
5,200 miles southeast of Wuhan China, and 4 months before the Covid pandemic shut down the globe, the jagged cliffs of Kauai came into view through the windshield of my white jeep wrangler. The two lane road was windy and full of cars headed down towards Hanalei Bay. “That's it, that’s the place I’m gonna catch some waves” I told my wife, Rebekah, who may or may not have been half asleep. We had only left Ohio a few days ago, and the time change had not been easy on either of us. Add to that the lack of good restaurants, we were also longing for some good food to ease our hunger. “It looks like it might rain. Do you think the waves will be any good?” Said Rebekah, as we both gazed out the window at the ocean. “Doesn’t matter, I came all this way to surf here.” I had spent hours trying to find the best surf spots on the island. Most people often deferred to the bay as a go-to spot. We arrived in the small town, on the lookout for a surf shop. I had a surfboard back home in Ohio but wasn’t about to haul that 8ft long, pain in the ass thousands of miles to Kauai. We parked our car and went inside a small shack with a sign that read “Surf Board Rentals.” The local man behind the counter helped me pick out a board. He set me up with a large board, at least 8ft although it may have been longer. “Do you want insurance on the surfboard for an extra $50?” I paused and thought about it. Sensing my indecision, he reminded me “Surfboards like this one cost anywhere between $800 to over $1,000 dollars.” It seemed clear to me $50 was a small fee to cover my ass if anything was to happen to the board. My wife and I loaded the Board into the back seat of the jeep. “It’s sticking out like 6 ft back here Will!” Yelled Rebekah. From where we were on the road I could see the beach. “Just hold the board while I drive.” I yelled from the drivers seat. At last, we were there, the waves were crashing and surfers were riding and rolling with the tide. “Alright, here is my camera” I handed Rebekah my Leica Q before I waxed the surfboard. I looked out at all the surfers out there who were far better than myself. “Make sure you get a good shot!” I yelled back to Rebekah as I entered the water. My first time surfing in Hawaii had to be on camera. The scene was perfect, I just needed to perform. I fell, a lot. The waves were much bigger than the waves I was used to surfing down in Florida or up in Maryland. Finally I caught one. Then another. Then another. On the last wave I have ever surfed in Hawaii I had fallen and broken the fin on my board. I could see Rebekah smiling the beach, catching some sun rays in her chair. I exited the water with my surfboard in one hand, and the snapped fin in the other. “I guess you’re done for the day huh?” Said Rebekah I laughed and said “Luckily, I bought that insurance. Did you get a good picture?” Rebekah, knowing little to nothing about photography shrugged her shoulders. “I saw you surfing and I took some pictures. I’m not sure if they are good or not.” Hiding my frustration, I gently took the camera from her to look at the photos. Most of the photos were no good. It was hard to see if that decent ones were great because of the beaming sun. Fortunately, my wife is a better photographer than she leads on. Out of all the photos, there was one that I thought was fantastic. I had surfed Kauai, and had a photo for proof. After laying in the sun, we decided it would be best to return the board and head back to the other side of the island where we were staying. Struggling to put the board in the jeep, and taking it out, we were finally walking into the surf shop. I saw the local man at the counter and leaned the board up against the wall. “How was it?” He asked. “It was awesome. I was able to catch some good waves. Unfortunately, the fin broke off so Its a good thing you talked me into that insurance.” Behind me walked Rebekah with the broken fin in hand. He took it from her and looked at both of us and said “Insurance only covers the board, not the fin.”