The "Other" side of Aloha

[Miulang]

I took this from a post by Kamaka, our resident comedian on the Ohanalanai. He got it from the LA Times today. This is the kind of vigilantism that gives Hawai'i a bad name, even though the main reason for the locals acting this way has to do with loloheads who get in too deep and don't appreciate the power of the ocean on the North Shore of Oahu or the informal rules of surfing etiquette. It nonetheless doesn't endear the locals with the visitors...

Miulang

"The OUTDOORS section of the Los Angeles Times ( October 19, 2004) ran this article by writer Steve Hawk which caught my eyeballs..."

Bounced:
Pipeline slaps around newbies and so do locals who dislike crowds:

In the North Pacific, October arouses the season's first storms, which in turn generate the swells that bring life - and crowds to Pipeline, the famously shallow and hard breaking surf spot on Oahu's north shore. Ghastly wipeouts commonly occur here, but the newcomers to the iconic break have more to worry about these days than merely blowing the drop and bouncing off the flesh-eating reef. In recent years, locals stationed at a house overlooking the break have taken it upon themselves to enforce, through intimidation and sometimes fists, the unofficial rules designated to maintain order at surf zones worldwide. Visiting surfers who interfer with (or heaven forbid, endanger) a Pipleline regular often end up getting chased off and/or smacked around.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: The "Other" side of Aloha

I dunno, sounds to me like the author approves. I do, too. I don't think it gives Hawai'i a bad name; it shows that surfers care about keeping the waves safe. Newbies just shouldn't try breaks like Pipeline.

[Miulang]

Re: The "Other" side of Aloha

I dunno, sounds to me like the author approves. I do, too. I don't think it gives Hawai'i a bad name; it shows that surfers care about keeping the waves safe. Newbies just shouldn't try breaks like Pipeline.

Maybe other surfers would and should understand the informal rules of surfing etiquette, but if Maria the would-be nonsurfing tourist from LA reads this story, what's she gonna think? I think she's gonna be scared and intimidated because she will somehow extrapolate that what goes on at Pipeline might happen say, at Waikiki or Ala Moana Beach!

Miulang

[craigwatanabe]

Re: The "Other" side of Aloha

It has nothing to do with safety or etiquette, it has everything to do with turf. Even as a "local" I was initimidated when I tried surfing the North Shore as a townie. There's a group that called themselves the "Blackshorts" gang and they intimidated the heck outta anyone surfing on their turf. I know my brother in law was one of them.

When my oldest boy surfed NS, I told him not to get into any beefs with anyone out there since he was driving my BMW to get there. He told me, "I can handle" yeah right when three or four braddahs pick on one Japanese townie you don't have a chance. I told him if he ever got into a beef down there to drop his uncle's name.