Finally got back to the north shore today for a run down the coast. It sure puts things back into perspective. Makes me realize just how easy the Kihei run is. It’s like taking candy from a baby over there versus trying to steal gold from Fort Knox. You have got to be paying attention to absolutely everything on the Maliko run. If you really want to keep your board moving it’s almost as taxing mentally as it is physically. Anyway thanks to Kelly’s shuttle service at least the driving was a no brainer.
Photo Credit: Randy Strome (standupzone) Kelly Moore’s watertime shuttle–now up and running Andrea Moeller, T Felgate, Dave and Kelly.
It seems to me no matter how fast you go, you are going to hit some spots that just don’t flow, meaning you slow down. Kind of tough to deal with if your really on a roll but that’s where the good guys get better. Figuring out how to minimizes those times and find your rhythm as quickly as possible again.
Speaking of rhythm, I had a shark seriously break my rhythm today. I literally had to stop my stroke because my next reach would have been right into it’s head. I’m not sure who was more freaked, me or the shark. It made quite an evasive move to avoid me. Luckily it wasn’t that big, maybe six or seven feet. Once the adrenaline subsided it was back to focusing on finding that rhythm and reading the water.
Photo Credit: Randy Strome (standupzone) Yup, that’s what Maliko swell looks like. Starting to get the picture?
I think that’s one of the reasons I love downwinding so much. It’s a cross between Chess and a video game, meaning once you master one level you’re allowed to move onto the next. Once you get your stroke, you move onto catching glides, then connecting glides, then reading the water and guessing what’s going to happen next, then back to your stroke for a while, then endurance, then board handling and on and on it goes. No matter how good you get there is still so much to learn and work on.