Huge surf generated by strong storms in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska forced closure of beaches from Hanalei to Ha’ena yesterday. Wave heights, estimated to be between 15 and 30 feet yesterday, were forecast to stay almost that big today,
Huge surf generated by strong storms in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska forced closure of beaches from Hanalei to Ha’ena yesterday.
Wave heights, estimated to be between 15 and 30 feet yesterday, were forecast to stay almost that big today, according to Kaleo Ho’okano, county water safety supervisor.
North shore beaches will remain closed as long as the high surf continues.
With more winter storms in the north Pacific, longer-range forecasts call for several more swells through and beyond Thanksgiving weekend.
In periods like this, off-duty lifeguards are asked to provide additional support to the regular Hanalei Bay lifeguard crews, said Ho’okano, speaking yesterday morning via cellular telephone while on his way to the north shore.
But the experienced big-wave riders who are Kaua’i residents, a tight-knit crew knowledable about who belongs in the monster surf and who should paddle in, are invaluable aides to the county lifeguards, Ho’okano explained.
“The greatest asset is the big-wave riders, the surfers who we know. They help us,” he said. “They know the who’s supposed to be out there, and who’s not supposed to be out there.”
Only about a half-dozen surfers braved the waves yesterday, all experienced big-wave riders, he continued.
While county lifeguards are on scene to prevent injury and loss of life, they legally can’t do much to stop people from entering the water during periods of dangerous surf.
“We’re only prevention. So what we try to do is warn them that we have closed the beaches. But if they insist on going out,” there is really nothing the lifeguards can do to prevent them, he said.
“We tell them the consequences, and what can happen. Because they’re putting not only themselves on the line, they’re putting all of us on the line.
“Because our job is, when they do get into trouble, to get them back onto the beaches again. So we do heavy prevention during these times,” said Ho’okano. “We get the skis (rescue water-craft) going almost constantly, eight hours, just surveying the whole bay,” he said of Hanalei.
“Our whole mission is prevention. The reason why we close the beaches is just to let the public know it’s serious,” he said.
“We don’t want people getting hurt.”
And that includes lifeguards.
The closing of the beaches doesn’t mean sun-worshippers must stay away. Beach-goers are welcome, but are cautioned to stay well above the high-water mark. Because the large waves are often accompanied by dangerous rip currents, people shouldn’t even wade, said Ho’okano.
Kaua’i ocean conditions are such that the calm brought by a huge set’s aftermath can seem like a deceiving invitation.
“People get caught unaware. A lot of times, that’s when a lot of trouble begins, when people go below the high-water mark,” he said.
A few weeks ago, a visitor drowned after being pulled out to sea by a strong wave on the north shore, said Ho’okano, a man who would rather be surfing the big waves than combing them for possible victims with binoculars.
Because events in another part of the ocean influence wave conditions here, part of Ho’okano’s duties also include monitoring weather thousands of miles away.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
