Buttons, the Surfing Legend

For many, many moons, Matt has wanted to surf. In Florida and California, though, the opportunities never seemed to present themselves. Here? Surfing schools and used boards are as plentiful as the plumeria.

When we got lost in North Shore last weekend, we were in search of Buttons Surfing School. Matt had been asking around plus doing a good bit of online research and decided that Buttons Kaluhiokalani, a surfing legend from the '70s and '80s, was the instructor for him. After scouring North Shore beaches for a couple of hours and finding the Garmin about as helpful as an appendix, we finally turned it off and headed home.

We'd just rounded yet another bend when Matt yelled, "Buttons! I see Buttons!" I pulled over, we dashed across the street -- and voila, Buttons indeed. We watched the class he had in session and promptly made a reservation for yesterday, 9:00 a.m. sharp (although "sharp" is a pretty loose term around here).

Well, damn it all, we spent another two hours (two!) combing the North Shore yesterday morning looking for Buttons. We were certain that the Buttons beach was below Sunset but above the turtle lagoon, so we parked and walked. And walked and walked and walked. When our mouths turned pasty from dehydration, we headed back to the truck, fully acknowledging we were in the running for Stupidest Tourists Ever.

Matt slumped behind the wheel and headed back down the coast. In about as low a voice as I've ever heard him use, he said, "Let's just go home." 

Sure enough, about five miles of beach later, he yelled, "Buttons! I see Buttons!" 

Suffice it to say, we had a glorious day at Chun's Reef. I yelled and clapped and took pictures and cheered and waved and nearly bawled in pure joy. I made friends on the beach with Sarah and her three children, and a tile dude who says he's remodeling President Obama's bathroom. 

Matt? Oh, my goodness, Matt. He's fearless. For three hours, he paddled, crouched, stood, and fell -- over and over again. A couple of times, he got about 10 seconds of standing time, only to lose his balance and tip off the side again. But he loved every minute of it. At one point, he said he laid down on the board in exhaustion and watched sea turtles swim under him. When he finally loped up the beach to his sleeping wife, the first thing he said was, "NSP, 10'6", 31/32, 3 1/2 to 4." I wrote that down as fast as I could and then smiled in realization. 

Dimensions for a surf board.

Last night, I rubbed aloe into his crispy fried calves and Aveeno on the rash on his belly. This morning, he's walking like he's 90. But, oh my goodness, was it worth it.

Matt Forbes went surfing in North Shore Hawaii. Life just doesn't get any better than that.