Skimboarding on our Morey boogies

This is also where Robinson took his first waves on the 7’6’’ Santa Cruz, an ideal spot for learning to stand up! The next day I took Sienna and Robinson to “Publics” in Waikiki, put the life jackets on them and pushed them onto the waves pushing along the pier. They quickly learned how to stand up and loved it. Waikiki must be the best spot in the world to learn how to surf!
One last play at Lanikai beach, on a glassy day. It definitely makes the list of our most favourite beaches on this planet. We have spent probably more time on this beach than any other beach on this planet (except for our home town beaches in Kiel), and it brought us so much joy. Yoga in the morning, swimming with the turtles, kayaking to the Mokes, surfing at flat island, kite surfing right in front of the beach, snorkelling with the fish, swimming in the morning sea, meeting inspiring people from around the world, outrigger canoeing, building sand castles, playing soccer, kissing, laughing…

Lanikai Beach - always a piece of paradise

On Dec 8 I caught the wave of my life out at a spot called Wraparounds at the Mokes. There were a few hungry girls and guys out on their longboards with big fat smiles on their faces. These waves were coming off the tail end of the North shore swell that got the Eddie competition going. I waited until each one on the outside caught a big wave of the largest set that afternoon and my patience and prayers to the surf gods gave me a wonderful gift: I was the only one left far outside and sure enough the last wave of the set ended up being the largest and most beautiful one. I paddled like crazy to get far enough outside, quickly turned around and with a massive bolt of adrenaline hitting my blood stream decided that my only choice was to go for it. With a quick paddle my board was pointing straight down the face and I quickly got up on my board. I rode the wave all the way past the beach, with 7 long bottom turns and cutbacks on a large glassy face, in what seemed like an eternity. I can still feel every part of the track along that wave, everything fell into place, it was as if this beautiful powerful wave and I performed a dance of harmony, power and grace. In that moment I was fully in the FLOW, the best place to be…

It was also time to say good bye to our friends. It was very special to spend time with Marian, Charly and their daughter Siena. We will miss you and look forward to reconnecting in the near future, somewhere on this planet.

Big SIENA reading the good night story to little SIENNA and ROBINSON

Last smiles from Charlie Marian Siena with Sienna and Robinson in front of their Kailua house

On our last visit to Kailua Beach we said good bye to Simone and Christian with their two girls who have made their dream a reality, living in paradise with their family!

Simone and Christian with Sienna at Kailua Beach

Lanikai has been a very special place for us, and we have had some of the happiest days of our life here. What makes this place special for us is the spirit of the people in our community, the random acts of kindness, the gentleness of the Aloha spirit, the excitement and rush of water sports in the beautiful Pacific, the great fresh food, stunning and strong nature everywhere around us, the pleasant climate (never too hot or too cold), the proximity to the big city (for nights out, cultural activites, shopping), the easy and simple life. One last fire in the sky behind the mountains surrounding the Pali highway pass: sweet Hawaii, we will never forget your sound, smell, beauty, kindness, strength, love, Aloha… and we shall see you again!

Welcome to Waimea ski resort, paddled by the best best watermen in the world

that is the rock where we jumped off in the summer, now completely surrounded by raging whitewater

looks more like a ski slope than the ocean

By 8 am the jury decided it was too large and bumby for the contest, and within 30 minutes there were fourty guys out:

ready to paddle the biggest waves in a decade

Clear signals from the lifeguard:

The next day the swell grew even larger, the sun came out and the event was on, drawing a spectacular crowd:

Thousands ready for the big boys

The best way to get to the bay was Hawaiian style in the back of a truck:

SHAKA

You can pick up any surf magazine and get professional pictures of the event, but here is what we saw. It was spectacular. The sets were building and looking completely unrideable, but set after set, the brave boys paddled and surfed the wave. It is incredibly hard to pick the right spot to paddle into the wave. Once you ride it your chances of making it down the face are reasonably high, but your chances of being swallowed by a massive wall of white water that is coming after you are also very very high and it happened over and over again. The trick is to make the bottom turn to the right at the right moment. If you go too early the wave will not have enough power, and if you go too late, well you get to know that wall of white water very well and are being held down near the ocean floor for what seems like an eternity.

no pulling out here,once you are committed you have gotta go!

It was truly awe inspiring to watch the best surfers of the world ride these giant waves, right in front of our eyes. Greg Long edged out Kelly Slater and Sunny Garcia, but all spectators felt that every single one of the guys out there was a champion and hero. What a day!

With the swell still there, but dropping to about half conditions were perfect for the last and most important event of the world pro surfing circuit, the Pipeline Masters, third part of the triple crown event held annually in the winter on the North Shore of Oahu:

some big names on that list, check out how many times Kelly Slater has won the Pipeline Masters

The swell was massive and we were getting barrel ride after barrel ride, directly in front of our eyes:

going right

It is amazing and truly inspiring to feel the energy of the waves and see the best surfers of the world play in them…

• Marian and Charly have been friends in Kailua since 1984, they are the reason I have been drawn to Hawaii and in particular Kailua for 25 years – they are building and playing and enjoying time with their daughter Sienna
• Peter and Eva (our hosts) live here in the best spot on the beach in the winter, enjoying the ocean and the beach, eating hering and Knäckebrot from their native Sweden, riding their kayaks, sailing, and enjoying the evenings with friends.
• Brenda shines with her ability to truly heal people in her special sanctuary via lomi lomi massage and other means
• Elena and William have left Italy to live in paradise and work at night so they can play during the day
• Julie and Greg train dolphins at the Kahala hotel and play on the beach with their cute girls
• Kevin and Mike are best friends from way back in South Carolina and now rule the Es ist die nachste Generation im Online Casino Glucksspiel – der 3D Casinounterhaltung meilenweit voraus. Kailua Bay kite scene with their fresh style acquired in Florida where they recently moved from
• Levi is the king of Kailua and beyond with the smoothest style, the highest jumps, the best tricks
• Simone and Christian moved here from Germany to raise their two angel daughters, and they are made for this place
• Neal is a retired hydrologist from California and moved here with his wife Barbara to be in and out of the ocean, often in a OC6 canoe
• Paula and Rex ride single outrigger canoes, make fantastic veggie pizza, and have fully embraced the Hawaiian spirit
• Hailey is majoring in bliss at university and travels with her spirit and her beautiful instruments to the beach
• Andrew is at the beach when the wind blows and flies his yellow kite very gracefully
• Mike and Mia surf anything, both board size and waves, and have started Twin Island Surf company, in memory of Mike”s late twin brother
• Sema moved from Germany and crews in the canoe and enjoys the beach every day with Bobby

just a few impressions:

Brenda with Sienna and Robinson

Marian and Charly

Simone and one of her angels

Gesine with a tired partier and Rex in the background

A highlight of the evening was when Kevin and Mike arrived in the moonlight with their kites directly at the beach in front of the party. These guys know what they are doing and are friends with all the sharks in the bay!

Thanks to all of you for making us feel at home away from home, inspiring us, showing us the Aloha spirit, letting us be part of the community, all the smiles, teaching us how to kite surf, surf, ride the canoe, see the turtles, and sharing some of the moments in your paradise… We will miss you, and we will see you again, back in hawaii or some other magic spot on this planet!

The days treat us with warm winds, a yoga session and swim at the beach, half a papaya with lime, and the decision which toy to take into the ocean…

aloha from lanikai

I make breakfast today

The decision for the first water has been made:

sorting the kitelines

look, the Japanese have taken over our kite as a beach tent!!!

let's quickly launch the kite

and fly it, all alone in the bay...

In the afternoon, our Swedish landlord Peter took us out on the Hobie 16 for some speed across the reef:

time to get wet!!!

Robinson and Peter speeding down the bay

we end the day by saying good night to the turtles…

good night lanikai beach

Darkness sets in quickly and the stars shine bright as the wind shakes the palm leaves and waves continue to crash on the outer reef…

Wonderful memories of a warmhearted crowd of kids and teachers….

Being cool….

He learnt how to do great parties: Writing invitations, preparing beautiful flower decorations, baking all sorts of cookies,….

He knows all the guys at the fire department and can splash water on anybody, who wants to get wet….

In Hawaii the family is really big, to the “ohana” everybody belongs, who is part of the family by soul…Those who are wondering why my legs are soooo looonnnngggg, ask Robinson:”Mummy is dancing the hula…”. And the green balls next to some heads are the ears (they appear only with persons, who know how to listen ;).

When you wake up, how do you feel? Happy? Tired? Full of love?
Robinson was feeling almost every day “smiley” during preschool time – ok, not the first 3 days, to be honest…

Within days, huge spiders and witches are crawling around on roofs, tombstones turn gardens into graveyards, fences are covered by gigantic spiderwebs, pumpkins look with scary faces at you. During daylight you may see kids dressed up as jellyfish or rainbow. When the night turns in, you see among friendly hotdogs and big bananas more and more skeletons, monsters, devils and ghosts crossing the streets and knocking on the doors.

It was Sienna and Robinson’s first Halloween. They were happy to be cats and still try to make up there mind, who might speak the same language…

And then it is time for “trick or treat”….

Sienna was fighting her way through the night, no matter how large the spooky creatures were….because she knew, that there were treats waiting at the doorsteps for her…

And here we are…just Halloween…bad hair day was over the next morning….

Who are we going to invite?
Girls, girls, girls. Just girls, from preschool. Top of the list is Lahela, sweet and Hawaiian. She is the one, who get drawings with little hearts on it and who gives secret love letters to Robinson. There is also Tristen with her curly dark hair, Linea, half-Swedish as her father came to Hawaii as surfer and Maile, sweet and adventurous.

What are we going to do?
Lots of playing: a treasure hunt at the beach with a real treasure map and a big treasure box with lots of treasures inside.

What are we going to eat?
The birthday cake should be a fudgy big chocolate cake with gummy bears and, of cause, 5 candles on top.

What presents???
Robinson has many wishes, but he realized quickly that we cannot carry around bikes and skateboards and all these things on our trip. So he wants new shorts, flipflops and learn how to surf….

So finally, Robinson could wake up with the certainty, that he is 5 years old. He smiled big time

and went to the beach for the sunrise (yes, it was not even 6 a.m.) with Gerry.

Wow – how different it feels to start the birthday in swim shorts in the turquoise water instead of in long jeans running through autumn leaves….

Coming back from the beach, it was time for the morning bday blast.

Of course unwrapping presents was part of the fun as well. There were flipflops like all the other kids have in preschool, a twin island T-shirt from Mike, 5 Dollars from the lovely grandpa in the restaurant the night before, bubbles from Mike, the painter and Jill, who live in the summer right here on the beach, a book about “Kimo”s surfing lesson” from Eva and Peter, our landlords, and lots of presents from the family :).

And some really lovely birthday greetings from Rocco, Ada, Nike, Tim & Paulina, ….

In the afternoon everything was ready for THE party….What we did not know is, that Hawaiians “take invitations easy” and show up rather late or never…But as special guests Omi and Dieter entertained the kids until Maile, Siena, Linea and her brother Lukas showed up. Kids were hunting treasures following pirat Gerry”s instructions….

And eating yummie yummie cake….

What a day…..

The outrigger canoe is truly magic and versatile. It has been the main mode of transportation for Polynesians for thousands of years, and I now understand why. It was designed to be fast but also survive big storms and waves. The canoe actually surfs very well, in fact it stays on waves much longer than any surfboard or stand-up paddleboard.

Last weekend the 111 men’s teams from around the Pacific participated in the Molokai Hoe Canoe Race (the women had their turn two weeks earlier), a 41 mile race from Molokai to Oahu, which is regarded as the world championship of long distance canoe paddling. Shell Vaa, a professional team from Tahiti, won in astounding fashion with a 1.5 mile lead in about 4.5 hours. Team Lanikai finished in fifth or second best team from hawaii.

This video is from 2007 but it gives you an idea of what crews are doing in the 4-6 hours while crossing the channel.

What makes this watercraft special is the fact that it is fast and maneuverable in heavy seas and heavy winds and that you can actually surf it. This week I actually got to steer down some waves (not as big as in the pictures) and that is a real rush. These canoes capsize in waves so you really need to hold your paddle in the right place.

The thing that amazed me about this sport is how many different ways there are to perform a paddle stroke. There are many many ways to do it wrong and inefficient. It is actually quite a complex movement. Contrary to what I believed, you do not pull with your arms, but use your entire body, particularly your upper torso. The other thing that makes this sport great is that timing makes all the difference, i.e. a team in sync has to paddle only half as hard as a team that is only slightly out of sync. The first paddler leads the stroke rhythm, the second calls out the changes from left to right, usually every 15 strokes. Anyone can do it and it is great exercise. On any given day there will be dozens of canoes paddling in the bay, which is a beautiful sight.

going down the face

full paddling action