I got a tale for you @Senior Sopa. Paddled out to Bowls in the dark. A couple of the regulars were already out. Waves were small waist high. I see a set coming and I tell Jerome I can catch ITV from here. But he was out before me so I let it go. Next thing I know Alan finds a board floating almost in the channel. It’s still pretty dark so we can’t see a head bobbing. Who’s board is it. Jerome was close to Al and he said it’s Takeshi’s., Takeshi hardly wears a leash. Where’s Takeshi. Everyone in the lineup is scanning the water 360.When I was out of the surf for a year injured and rehabbing, Teeroi was my muse. The bowls tales made me feel right at home. His stories of the crew, the parking lot antics, "pro days", etc kept me stocked. Many here don't really have a "spot" or a "crew", those that do, know exactly where Teeroi is coming from.
A wave comes to me so I stand up and am trying to see if I can see someone swimming. I ride it pretty far in and a bunch of us are paddling around looking for him. I look at the jetty thinking maybe I’ll paddle to the jetty and can get a better look from there. I see blue lights in the parking lot so instead I tell one of the guys keep looking I’ll go in and call 911.
I haul ass in and see Les, the guy I pull parking pranks on. he’s on the beach ready to paddle out. I ask him did you see Takeshi paddle in? No. Is his car still here? Yes. I fill them in. Then run over to the HPD officers checking the surf at Kaiser’s. Calmly I tell them what’s up. One calls dispatch to alert the Coast Guard the other gets info from me and off Takeshi’s license plate.
In the meantime Les has grabbed tankers from the surf school and got a couple other guys to help him. He tells me to grab a board. I tell him I’m going to check the Surfline rewind cam to see if I can see what happened. I see Takeshi’s first wave and he falls way inside. Then I see him bodysurf in. I was just about to check the next ten minutes when Curney runs up to tell me they found him. Alive? Yes.
I walk up to the beach and there’s a crowd gathered. One of the cops asks is that your friend? Not anymore. I yell at him dumb a** wear a leash even when it’s small. You scared the sh*t out of us. He was embarrassed and grateful and gave me a hug. Ugh. Have not missed bro hugs during the pandemic. I ask Takeshi what happened? He said he swam in looking for his board but the board drifted out. Finally Malcom saw him on the jetty. I told him that was the most exciting 1 foot surf ever.
Jerome comes in while I was hassling Jeannie and tells me. Once the dust settled he tells Malcom at least Troy went in. Haha.
Here’s some board porn for reading thru this novel.
Jeannie’s Minami “Molokai”
words to live by... 
