LIVING IN HAWAII

Hawaii is a great place for surfers with its warm weather, warm water and the sweet smell of plumeria in the air. This is Haleiwa where I rented a spot with a few Japanese surfers. They couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Japanese; all we knew how to say to each other was the size of the surf and when we were hungry. Primitive sign language was the order of the day, but beyond the above there wasn't too much else we needed.

One day my roommates signaled thumbs up to me with silly grins on their faces and something about going surfing. Well, we ended up at Waimea Bay after a stop to pickup what are called rhino chasers (long pointy surfboards made for big surf). Once at 'The Bay' we removed the surfboards from the car and paddled out into 15 foot surf. (Yes, this is big.) I went out mainly to save face, and did all I could to survive the surf. As corny as this may sound, surfing large waves is a spiritual experience — one that demands everything from within you. The late Eddie Aikau was taking off behind the peaks and making every drop look effortlessly. That night I felt very alive.

— victor maldonado