Nate's Surf Contest

Friday afternoon we got the report that the waves were the right size for the Steinlager Shaka surf contest series to begin Saturday the next day at Sunset Beach, and that the stand up surfing division will run that day. We got everything together that night and in the morning Nate drove down to register and I and the kids stopped at Grandma's to catch a bit of General Conference before heading down ourselves.

The waves at Sunset were messy and sizeable. Nate paid for his entry fee with a company check, so I joked that he is now a sponsored surfer. He got tips from his business partner Bill Ward who used to be a pro surfer. Being only his second contest, Nate said he wasn't there to place, but, quoting Karate Kid, just wanted to "put on good show".

Round 1: Nate paddled out for his first heat alongside Brian Kealana and Clay V. Nate confided in me that he has been dreaming of riding a big wave and getting barrelled (that's when the wave covers you and you surf through the tunnel it forms.) His first wave I thought he may have caught his dream wave. The wave curled over and the whitewater chased him down the face. Nate seemed to tease the wave as he danced up and down the face. We were excited when he got his second wave, a big one on the outside. He rode it really well, too. When Nate came in, he said he never was hammered so much as he was when he came in. Nate advanced to the next round-the quarter finals!!!

Round 2: The waves were cleaner now--not as windy, the waves bigger (about 8-10ft faces) but the water was still lumpy bumpy. The shore break was really big too, with the waves smashing up against the steep shore. Nate said he had a really hard time making it out, and we believed him. We cheered when he made it to the lineup. Included in the lineup were Dave Parmenter (a past pro longboarder and one of the first shapers of stand up boards), Kekoa Uemura (pro longboarder) and Kai Sallas (pro longboarder). Nate caught three waves--two really good waves. He caught one that closed out behind him and another big one on the outside.

Here's a home video of his second wave of his second heat:




Here are youtube videos of both heats. (Nate is in black in heat 1 and yellow in heat 2)






We were so excited for him! (And, I have to admit, I was nervous for him because he only surfed Sunset once on his longboard and never on his stand up board. Sunset is infamous for its really heavy waves) I waited for him to come in and he didn't come and he didn't come. The other surfers made it to shore and I still couldn't see him. I was about to turn back to the tent to ask the others if they could see him when I spotted him. He was about 30 feet from the shoreline in these little bitty waves, but they had quite a punch and Nate was barely making it through. I would learn later that he got tumbled in the waves right after his set and it took all his strength to get out of the inside. I found it very humerous that there he was surfing these big waves so well and now he was struggling through small whitewater. Nate placed 3rd in the round, beating out pro surfer Kai Salis!! He didn't advance, but he did really, really well. He was happy about the "good show" he put on, as evidenced by this photo of him emerging from the surf.

Nate, our surfing champ

Here are some other shots and videos I took while we were at the beach:







Ivy and Kezia on the shore watching Daddy surf . They kept getting closer and closer to the nasty shore break. I was grateful I moved them back just before a bigger wave covered where they were standing.

Elysse also gave her support to Daddy. She spent most of the day meditating and sending him good surfing vibes.


There was a pregnant monk seal on the beach. This endangered seal is found only found on the Hawaiian Islands and is endangered. This was only my second time seeing one, and it was a great babysitter for the girls. They spent a good while sitting and watching it under the "caution" tape that surrounded it, acting as a protection from the flow of tourists that came to see it.