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February 27, 2010 (Saturday)
Post-session
The phone calls started early in the morning. Tsunami is coming, which I knew about the night before from news reports.
All day spent watching TV. We're not in the evac zone (but very close), so we were staying put. Also, we live in a two-story walk-up and have a rooftop observation area, which would put us on the third floor (the recommended minimum safe height).
Waited. Watched. One channel was streaming very cool video from a Web cam looking at Hilo Bay that showed the very distinct ebb-flow of surges. Other than that it was a waiting game.
As soon as I got the impression from news reports that things were okay (e.g., authorities wanted to give all-clear but would wait an hour to be cautious), I headed to the beach. The reported roadblocks were gone, and I drove to my usual place. It was a circus. TV trucks and onlookers everywhere.
As soon as I pulled up, there was an awesome set coming through that screamed "going off." Three surfers were already in the water. Technically, the all-clear had not yet been given. I grabbed my board and scrambled to the beach. I was the fourth person in the water.
It was so-o disappointing. Very weak and sloppy. Nothing near as good as it had looked from the car. As some of the regulars came out, they were all excited that the surf was sizeable and un-crowded. It got crowded very quickly.
I started on the outside and pretty much was forced to surf the inside if I wanted to ride anything decent. It was crappy.
When I got out and back to the car, I could see that it was just another Saturday afternoon. The water was choked with people. Gawkers were lingering. Some had grills fired up and were lounging around. No destruction to see, but that's no reason to stop the party.
Posted at 10:31 PM