Surfed Out and Jet Lagged

Spent my last morning in Hawaii catching some of the new swell that was filling in before I hopped on the plane at 1pm… it was super clean out at Populars with occasional head high sets rolling in if you waited long enough. I’ll be surfing on these same waves when they hit California in 3 days but I’m going to miss the small crowds and 80 degree water when I’m back home surfing the ‘Bu with 50 other guys and wearing a wetsuit…

Arrived at LAX late last night and the first thing I did when I got on the shuttle to get my car was ask the driver how the Lakers did… what a mistake – ruined my homecoming! 

Anyways… it was a great 2 weeks of surfing and hanging with the family… my shoulders are worked and I’m ready to sleep in my own bed… Jack, I’ll kick your butt on the pink-pong table next year so keep practicing buddy!

I also want to note that the rash guard shirts I used worked awesome! The only thing is that I’ve got the wildest tan lines: white arms and bronze hands! Looks weird but it beats getting skin cancer on my forearms again. Remember to wear your rash guard kids… The skin you save may be your own!

Aloha – Hawaii no ka oi…

Just Another Weekend in Paradise

The surf is going off in Town today with some 8′ sets but there’s a contest at Queens a contest a Ala Moana Bowls along with the King Kamehameha Day parade and festival in Waikiki so I’m taking it easy and resting my my dog-tired arms after 5 days of surf. 

Tomorrow will be a rest day too and of course with the Laker game on here at 2:30pm we’ll be on the couch all afternoon – GO LAKERS!!!

Surf’s Up – Finally!

Well we FINALLY got some surf today! The swell that was supposed to show up yesterday didn’t materialize until today… so we lost another day of surfing due to flatness but were happy the waves finally arrived!

Today we stuck around Canoes where the surf was 2-4 feet… Seaweed only stayed out about an hour while I hung in there for 2.5 hours. Not bad for a couple of old, outta shape, surf bums.

Gotta say I really dig my long sleeve rash guard since it’s the only way I can stay protected with SPF 150 coverage while I’m out in the water! I don’t know what we did before these surf shirts came along… oh ya, I remember – we burned our asses off!!!

The swell is supposed to hang around into tomorrow so we’ll be on it again…may venture out to Pops or Queens.

Aloha!

On Hawaiian Time!

My long-time Malibu surf buddy Seaweed Steve and I arrived in Hawaii yesterday afternoon and got ourselves settled in at my uncle’s house up in Pauoa Valley… this morning we were up bright and early at 6am since we’re still on L.A. time, (LOVE traveling west and getting those extra hours!).

Headed to Town to surf this morning… worked out the kinks and got used to our boards in some 1-3′ surf at Canoes before making the long paddled out to Pops… it was small out there too but MUCH less crowded and longer rights so it was fun…

Had a scrumptious tuna/avocado sandwich at my favorite Waikiki health food store: Ruffage before heading over to the park to nap under a palm tree while Seaweed sunned himself and gawked at the bikini clad girls…

Surf is supposed to be flat over the weekend with a fun 2-4 SW swell coming in Monday, (6/2).

Day 1 of 14 down…

Tourism Slump in Hawaii – Trouble in Paradise

So I hear the state of Hawaii will be tapping into emergency funds to lure tourists back to the Islands, spending millions on a marketing campaign to convince US travelers to vacation there.

Hawaii’s tourism industry is hurting from the sudden closings of Aloha and ATA airlines last month along with a spike in airfares, pushed up by rising jet fuel prices and fewer flights.

I’m wondering, (and hoping), that the whole “supply and demand” theory will start to kick in and maybe actually lower some hotel and airfare prices… if you lower it, we will come!

You can read more about Hawaii’s tourism woes here…

Around the World From My Living Room

As previously posted, I was one of the poor saps that ATA so graciously left in the cold when they closed suddenly and without warning earlier this month.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and not wait for the refund that Travelocity said they would “pursue on my behalf”

A friend suggested I call my credit card company and dispute the charge – DUH – what a brilliant idea I thought!

I got on the phone with my cc company from my home here in Southern California and called customer service. I was connected to “David”, (pronounced with a thick Indian accent – that always cracks me up!!), in India, who, after I explained my situation, transfered me to their Rewards Center, (I had used mileage to book the ticket). Before signing off I got the overly-polite 30 second “sorry I can’t help you, but please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you, thank you for being a valued customer, hope you will continue to stay a loyal customer, wold you like to take a survey” goodbye speech…

Next, Katie, (her real name), answered my call in Chicago. After I went through my explanation she said I needed to talk to customer service. “But wait – I just talked to customer service!”, I said. Katie told me that the first rep must not have understood what I was talking about, (although I must say he was VERY polite), and that she would stay on the phone and talk to the customer service rep to explain what my situation was to get everything straightened out. She assured me to stay on hold while she spoke with the rep… a few minutes later I heard 2 voices as Katie handed me over to “Jane”, (not her real name), back in India.

The first words out of “Jane’s” mouth were, “how can I help you?”. At this point about 30 minutes and 2 explanations had passed so I asked her if Katie, (her real name), had done as she promised and explained my situation… “well, not really”, was “Jane’s” answer…

I took a deep breath and repeated my story, (which I had down pat by now)… “Jane” then tells me she cannot help me but that I need to talk to someone in the Dispute Department, (not a department name I’d like to work in). Next comes… you guessed it… the overly-polite 30 second “sorry I can’t help you, but please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you, thank you for being a valued customer, hope you will continue to stay a loyal customer, wold you like to take a survey” goodbye speech…

After a few more minutes on hold I’m speaking with Zack, (his real name), in Utah. Zack was cool as he explained he’d handled 100’s of call from people like me who got screwed by the airlines, (pick one this week: Aloha or ATA). Zack laughed when I told him what I’d been through, said I must feel like I’ve been around the world and within about 3 minutes issued me a credit for the $300 I spent on my now-useless ATA ticket to Hawaii.

I’m happy to report it took exactly 48 hours for the refund to hit my account!

Now I don’t have to wait and worry about if and when Travelocity will get around to “acting in my behalf” AND I got a free trip around the world without ever leaving my living room.

What the &%$#! is Up with the Airlines?

So first it was Aloha Airlines suddenly closing it’s doors and filing bankruptcy without warning earlier this week…

Yesterday I’m in my car and turn on the radio as I hear the tail end of a news report where the reporter is interviewing passengers stranded at the ATA ticket counter at LAX because they came to board their flights to Hawaii and the ATA ticket counter was closed with nobody around and only a handwritten note apologizing that they had filed bankruptcy and closed that very morning!

First I was in disbelief that 2 airlines would go belly up in the same week with NO warning to their passengers, (is that legal?), then panic started to set in as I tried to remember which airline I booked my May trip to Hawaii with 2 months ago… I raced home only to find that , yes, it was friggin’ ATA!

Of course I had no email or warning from them and when I logged into my Travelocity account all appeared fine… thank goodness my girlfriend, (who used to work in travel), got on the phone immediately and got me a flight reservation for the same dates and times on another airline… of course the cost was $175 more than I had paid for my ATA tickets but at least my trip was still on, (by 9pm the SAME flight she booked me was almost $400 more than what I had first paid – VULTURES!!)

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Travelocity sticks to their promise to issue a refund for the ATA tickets… at least I wasn’t one of those poor people who walked up with bags in hand, ready to start my Hawaiian vacation, (one couple was on their way to get married!!), only to find a closed ticket counter!!