Breaking Down Barriers at Pipeline

Today was a first for me. My first time paddling out to Pipeline in the 5-9 foot range. Second reefers were coming through and occasionally cleaning up first reef sitters. I looked at the surf around 12:00 and wasn't motivated. Pipe had a few incredible waves spitting out their guts, but the short period swell mixing in with the light Kona winds made for some stormy looking conditions.

Kurt was determined to get out there and I opted for a nap. I awoke with a firing desire to get out there. The time was right, I had a feeling the conditions were improving. Intimidating! Kind of like surfing Waimea Bay for the first time. You just have to go! So I went! Just as I was about to paddle out a big set unloaded through second reef. I waited for the waves to settle and made the dash.

The lineup was spread out, with surfers sitting all over first reef out onto second reef. It was a wide playing field with waves breaking really hard on the first reef and bigger on the second reef. I sat inbetween the two and tried to setup a map of the reef and how the waves were breaking. I observed the surfers, John John and Mark Healey sat deep on the inside at first reef. Probably having flashbacks to the Backdoor Shootout because the crowd was so light and not many where sitting as deep as they were. No one as committed.... Derek Ho and Kohl Christensen sat at second reef, and caught some nice cruisey bombs without any barrels though. On my 7'0 Rawson, I opted to stay on the first reef and I moved into position.

I had to duck under a few capping through second reef and swinging wide. They weren't so bad, but it's kind of sketchy when you think about getting caught and tossed into the impact zone. Anyways, you have to put that out of your mind. I noticed how close to the inside John John stayed. Even when the sets were capping way outside, he held his ground and usually caught a wave before the set detonated or the set would back off and double up right where he was providing the stage for a standup backside tube riding demo by the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout Champion.

You could tell a good barrel from the amount of spit it threw at the end section. I saw one inside bowl that spit at both ends backdoor and pipe. One of the coolest waves off the day was a guy that dropped in from almost second reef, he was hauling but, and must have pulled into a huge barrel because the shoreline erupted and people cheered as he exited the wave on the inside.

30 minutes had passed and my wave count was still zero. One wide swinging in-betweener came my way, I swung and made the drop, but no barrel in sight. At least the ice was broken, now I wanted a real one. The sun slithered down, first behind the clouds and then the horizon. The winds went to sleep as the sun set. The crowd was thinning and by now I kind of had it figured out, who really wanted it and who didn't. I thought I did until I went for one and then backed out, with my stomach fluttering with adrenaline. "Not this one."

I went back to the zone and lined up, one wall of water angled towards the inside bowl and I knew this was mine to wrangle with. One guy was deeper and I saw hesitation in his eyes so I went and he backed off. As I dropped in I remember thinking, "No nosediving here!" I made it, recovered a
little and time slowed down as a I saw a perfect cylindrical tube start to form 25 feet in front of me. The glassy tube was an emerald green color. What a sight! I had so much speed as I flew through the barrel section and came out dry. What an experience!