I have not surfed the Bowls area for years and I knew it was not going to be great. I just felt like I had to get in the water. Like, previously mentioned I sprained my ankle back in October and I haven't got to surf much since so now that I'm about 70% back I decided that I need to surf at least 3 times per week no matter the conditions just to get the paddling in so that when it's good, and I have the time, I'll be ready.
Now, first of all I did not take the pic above and it is not even yesterday's session. I spaced out and forgot to take a pic like I decided I would do on each of my sessions from now on to log my experiences, which was the reason I started this blog. The above photo is a random google pic that I copied that looked somewhat representative of yesterdays surf, at least the clean, clear water and relatively empty lineup.
Admittedly it didn't look quite that good. It was windy, 15-25 M.P.H. trade winds and the water was cold. Yes mainlanders the water can be cold here in the winter. I did a check on the Surfline page and discovered that the water temp was between 77-79 degrees. That's probably about 4 degrees cooler than summer time and it can make a big difference. I'm really glad I wore my wet suit top. I know that I would have been freezing without it. That $100 something I spent was money well spent.
The waves were small, the wind was howling and the sets were few and far between but, the people out were cool, little kids were getting lessons and there was a lot of space to move around. I forgot how beautiful that little space in the middle of urban Honolulu is, the little chunk of protected beach next to the jetty, the view of Diamond Head on the east side and Magic Island on the west. Probably just an hour in the water but my whole day was lit up because of that short session.
P.O.
