Mud Bogged one day and road are bikes in the swamp until were practically swimming wrestling in mud. When it was dry We built jumps, where the older kids tore paths with there dirt motor cycles. We raced sticks in a stream.
We did whatever we wanted in our little suburban sanctuary where Native Americans once roamed.

We skateboarded in the street, made forts in small wooded areas, played hide and go seek (which we called "Man Hunt") at night within a boundary of about 10 homes- about 10 acres. I learned to be un-noticeable in a shadow or in a bush 2 ft away from you.

What is the point of all this rant, I'm having memories of play, and I'm also just doing my morning exercise of thinking and writng to develop my thoughts, to practice my freedom of speech.

There is so little time to even complete a thought or chase curiosity when there is rent and bills to be paid and money to be made to pay for it all.
Thinking and writing are an essential exercise to developing thoughts, to getting free.

So here I am taking it one step at a time.
We're used to reading awesome moments.
Like Manny Aloha's Awesome Life in Hawaii.

I'm busy at the moment getting to where I want to be,
but somehow embracing the misery, and finding the beauty in it.
Singing off.

Surf, Skate, Create.
-Manny Aloha

SURFING AND SKATEBOARDING - ARE THEY SPORTS OR ART FORMS?

Lets just begin the conversation.
First off, lets define Sport and define Art.
Below is a what I found with a quick Google search.

Let me repeat what I find relevant:
Sport- an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
Art- 1. The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in visual form such as painting, sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
2. The various branches of creative activity such as painting, music, literature, and dance.

Using the two definitions above, I would have to say that surfing and skateboarding are both Sports and Art. When we look at the completion aspect of skateboarding: when skateboarders compete against each other for entertainment, Yes skateboarding is a sport.

When we look at the skateboarding outside of the competition- when one skateboards for the sake of skateboarding, then it becomes art. Skateboarding is also a form of transportation,  a form of exercise.

Fortunately or unfortunately, everyone loves to be entertained, and sports can often be far more entertaining than art. Why? Because its exiting to watch a game where theres a winner and a loser. There's drama and people love drama.

People love to watch people win or lose. There's only two variables to experience. Theres a simplicity   here and simplicity is comforting.

With Art on the other hand, there are often way too many variables. When there is no competition and someone creates art for no reason other than to make whatever it is they desire; when there is no winner or loser, or points to quantify. Art becomes difficult to quantify. How can you put value in something unquantifiable?

What is more valuable? Sports or Art? Well Sports are a form of entertainment while Art can more of a spiritual act of expression. I would gamble that more people would choose Sports over Art because sports are easier to judge, easier to quantify.

I've entered contests before, but I'll tell you there's way more to surfing and skating than the sport.
The Art of Surfing and Skateboarding is multidimensional, which is why I beyond love the activities.

I 'll save the multidimensional qualities for another series of posts.

I hope these words make some sense.
Please reply with thoughts to create a conversation. Since my life is bombarded with work and responsibilities and little time for my mind to wonder and develop, conversations could be the spark to set us free.

Sincerely,
Manny Aloha

photo by Ethan Lau 

at a sacred skate sanctuary on an island in the pacific

Diary of a Surfer, Skater, Artist.

Aloha Folks,
Its been 2 years and 3 months since my last post on December 15, 2015.
So much has happened since then.
Where to begin?
First off, This blog is a form of expression,
and is needed for me to write out and see what it is that I have been doing,
with myself, with my, wife, and now two kids, and with the world.
Through writing I can see my mind and give my thoughts form.

Why do I feel the need to share it with the world?
Well Why does a Star Shine?
It just does.

When I was 17 years old I filled a few sketchbooks of drawing and thoughts,
I stumbled upon the idea of being a prophet.
Below is the definition.

Laugh  all you want. Who the heck am I to try and claim such a task?

For whatever reason, this is what I felt like.

Am I the smartest person? For sure not.

But I don't care. I will write and throw my thoughts there because that is my freedom.

My freedom of speech, that I care to live and cherish. I care to have my own thoughts, and writing brings thoughts to life.

So I will go to my next post which creates the conversation of   

Surfing and Skateboarding- Are they sports or Art forms?

Signing off.

-Manny Aloha

Memory of Magic

Its a good to survive and it's even better to experience the magic and beauty of life. Last night I stepped out of my daily routine to visit the home of my friend and role model, Ethan Lau.
During our conversations, he said these words,
"Life can end at any moment, and all that is left is the memories of magic"
His home is a living museum. A home of a Contemporary Cosmic Individual Connected.
Below is a photo essay of his home.

A studio on hill exposed to wind and stars

Tools

Nutrients

Water Containers

Notes and Inspirational Forms

Ethan Lau

A new lense

  Plants including sweet potato and papaya

Surfed Out, Art time

Aloha friends and family,
Last month was practically non-stop waves on the south shore of Oahu.
I surfed so much I got my first ear infection that I am still recovering from.
October is apparently the month with the highest count of shark attacks.
So maybe staying out of the water to heal my ear is a blessing.

On Oahu alone there was 2 shark attacks in October, one at "Left Overs", the other at Lani Kai.
Left Overs is one of my favorite spots. I've caught waves there 5 times the length of my old home break of Rockaway Queens, going probably 3 times as fast on waves twice the average size.

I'm not sure if I'll surf Left Overs this winter. If you're already surfing it,  you're one brave human.

What else... My last day of surf was two Saturdays ago at my home break. It was glassy with head high perfect peeling conditions. Maneuvers seemed effortless- floaters, lip cracks, drop ins with ease.
I surfed it with my friend Chrisitian. One of his sons is in kindergarten and goes to the same school as my son.

Its funny how some days you can be "on it" surfing like a champion, while other times surf like a donkey. It's rare, but three weeks ago I surfed like true donkey. I went over the falls twice sitting on my board falling face first, fumbled on drop ins, dropped in between a girl on a longboard in front of me and a dude behind me, and dropped in on a dad of a kid who is in the same kindergarten class as my kid. I got one good wave of redemption, but eventually I realized I was the super kook that day and paddled myself in before I caused any damage to a beautiful session.

Thats all to report for now.
Working on a mural for the kindergarten walls where my son goes to school.
I'll keep you posted.
Singing off.
-Manny

Some Secrets to Skateboarding

One of the great secrets to skateboarding is to have a few up your sleeve. To surprise your fellow skateboarder, to surprise yourself with your secret line or trick, is one of the great joys of every skate session (or art show for that matter) - to do things unseen, to do things with utter grace or trick of the eye.

For example: Can someone tell me what the hell Mike Kepper (riding for Shut Skates in 1989) is doing here? Ollie or Wallride to Layback? Only he and a few may know. But I'll tell you what. Its a mystery to me- A graceful cement assault perfectly captured. Form that couldn't be more dope. Mike Kepper, if you're out there reading this, I must tell you brother, you are one of my favorites. Your skating is burnt into my memory more than most.
Mean Kill Style.

Skateboarding or art is like Magic. What would a Magician be if he/she told you how they did their tricks before they did them.  A magician would not be, without the show.

One of my personal skateboard secrets lies in the acronym PYOS.

The photo used in this Fall's Issue of Stay Wild Magazine. 

Photo by Jianca Lazarus

HI Sk8 Films 2015

HI Sk8 Films 2015

A selection of short films featuring Hawai‘i's best skaters and skate filmmakers collaboarating to showcase their technical skills and creativity. Collectively, these shorts offer a glimpse into an island community that revels in its contradictions: social but individual, progressive but subversive, nature-loving but concrete-dependent, grounded but gravity-defying.

Opening-night reception: Oct 23, 6-7:30pm: Enjoy live music with food, beer and wine for purchase. Meet filmmakers and skaters and check out a pop-up display of local skate art and photography. HI Sk8 Films showcase screening at 7:30pm. $10 • $8 MM

As with all Doris Duke Theatre screenings, visitors under 17 years of age get in for free.

Shorts showcase lineup:

Only This Nothing More (trailer)Directed by Sean Reilly. Produced by Shitty Kids. O‘ahu. 2015. 2 min.

The Root of SkateboardingDirected by Manny Aloha and Ethan Lau. O‘ahu. 2015. 3 min.

Primo Time-ODirected by Junji Murata. Produced by Soundboarding. Japan. 2015. 20 min.

TemptationsDirected by Adam Funari. Produced by Ditch Life. O‘ahu. 2015. 7 min.

Shitty TV
Directed by Justine Edwards. Produced by Shitty Kitty and Mikey Albert. O‘ahu. 2015. 11 min.

Shmood
Directed by Travis Ota. O‘ahu. 2015. 30 min.

- Intermission • 15 min. -

X808X
Directed by Josh Rubalcava. Produced by 808 Skate. O‘ahu. 2015. 4 min.

He'e Holua x Wind VibrationsDirected by Mackenzie Yoshida. Produced by Wheel Turner Hawaii. O‘ahu. 2015. 5 min.

Rhythm to RideDirected by Chris Miyashiro. O‘ahu. 2015. 9 min.

Dumb Youth Skate PartyDirected by Tomoki Kobayashi. O‘ahu. 2015. 15 min.

SaffronDirected by Alec Singer. O‘ahu. 2015. 3 min.

Poi DogDirected by Conor McGivern and Kale Kaaikala. Produced by APB, Treevisions and Mokelife. O‘ahu + Maui. 2015. 20 min.

STAY WILD MAGAZINE: ALOHA DITCHES!

I haven't seen it yet, but, I am honored to be in the fall issue of 

Stay Wild Magazine. This summer I discovered countless skateable ditches while driving around Oahu during my day job. Ditch postings on Instagram like the photos below inspired me to pitch a "Hawaii ditch piece" to Stay Wild.

I got the green light from Stay Wild head honcho (friend and role model) Justin Scrappers Morrison.

So I called up one of my favorite photographers (and friend) Jianca Lazarus and two dedicated and radical skater broz Mike Sidani, and Johnny Noel, and we made a day of it. 

I hadn't skated that hard in 10 years.

I'm stoked that two photos of me made it into the mag. 

Below are a handful of shots from that Day of Ditches that weren't printed.

Thanks Stay Wild Magazine for giving us a great reason to skate and create.

Mahalo and Aloha!

Johnny Noel -Backside Hurricane

Mike Sidani ollie into the steep

Manny Method to five-o-axel pivot.

Johnny blunt 

Sidani speed carve setting up for a backside ollie.

Manny Magic Method

Sidani Wire Grind Uluz

Me keepin' it simple.

Thank you Mike Sidani, Johnny Noel, Jianca Lazarus, and 

Stay Wild Magazine for the friendship and Ultra Positive Vibes.

Sincerely, 

Manny Aloha

WEEK OF WAVES

ALOHA FOLKS,
Waves on the South shore of Oahu have been at least head high for the past week with perfect conditions. The wind kicked up today (Saturday) but people are still having a ball.
Here are a couple of picks from this week.

Tales of a Honolulu Homeboy- SUPER CONNECT!

I dropped into the wave and everything turned silent. The water was clear and I saw a stray piece of seaweed floating. Time slowed down as the wave, my actions, and desires melted together- one moment stretched. I dragged my hand in the curl and my face in the lip. The sun shone bright. Up and down the wave I went all the way to the inner reef stoked.

I began to paddle back out only to get stuck inside. I was in the zone of white water, lips and curls- the Whitewash Museum. As the outside sets came pounding, I relaxed safe inside, and admired the infinite curvilinear forms and movements of whitewash- up, down, diagonal, sideways. As the big sets subsided, I paddled back out and observed a perfect mid size wave similar to my last. I called it the "Super Connector". It came hidden between unorganized brut waves, and looked like a Cool Guy or Hot Chick.  One approached and I yelled "Yee haw!" as I paddled to the pocket. As I dropped in,  inside my head I yelled, "Super Connect!"

Zombies - Time Of The Season HD

Surf Poem: Family Sunday

Sunday Family Beach Day  
and my face is a little fried
The ocean was so beautiful
if alone I would have cried

Skies were blue for miles around
Crashing waves made pleasant sounds
I always must remember
what makes my heartbeat healthy pounds.

Surfed a new secret spot
Some local bros were my guide
We set up the wives and kids
Then paddled out to perfect winds and tide

They showed me past the treacherous reef
Stoked I didn't ding my board
In just another fifty yards
lied natures great reward

Once we made it to breaks
we all caught radical rides.
Every successful drop
turned me from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde.

-Manny Aloha
Sunday 11/23/14

Mean Dream Awakening

Ladies and Gentlemen and Low Lifes,

I had a mean dream. It's 3:30 am and it spawned me to wake up and run straight to my computer and write, because it is the fastest and most direct way to capture what is going on in my head- faster than drawing or painting it, or making a movie for that matter.

I had a dream that I was walking with some friends in the rain to a hybrid of Yankee and Mets stadium for a concert in the rain (concerts never or hardly ever happen there). It was to be an insane event with all my favorite friends. peers and role models in New York City attending. As I pulled up to the event I began seeing Vandal Squad and random police officers handcuffing dudes amongst the crowds around the food fender booths. They were then wrapped up in a cloudy white heavy duty 10ml plastic tarp, like a burrito with their heads sticking out to allow for breathing. Anyone captured would be stacked up in groups of 3 or 4 near the road, ready to be thrown into an incinerator. 

In the wrapped up stacks I immediately began recognizing friends I knew. The first one was Bob Puloeo and  two other skaters from Brooklyn.  

As I scan the stacks of dudes wrapped up. I notice another friend.  Its my friend Charlie Buttelry, creator of Nimbus Skates. I ask one of the my skater friends wrapped up next to Bob Puleo and ask, "What's up Bro? What's going on here?"

Skater - "They got us all! And they're gettin' ready to burn us." "They got Bob!" 

They got UFO too! Look what they did to him!" as he pointed to one of the wraps. 

Inside the plastic wrap was a pureed white like sauce spread between a hero- life size piece of french bread. UFO was my longest lasting friend in my life." I met him when I was 5 years old. At first I thought I could save some of my friends, but when I saw UFO pureed into a sauce, there was nothing I could do to bring him back! It spawned me to wake up and express myself without holding back - to express myself for my friends. I'm glad it was just a dream.

FIRST FAMILY SUNDAY SURF

Hayden putting sunscreen on all by himself for the first time,

on the way to the beach to paddle out to his home surf break 

together with Mom and Dad also for the first time.

Note the radical spandex board shorts made by Marisa Mom. 

Aloha family, friends, surf and life lovers.

Today was a special day. There were radical waves on the North shore, but we chose to stay on the South shore where the waves were smaller so we could all paddle out as a family.

For the first time in our life, Marisa, Hayden, and I  surfed together - everyone on their own surfboard. It was one of my dreams achieved- to surf with my wife and son. In the nine years we've been on the island, my wife Marisa has never paddled out to our home break (it being a little advanced). Hayden hadn't paddle out until now because he was a little to young and not able to swim. But now being five years old and able to swim short distances, I felt he was ready.

Our home break is the wave that breaks in front of the beach park where Marisa and I got married. So for all of us to paddle out together for the first time was a milestone. 

We made it about 100 yards out to the area where your ride normally ends if you were to drop in from the point. Hayden was generally stoked the whole way out, expressing only a little fear briefly. Marisa pointed out the awesome view of Diamond Head.

There was still a little south swell coming in and the waves were bigger than I expected so I pushed Hayden into the first wave that came our way and he took off. He appeared 25 yards towards shore with a big scream and smile on his face. Marisa and I caught the next wave chasing him. Having surfed there easily over a hundred times, I knew exactly how the waves break, and where not to paddle allowing us to have the safest experience possible.

Marisa was stoked too. She said she wants to surf together every Sunday Morning. I pray that we can make this happen for as they say out here, "A family that surfs together, stays together".

I have no photos of this memorable moment except for this sequence of Hayden putting sunscreen on all by himself on the ride to the beach. This is pretty much another milestone on the same day.

This ends my Family Sunday Surf Update.

SKATE TO SURF BY HAYDEN

Skate to Surf