Gone Surfing Hawaii

When I was in high school - I used to drive my dad's station wagon around with an ironing board sticking out the back playing Beach Boys music. Lulu used to spend a week every summer at Wildwood baking in the sun for 8 hours a day. Her classmates called her "Surf." She told me she would live in a trailer if it were on a beach.

Thanks to a Christmas gift by Drew and Robin - we were going to have surfing lesson on Waikiki. Lulu was presenting at a convention in Hawaii - what an excellent time to finally try surfing.

Waikiki is known for its long gentle waves that can be ridden a long way. Do not get this mixed up with the North Shore where waves upwards of 50 feet come crashing on the shore - certainly not for newbies.

Our instructor was Jojo - a young lady that is used to holding hands of wannabes and telling them how good they are. Along with Greg Rose - a veteran surfer and videographer - he was able to piece together a few minutes of "surfing" out of the two hour lesson.

In the video - directly behind the church on Waikiki - you can see our condo. Our friend Doris from Nebraska has been renting it to us for years. We used to stay there for a month - when Lulu taught a summer course at the University of Hawaii. The convention is in the Marriot next to our condo.

If there is a next time - I plan to buy an old board on Craigslist - use it for the week and sell it back. Both Lulu and I were both sore and banged up after trying to squeeze years into two hours of lessons. Near the end our butts were dragging as we had to paddle back out after every ride. Sharing a board and more rest between rides would be nice.

There is plenty of coral in the shallow water where we were surfing. Our knees and toes carried a few red badges of courage - we didn't attract any sharks that we know of.

It would have been nice to rest between rides - sitting on the boards with the other surfers waiting for the "right" wave. One could learn easily by getting a board and watching others - it is not rocket science. Jojo just compressed the learning curve by helping us "catch the waves."

I hope you enjoy the video and aren't too hard on us. We had a great time. All the time - in the back of my head - Surfin USA - Honolulu Lulu - and many of the tunes from my childhood came roaring back. For a couple of hours - I was a surfer in my own mind.

Honolulu Lulu was great - queen of the surfer girls!