The North shore continues to roar.  Here a bodyboarder is dipping bombs stacked at Waimea shorebreak on January 4th, 2012.  January 4th marked the biggest swell of the 2011-2012 winter so far.  As many waveriders in the water continue to complain of how slow of a winter it is, their cynical comments were put to a halt when this swell came in.  Only 2 bodyboarders rode Waimea shorebreak this day.  We’ll have more coverage as we track down the photos.

Here at Spunjah Chronic we are always just thankful for the privelage to be in the ocean and we ride waves for those that can’t and aren’t here with us today.

***BIG Mahalo to Claudia Ferrari for the photo submission here.  Claudia says she was riding her bicycle back from her weekly yoga class at Waimea Valley and spotted 2 bodyboarders charging the shorebreak and she had to stop and take a peek.  Check out her website at www.claudiaferrari.com to see her personal profile and some other killer photos.  Claudia’s been doing it for years and is a veteran in the world of women’s bodyboarding.

The first day of 2012 proved to be just another day at the pipeline for the city & county lifeguards of the north shore.  Another day meaning a busy one at the famous stretch of beach that Pipeline sits on.  A large unusually angled north swell picked up rapidly yesterday afternoon.  The swell was missing pipeline but hitting spots like Ehukai & Rockpiles with full force as near 6 – 10 foot Hawaiian size sets rolled through creating a rip current at Pipeline where the waves were no larger than 6 – 7 feet. 

Bodyboarders were dominating the peaks at Ehukai & Pipeline as the sun began to set.  Strangely enough the lifeguards were still zooming around on their ATV well after their quitting time of 6:00 PM.  Something seemed terribly wrong as you don’t normally see them on duty this late.  Apparently a local surfer was in distress and was getting sucked out to sea in the rip currents at Gums.  He was quickly moving towards Pipeline.  It was near dusk and bodyboarders Trevor Kam, Keahi Parker & Roberta Bitzer attempted to assist the man who had a shoulder injury.  With the tide dropping to a negative low the current was in full force.  A brave lifeguard who was already off duty unlocked the Ehukai storage room and grabbed a rescue board to assist.  He made it out in perfect timing before a perfect 8 foot set rolled through on the wide peak of Pipe.  Not long after sirens were heard in the distance and all that was visible on the horizon was the rooster tails of large peaks and the pack of humans performing the rescue. 

Ocean safety went above and beyond the call as they took the rescue ski out in the dark.  They safely pulled the man in as well as the rest of the bodyboarders who could have been nothing less than fatigued.  EMS arrived on the scene and assisted the man who was concious.  Lifeguard Dave Wassel yelled to the few bystanders on the beach who remained to assist with pushing the jet ski up the beach.  More bodyboarders and waveriders came to the aid with the likes of Herman Ano, Mark Balasbas, Patrick & Wayne Viera & somehow Johnny Columbia.  Regardless this story goes out to show that bodyboarders and wave riders unite when the time is right for the safety of others.  This may also give us the friendly reminder and that old saying by ocean safety, “if in doubt don’t go out”. 

We commend the city and county lifeguards of Honolulu for the heroic efforts and success.  Without the help of their equipment the situation could have been worse.  Always remember regardless of your level of experience to respect the lifeguards and never hesitate or feel too proud to ask them what the conditions are looking like. 

-spunjahchronic-

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On one side of the planet the world tour of bodyboarding is going on while in every other area local competitions are being held.  Here in Hawaii the latest was the memorial day tradition at Ala Moana Bowls.  The Local Motion Surf Into Summer is a yearly contest at one of the premiere surf breaks on the South Shore of Oahu.  The bodyboarding division is a pretty small part of the contest and is definitly not the focus of this event as it is ran and judged by surfers who possible may not care about the sport but that’s just speculation.  Anyhow the show still goes on and local boys others that happen to be in the islands for one reason or another get their shot at surfing bowls all to themselves.

We were able to see some of the action that went down.  Although we have no photos or video coverage to display for our viewers you can take our word for it that some good quality bodyboarding was going down at bowls for what mother nature put forth for these riders.  The waves were in the 2-3 foot range with a rogue near 4 foot set every hour.  Taking down the bodyboarding division was Jason Oh from the Leeward side.  Jason has won the contest multiple times in the last decade.  He’s got lots of experience around the island and has put in his time on the South Shore to be in tune with the breaks here which definitly gives him an edge in the game.  Jason was followed by his older brother Micah and Wade Asato.  Wade had a strong push all the way into the finals with two first place finishes but his fire was put out by Oh.  All in all the waves were fun and the good times had were even better.

As bodyboarders here in Oahu and the rest of the state it’s harder and harder to come by an affordable fun contest at a quality wave. We’d have to rate this contest as one of the best all around.  With only a $35 entry fee you never know that one of these years you might surf bowls with 5 other bodyboarders and pumping 5 feet!  It’s at a great venue accessible for the whole family too.  Hopefully the Local Motion Surf Into Summer will see more bodyboarders out to support it next year.  Who knows we might have enough bodyboarders to take over more than half the day!  Bet Local Motion wouldn’t be expecting that!  Mahalo to the guys over at LM & anyone else who was responsible for making the contest go down.  Ahui hou!

Jason can hold it down on the north shore too every now and then...Here at pipe on nice one

Jason hitting a lip and hoping for the best at OTW

GT stands for Guillherme Tamega and today it also means Arica Challenge 2011 champion.  Congrats to a well deserved dedicated man like GT.  And also a celebration the people of Brazil where GT’s roots are strong…

As we wrap up the final weeks of what we would consider decent bodyboarding waves here on the north shore, the fellas at Heights Productions & Skylarking dug through the vaults and found a few video clips of the waveriders that were fortunate enough to be around and blessed with a great month of bodyboarding in April.  Check out the latest video.  Video footage is courtesy of Skylarking & Heights Productions.  Brought to you by It’s Soap soap company.  It’s Soap is a natural line of handmade soaps fresh from the North Shore sold weekly at the Haleiwa Farmer’s Market on the north end of Haleiwa town.  Check them out next time you feel like you gotta take one showa!  …SpUnJaHcHrOnIc…

Locals only at this time of the year on the North Shore. Micah McMullin scoping the waves with his quiver of No.6 bodyboards & Hinano Tahiti surf shorts. Support the brands that support bodyboarders. Aloha!

WATCH IT IN HD!

We went pro!  You can too!  With the revolution and release of the Go Pro HD Surf Hero over 2 years ago, waveriders around the world have been capturing amazing video footage and images in the water that previously only the most experienced ocean cinematographers could convey to the general waverider.  The plastic waterproof housing and compact fixed fisheye camera has revolutionized what many have called “Point of view” water photography & videography.  Before the invention of the Go Pro, riders rode waves with cameras crudely mounted onto their boards & other body parts weighing up to 20+ pounds!  The Go Pro still cannot rival all of the qualities of that type of prosumer camera equipment, but it’s a big step ahead of anything in comparison to it’s size and durability.  With all of this being said the Go Pro camera still delivers amazing angles that only it can in this day in age.  The design of the camera allows riders to use  limitless imagination based upon self perception and experience.

Spunjah Chronic recently received a video submission from Heights Productions by Mark Balasbas.  The clips offer a collection of late springtime waves that the islands have been blessed with over the last 30+days from the famous stretch on the North Shore of Oahu between Rocky Point and Off the Wall, including the famous Banzai Pipeline. Although the Go Pro is relatively inexpensive compared to other high definition video cameras on the market, it still takes some experience to operate and capture these images, but we all have to start somewhere right?  Experience in point of view of shooting in the ocean definitely creates a plus and an edge when capturing these moments.  Enjoy the following video with an old familiar tune that most locals in generation x would consider a classic by now.  Ahui Hou!  ….spunjahchronic….

The NS is still producing some juice, while trade swell at the moment, northwest swells are expected to pick up again next week.  Check out the caption on the Surfline.com photo below.  Of course the “two suicidal bodyboarders” were getting waves but Surfline is probably afraid to show them because those two guys Nakana Riveira & Mark Balasbas were getting shacked.  Pipe was unridable this day until about 4:30 pm when Nakana & Mark Healy paddled out.  Shortly after they were joined by Mark B & Chris Kalima who was bodysurfer.  Chris commented right before dark saying “I wish I could have just teleported my bodyboard out there for a few before I went in”.  Stay tuned as we bring you more late season north shore action.  SpUnJaHcHrOnIc…

Jeff Hubbard is the new Pipeline Champion for 2011.  If pipe is your local spot like it is for Jeff Hubbard you deserve the Pipeline title!  In the last 5 minutes of competition Jeff Hubbard topped young gun Australian Tom Rigby for the Pipe title.  Jeff’s blood sweat & tears once again took control of the heat 5 years later since his last win in 2006.  A crew of Australian’s were along the shoreline thinking Tom Rigby had it sealed as Hubb’s wave count and selection was lacking.  Soon enough Hubb slowly made his comeback as north shore locals Happy Zurowski & Colin Black stood on shore alongside the 50+ Australians.  Hubb then in the final minutes of the heat took off @ backdoor and blazed through a mental serction and reversed out in the flats as he claimed it showing the crowd that he was gonna make a comeback.  Soon enough the Hawaiians started pouring down the beach cheering Jeff on as he sealed the deal and followed up the tube with a huge ARS and a rollo that led him to shore.  Experience and local knowledge took Hubb into his 3rd Pipeline Championship.

Mahalo nui loa to Maurice Aubuchon & Surge bodyboarding magazine for hooking us up with the shot and supporting the sport all the way.

Jeff Hubbard 2011 Pipeline Champion