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Hawaiian South Shore February Newsletter

 NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2019

MT. FUJI David Kelly | Owner, Hawaiian South Shore

Everyone can use a little luck in their lives, and my wife has her own fun way of finding it. 

For the past few years, we have done trips back to Japan each January, and legend has it that it is good luck to bring in the new year by gazing upon Mt. Fuji. So every time we book our trips, my wife always makes sure that she will get a chance to see Mt. Fuji. Sometimes that might mean staying in a ryokan that has a good view of the mountain. Other times, if we are flying into Sendai, she makes sure that we select seats on the side of the plane that will be looking at the mountain, so she can see Mt. Fuji from the air. (Of course, just about everyone on the airplane always ends up crowding over to the side with the view when we pass Mt. Fuji, so they can get pictures of it!)

I know that a lot of people have different rituals for bringing in the year with good luck—some that they take very seriously, and others that have become a fun tradition more than anything else. I really love my wife’s tradition, as it is not only a fun and culturally connected way to enjoy Japan, but it also gives us a view of one of the Earth’s great natural wonders. 

What does your family do for good luck? Do you have any special rituals or traditions that you always do, either during a trip or at a certain time of year? Whatever it is, I hope that the coming year is a fortunate one for you and yours!

YOGI IN THREAD THE NEEDLE CREDIT: Yogini Sam

Credit: Yogini Sam

Like most people, we surfers often fail to live in the moment—especially when we aren’t in the water. We spend a lot of time thinking about the waves that are coming, and trying to make sure we are in the right place and right state of mind to surf them. But sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to pause in the moment and recover from the past. Surfing has a lot of great health benefits, but like all physical activities, it breaks the body down and causes musculoskeletal imbalances. And anything we do repetitively (like paddling) tends to create big imbalances! In order to make sure we are ready for our next session, it is a good idea to stretch out when we finish with a session. This month, our resident yoga pro, Kilty Inafuku runs through a post-surf yoga pose that will ensure we are ready the next time a swell hits.

The various movements involved in surfing put a lot of strain on the body, and the shoulders and back tend to take the brunt of the trauma. Because we spend hours paddling for a few moments of actually riding waves, we tend to hold certain poses with our backs (such as arching the lower back) and perform repetitive motions with fragile joints (hello rotator cuff!). 

While the body naturally heals and recovers after exercises, it is important for us to facilitate that recovery by doing away with any imbalances that might be preventing efficient healing. Since the back and shoulders take most of the strain during a surf session, the ‘thread the needle’ pose is a great one for recovery. Not only does it allow us to twist our spines to restore balance after holding it in hyperextension for so many hours, but also it lets us stretch the posterior deltoids, which are usually pretty tightfrom so much paddling.

CREATURES OF LEISURE

FOUR DECADES OF SURF INNOVATION

Creatures of Leisure has been a staple of the surf industry for decades, creating high-quality accessories for discerning surfers. Their leashes are top-notch tools for wave riders looking to keep their boards with them even through the heaviest wipeouts. But Creatures of Leisure has always been more than a simple builder of hardware. It has been an innovator and industry leader and has helped evolve the leash into the tool that it is today.

The brand was started by John Malloy, a surfer in Western Australia who was looking to build leashes that could handle the heavy WA surf. His first contribution to the leash was the use of urethane to build leash cords in 1976, a practice that has since become standard across the industry. John then took the leash to the next level in the 1980s when he started using injection-molded parts in his leashes, making them even stronger and more durable.

In 2003, Creatures of Leisure began using the world’s first stainless-steel, self-lubricating swivel in their leashes, adding smoother movement and even more strength to the leg ropes. And then in 2007 the company evolved the leash again, creating the first leash cord/mold connection that helped make a notoriously weak point on most leashes more shock absorbent. This DNA flex mold makes Creatures of Leisure leashes stronger, more flexible and helps to reduce breakage.

After 43 years of making some of the world’s best, strongest leashes, Creatures of Leisure knows what it takes to keep us safe and happy while we are enjoying our favorite leisure activity. That’s why we are proud to carry their product in our shop, and to depend on their leashes while we are out surfing!

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As with all yoga poses, the ‘thread the needle’ pose is best performed on an empty stomach—so try to do this stretch right when you come in, and before you power down that post-surf meal. 

Start by coming to your hands and knees in a table-top position, preferably on a stable surface with a mat under you. Align your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Your fingers should be pointing toward the front of the mat, and your legs should be approximately hip-width apart. Let the head rest in a neutral position, and the eyes fall to the ground. 

Then, take your right hand underneath your face, and reach your left hand toward the sky, twisting your chest open to the left. Push down into your bottom hand to twist open a little more and reach higher with your top hand. On an exhale, thread your left arm underneath your torso, with your left shoulder and head resting on the mat. Lay your left cheek and ear on the mat as you gaze right.

The hips remain raised as you settle into this pose. Adjust as necessary to keep from straining your neck. Gently press the back of your left arm down into the mat to broaden the upper back. Soften the lower back, allowing any tension to melt away.

Hold the pose for up to a minute, then release by pressing down with your right hand and sliding the left arm out from under you. Return to table pose, then repeat the process with the other arm.

This pose should relieve some of the strain on your lower back, stretch out your posterior deltoids, and help slow down the heart rate, moving you from active mode into a more relaxed, centered state. Now you are ready to face the rest of your day, supported by the knowledge that you have already caught a few waves!

Kilty Inafuku teaches yoga classes on the North Shore (at the North Shore Yoga Co-Op and Paumalu Yoga), in Honolulu (at Power Yoga Hawaii Piikoi), and in Kailua (at Yoga by the Sea). She also hosts and guest teaches at various yoga events on the island, and leads retreats both in Hawaii and overseas. For more information, visit www.kiltyyoga.com.

SOMETHING I’M TRYING OUT AND LEARNING AS I GO

Something I have become interested in lately is intermittent fasting. There are numerous health benefits to fasting, when it is done properly. The benefits stem from the fact that you are giving your digestive system a chance to rest and catch up. In this modern age of fast food, high fructose corn syrup, and hosts of additives and preservatives, our digestive systems are often overloaded with toxins. And since our busy lifestyles mean that many of us tend to snack throughout the day, we never give our digestive systems a chance to recover, or the other organs in our body to enjoy adequate blood flow and attention (since our bodies are always busy digesting). 

Some people believe that these dietary and gastrointestinal issues are at the core of many illnesses, including some allergies and autoimmune disorders. The idea behind fasting—even intermittently—is to give the digestive system a chance to rest from its daily grind of digesting meals so that it can focus on breaking down the built-up toxins in the system and reset after some much-needed rest!

There are many ways to fast, and some people do so for days or even weeks at a time. But I have been more interested in intermittent, short-term fasting. Some people do this on a weekly basis or monthly basis, while others might do it once or twice per year. How often you fast depends on your goals and your own personal experience.

Short-term fasting typically lasts somewhere between 6 and 24 hours. Some people don’t have their first meal of the day until after noon. While this could be called a six-hour fast (fasting from when they wake up until noon, or approximately six hours), in reality it is probably more like a 12- to 15-hour fast, since they were also not eating all night, since dinner.

Others follow a strict 12-hour fast, where they have dinner at a certain time and then breakfast 12 hours later and stick with this schedule like clockwork. This is less of a fasting technique and more of a structured mealtime plan, which most people agree is the healthiest way to eat. Your body becomes used to eating and digesting at certain times and is therefore able to do so more efficiently (the same has been found with a structured sleep schedule).

Matt Rott, our resident big wave surfer and fitness enthusiast, used to do a 24-hour fast once per week. He would have his dinner at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night and then not eat again until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday night. While this gave him some benefits, 

MEMBER OF THE MONTH

Paula

When and why did you initially get into surfing?

I started surfing 15 years ago. I thought I should give it a try because I grew up here, love the ocean, bodyboarded and bodysurfed as a kid, but had not tried surfing. 

Did you have a time period you laid off from surfing? If so, when and why did you start back up?

I haven’t stopped surfing except for 2 years when I worked in Germany (12 years ago).

What is your favorite thing about surfing? 

I love the good vibes of everyone sharing a passion that keeps us happy and healthy.

Where is your favorite place to eat after surfing? What is your favorite item on the menu? 

I don’t have much spare time, so I usually pack food with me. I enjoy sipping my coffee after a morning session or drinking a homemade green smoothie.

What other hobbies do you have besides surfing?

I enjoy deep sea fishing and free diving but rarely have the opportunity to go. I also enjoy bodyboarding with my son. 

Where do you work and what type of work do you do?

Ft. Shafter as a civilian in Public Works overseeing funding and resources.

I believe you said you have a Firewire surfboard. What model and size is it? What do you like about it?

Lately I have been riding a 5’2” Evo. It was versatile for me, good for overhead days as well as groveling. While trying to find the right fin set up, I was also trying to step down my boards and found a 5’3” Omni with less volume. Now I’m switching between the Omni and the classic Dominator which I’m riding a bit larger at 5’4”. These two seem to work better for me in the pocket and not catch rails on turns. 

Do you have any additional comments?

I love shopping in your store! Everyone is so friendly, helpful and easy to talk to.

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such as better mental clarity and building ritual into his week, he found that his extremely active lifestyle and training could not be supported when going an entire day without eating and reducing his weekly caloric intake by a few thousand calories. Even when he increased his caloric intake on the other six days of the week to make up for the day of fasting, he still found that he lost unwanted weight when following an intermittent fasting program.

Many of us probably wouldn’t mind losing a bit of weight, but it is important to understand that fasting should not be undertaken as a weight-loss program. Weight management is best pursued in a holistic manner, by living an entire lifestyle that is shaped around healthy, temperate eating and exercise. Fasting to lose weight can often have the reverse effect, as we tend to binge eat after fasting, and end up eating more unhealthy food that replaces the missing calories, without providing nutrients.

Again, the goal of intermittent fasting should be to give our digestive system a break, and to let your body focus on purging toxins from the various organs and systems. When fasting, it is important to ensure that you keep good tabs on your health. Longer-term fasting should be done in isolation from strenuous exercise, as your body will not have the nutrients to support exercise or to rebuild muscle that is broken down. Those who fast for a few days might also notice their bodies venting toxins, with symptoms such as bad breath and a white-coated mouth, excessive sweating, and bad body odor. This is all part of the process, because the body is finally being allowed to release toxins that otherwise stagnate in the body while the digestive track works overtime to deal with the constant stream of crap food that we feed ourselves.

While some people go completely without food while fasting, others find they are unable to function without calories. Eating less calories than you burn technically means you are starving yourself, and the human body cannot properly function under these conditions. Many people find themselves light-headed or struggling to focus, and of course there is the notorious “hangry” feeling that many experience when they are late for a meal. Some people find that they do better with a compromise, and end up juicing or drinking tonics while fasting. Juiced vegetables and fruits (and prepared cleanse tonics) contain calories and nutrients that the body needs to function but are very easy to digest since there are no fiber or complex carbohydrates to digest, and very little fat and protein. And even those who don’t juice during fasts must be very careful to drink adequate water, as the body will be in a weakened state and needs the water to help maintain balance and excrete the toxins that are being processed.

Because juicing has come to be associated with cleanses and fasting, many people tend to think that juicing is extremely healthy and is something that they should do all the time, even when they are not fasting. This is actually not the case. When you juice, you are basically drinking the condensed sugar and nutrients of the fruits or vegetables. While it is good to get a nice, concentrated dose of nutrients, fresh squeezed juice is extremely high in sugar (since it is basically just the sugar juice of the fruit). While a nice beet/lemon/carrot/ginger juice might be tasty and give you a much healthier dose of nutrients than a Coke, in terms of pure calories, there isn’t much difference between a cup of juice and a cup of soda. Rather than supplementing your diet with high-calorie juice, it is better to ensure that you are eating lots of nutrient-dense veggies and fruits, with all of the fiber, skin, and other healthy bits intact. If you prefer to drink your veggies and fruits, blending them (rather than juicing) is a good way to ensure that you are ingesting whole fruits with fiber and complex carbohydrates, rather than a sugar-rich juice that will give you largely empty calories and cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash.

As a final word of caution, whenever considering a fast, cleanse, or dietary change, it is always important to consult with your primary medical provider. While we here at Hawaiian South Shore are extremely interested in holistic living, fasting, and finding new ways to live more healthily, we certainly aren’t experts in the field. We are learning just like everyone else, so check with your doctor before trying any sort of cleanse program and let us know if you find something that works well for you. We are always excited to learn more!

KELLY SLATER’S DECK PADS

When we think of algae, we usually think of slippery rocks in freshwater pools. But Kelly Slater’s company Slater Designs has recently found a way to make algae a lot less slippery—in the form of environmentally friendly traction pads! 

A lot of greener surf products have been popping up lately, many of them being produced out of organic and/or plant-based materials. Petrochemical products have marred the surf industry for decades, as just about everything that we use is made from petroleum derivatives. Surfboard blanks, resin, wetsuit neoprene, leashes, boardshorts and bikinis, wax, fins, traction pads—all of these leave a pretty ugly carbon footprint. But with the advent of more plant-based materials, some brands have been able to decrease the carbon footprints of surfers substantially.

Slater Designs algae-based traction pads go one better. Algae are naturally occurring, photosynthetic creatures (it’s not actually a plant, animal, or fungi, but instead a unique single- or multi-cellular creature that grows in colonies), and in many cases is an invasive presence that can cause a lot of damage to the local environment, flora and fauna. Toxic algal blooms have become more common over the years as runoff from factories and agricultural chemicals have allowed algae to thrive in areas where they normally wouldn’t. This chokes off endemic plants, animals, and fish, essentially making entire ecosystems uninhabitable. So, Slater’s algae-based deck pads actually go one step farther than simply using organic, naturally occurring material to create surf accessories. They actually use invasive, damaging algae that needs to be harvested to save the environment—a double whammy that is both sustainable and restorative.

While these algae-based traction pads won’t completely fix the problem of toxic algal bloom, they are definitely a step in the right direction. And since we all need deck pads anyway—and since the foam used in them is often made with toxic petrochemicals—there’s really no reason we shouldn’t be jumping aboard the hippy train and doing right by the environment. Next time you have a new board with a bare patch on the tail that needs covering, come into Hawaiian South Shore to check out these new environmentally friendly pads—what’s better than saving the environment while you are out enjoying it?!

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HOURSMonday - Saturday: 10:30-7:00Sunday: 11:00-6:00

CONTACT(808) 597-9055HawaiianSouthShore.com

PARKING

Every Day: Makai side of store

Weekends Only: Mauka side of store

WHAT’S NEW AND WHAT’S HAPPENING AT HAWAIIAN SOUTH SHORE

I ran into the owner of Shobu’s Refrigeration & AC and he rides his 6’8 funboard with Futures AMT Side Fins and with two Vektor Fins as quads like you see in this picture here on this purple board. He is so into them so I too tried it out on my JS Psycho Nitro. 

I love it…I used the FCS Power Twins and the VD Drive Fins (the larger ones). I notice a lot of drive but loose off the top. Check it out on our website for the most up to date stock info. Vektor Systems Fins

New Harley Ingleby HI4

Mahalo for your review on your Harley Ingleby 9’4 Diamond Drive! We just got in a fresh batch of Thunderbolt Technologies surfboards, stop by and check ‘em out!

“The board is a dream. It has allowed me to take my nose riding to a whole new level. Stable on the nose and can catch the smallest of waves to the head high bombers. It’s an awesome all-around glider. I’ve had a lot of people try it and instantly become addicted. Mahalo Hawaiian South Shore” -Domantay

Mahalo Clyde for your review on your 5’9 Blak Box 3 - Swallow Tail!

“Board is loose and is great rail-to-rail with swallow tail. It accelerates well too! I like the extra foam and area up front - catches waves easily. The swallow tail keeps the board lively even in small surf. Can’t wait for HYFI version to come out!” 

Mahalo Bret!

“The 5’4 ...Lost Puddle Fish (by Lib Tech) is working well. I am still testing fin combinations but I like it kinda loose so using only the front two split keel fins is nice. The board width took some getting used to because most of my boards are 18 1/2” and slightly less volume. I guess the additional volume suits the board well, it still ducks okay and handles well when paddling and surfing. The board rides great overall, turns quick and stays under my feet when I cannot see from spray. I found that FCS II fins stay locked in better if a notch for the front screw is made into the fin.”

Mahalo Domantay!

“The board is a dream. It has allowed me to take my nose riding to a whole new level. Stable on the nose and can catch the smallest of waves to the head high bombers. It’s an awesome all-around glider. I’ve had a lot of people try it and instantly become addicted. Mahalo Hawaiian South Shore.”

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