If in doubt, don’t go out. Photo: HFD//Screenshot
If you have spent any time at all in Hawaiian waters, you know just how fast things can change. A pleasant little swell, say chest- to head-high, can very suddenly turn into a maelstrom of massive waves that only the best are capable of navigating safely. Imagine yourself, surfing fun-sized Rocky Point, having paddled out as far as you can towards the looming swells that march unrelentingly in, but still you’re not out quite far enough. You’re getting sucked over to Gas Chambers and Pipeline. You can see Pipeline’s second reef feathering. “Uh oh,” you think to yourself. “I should go in.” But going in requires either paddling for one of these waves or paddling through them, neither of which is all that appealing. Even less appealing is having a lifeguard come out to get you. Drowning is an option, of course, but depending on your level of embarrassment at being rescued, it might not be the best one. Well, the North Shore lifeguards, who are the absolute best in the business, would rather they didn’t have to rescue you, either. Over the weekend, the Honolulu Fire Department released a statement begging for caution.
“Beginning Saturday afternoon, we are expecting a very large winter northwest swell to start impacting the north and west shores of Oahu,” HFD’s Capt. Malcolm Medrano said. “[It is] rising Saturday afternoon and very rapidly overnight into a warning-level swell Sunday morning.”
The weekend’s swell was a large one, and HFD went on to advise swimmers and surfers not sure if they’re capable enough to handle it to just stay out of the water or listen to the lifeguards.
“We ask everyone to respect the ocean and heed the guidance of our lifeguards,” Capt. Medrano continued. “They are the experts in the ocean safety field to keep us safe.”
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Things have changed in the last few decades in Hawaiian lineups. No longer are they ruled by the iron fists. The pecking order is weak at best. Lineups are clogged and the waves are just as dangerous as they ever were — more so, I think, as winter swells get bigger because of our changing climate — and the threat of physical violence against transgressors of our rules is diminishing. At least helmets are becoming a little more common, but things are decidedly different than they were. Thus is the nature of time’s passage, I suppose.
The HFD isn’t the only one urging caution. Jason Magallanes, a former pro surfer and a man firmly embedded in the Hawaiian waterman way of living, didn’t mince words when he posted a video calling people out for endangering others as well as themselves.
“ATTENTION ALL YOU ENTITLED KOOKS,” reads an all caps post on Surfchannel.Hawaii’s Instagram. “ENOUGH OF DA SHIT SHOW WITH ALL YOU KOOKS IN DA WATER. YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU’RE DOING OUT HERE AND YOU’RE PUTTING OUR LIVES IN DANGER. YOU LOOK LIKE ONE CLOWN. TRYING TO SURF OUR LOCAL BREAKS HERE AT WAIMEA / NORTH SHORE. YOU ARE RISKING THE LIVES OF OUR LIFEGUARDS @hawaiianlifeguardassociation @northshorelifeguardassociation WHEN YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS IN DA WATER. MOST OF YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BE. YOU’RE PUTTING OUR LIVES IN DANGER. WE HAVE OHANA WE LIKE GO HOME TO AT THE END OF THE DAY. IT’S DANGEROUS ENOUGH OUT HERE WITHOUT HAVING TO DEAL WITH YOU AND YOUR ENTITLED ATTITUDES. DON’T GO CRYING WHEN WE START TO REGULATE. AND DON’T CRY WHEN YOUR LOVED ONES COME HOME IN ONE WOODEN BOX. THIS SWELL IS NO GAME. IT’S FOR LOCAL EXPERTS / PROS ONLY. IF IN DOUBT DON’T GO OUT. MAHALO”
