In 1994 I was working at a small surf shop in Waikiki. I would wake up early and drive from Pearl City to Waikiki almost everyday to go to work at that shop. In order to beat traffic I would leave before sunrise and by the time I’d get to Waikiki it would still be kinda dark with just barely a little light on the horizon. I would park in the Miramar Hotel and meet up with friends at the shop in the International Marketplace to drop off our stuff and grab our boards from the back of the shop. We’d walk through the quiet and empty Marketplace and across the street to either Canoes or Queens. Kalakaua Ave would be completely empty as were the sidewalks out front of all the hotels. The beach would be empty with the exception of some of the Waikiki Beach Boys setting up their kiosk to get ready for the day. As you walk through the sand to get to the beach it was usually a little cold but once you’d get to the water it would feel nice and warm once you got acclimated to it. Paddling out was like paddling on top of a sheet of glass. You could see to the bottom like looking through a big magnifying glass. The bottom is covered with white sand and reef. You can usually see small fish swimming in and out of the reef on your paddle out . Once you make it to the line up and sit waiting for waves you couldn’t help but notice the majestic silhouette of Diamond Head in the near distance. You would also be staring back to the land at a sleepy and quiet Waikiki beach which would usually be full of tourist. It was such an amazing experience to be out in the ocean with a small group of friends trading waves and watching the sunrise come up from behind Diamond Head. It felt like you had the whole beach to yourself in one of the most destined places in the world. This feeling made it feel like all in the world was right.
This same feeling would overcome me many years later whenever I’d go to train at my friend Nori’s coffee shop in Lomita. On certain Sundays, Nori would open up Corridor Flow to a hand full of close friends at the break of dawn so we could get some training before heading back home to spend the rest of our Sunday with our families. I’d wake up at 5:30am and be out the door by 6am. At this time it’s usually still dark out and the usually busy streets of Long Beach are peaceful and quiet as everyone is still in bed sleeping. There’s something about being out and about before the sunrise that makes you feel like the rest of the world is missing out on something you’re about to experience. By the time I arrive at Corridor Flow, the parking lot is filled with all the friends cars and you just know it’s gonna be a good day. As I walk into the backdoor of the coffee shop you can smell the coffee and there is our small group of friends chatting it up catching up on how everyones been and how the families are doing over cups of freshly made coffee. I forgot to mention that the coffee shop is closed on Sundays so this is a private gathering so we have the whole coffee shop to ourselves. Nori’s usually got some good music playing in the background with a projector playing jiu jitsu videos on the back wall. The whole vibe is a very unique experience and the vibe is always good. It’s the same kinda early morning experiences I’d have when I used to dawn patrol with the friends at Waikiki Beach except this would be a dawn patrol training session here in the back of a usually bustling coffee shop. Whenever you’d be on your way out to go surfing and you’d run into your friends coming in and you ask how’s the surf? If they said it was “Head High and Off Shore” you knew it was gonna be good and it usually was. Training in the back of Corridor Flow at 6:30am on a Sunday morning would always guarantee to be “Head High and Off Shore”!
