Hawaii First Day

Day one Hawaii was rather short lived as I arrived to get a standby flight only to find 10 other staff all bumped off. Would have got on if they didn't wait for late Perth flight. This has only ever happenned 4 times in 7 years of flying. Not standby but 'faithby' I call it.

Day two Hawaii. A new Jetstar standby ticket and I'm straight over. The buzz is maybe 20' waves and the Eddie contest might run. This event  commemorates the loss of life of Eddie Aikau who paddled off in the middle of the night to get help for his friends. We have used the same story in the 'Surfers Bible' to illustrate Jesus laying down of his life. However we weren't friends but enemies so makes his sacrifice all the more amazing.

'Eddie would go' is the catch phrase and as I contemplate seeing the biggest waves of my life I'm happy to say 'Brett will stay' ashore - my 12-year-old also made me promise the same.


I'm picked up at 8am by ministry staff guy Tripp who, upon driving over the hill at Haliewa, casually announces that I should surf those 15-20' waves at Outside Himalayas. Giant swells are pounding the North Shore. It's sunny, offshore and, suprise, there's hardly anyone
out...except Waimea Bay. 'The Bay', every surfer visiting Hawaii knows which 'bay' that means.

Staying at Eric Arakawas house means there are no shortage of boards and already Eric has given me directions to an old yellow 9'6" board of the late Ronnie Burns lying under the house. After a quick check with my travelling buddy Scotty Warren, I figure it won't get any easier. 'Easier' is a relative term, as is 'small Waimea' as you see Waimea doesn't really break till it is 20'. So with 'small Waimea' before us at 15-20' sets and the Eddie crew warming up I suggest we paddle out for a look.

I know I promised India I wouldn't go out on big waves and also told Scotty's mum I'd look after him, but remembering 'small Waimea' I figured I wasn't violating any promises. So with a yellow 'airplane wing' under my arm and a 24-year-old North Shore rookie by my side we had a go. Waiting for the horrendous shorebreak we then run and paddle your heart out. Then there's the can't duckdive 'airplane wing' negotiating some wash, and suddenly we were out there. Sunny, blue, offshore mountains of water with a perfect channel and 3 jetskis for safety. I told Scotty all we would do was watch from the channel and I'd sit by his side. I lied.

Come on, first time out at age 50 you have to have a go. So after drifting onto the edge of the 60 strong pack of the who's who of big wave surfing I caught a couple of tiny 10'' shoulders. Figuring I had enough time to get out if the way I ended up way inside hoping for a smaller one. When the whole pack started shifting for the channel I had my chance to grab the first smaller wave of the set and flew, semi-weightless down the face on my wing...and a prayer...hoping I would not be caught by the following waves. I turned around to see Shane Dorian drop into a 20' wave, easily the biggest thing I had ever seen from the water. It was like watching someone surf a building! Scotty suggested it was time to paddle in, good idea.

We negotiated the infamous shorebreak and safely on shore. We meet up with wonder woman Micki Bridgeman then headed west to check some campsites. Spoke at the new Surfers Church that night and caught up with some old contacts. Sharing my testimony about being an ordinary surfer that has trusted Christ and what He has done. I'm passionate about the verse where John the Baptist responds to concerns from his disciples that "everyone is going over to Him/Jesus," and says so confidently, "He must increase and I must decrease."

Oh that there would be more of him in my life, my family, my church, CSI. It's not about building our own kingdoms but His - there just isn't room for the both of us. What a first day, welcome to Hawaii.