By Noa Myers


One sunny afternoon I walked through the front gate of the Rothman family lot. Upstairs, I met up with Makua Rothman, the oldest son of the family, and his friends, Kai Garcia and Kala Alexander, who was giving an ukulele lesson to Makua’s younger brothers, Koa and Lono. For a family known to open their home in the past, the trend is just as strong today, and even I, a young and nervous surf journalist, felt their welcome and took seat on a stool in the corner.

An Evening for Eddie

After thirty years of delivering Eddie Aikau’s tall tale in an understandably heavy tone, Marion Lyman-Mersereau now shares the story with a new spirit. Eddie Wen’ Go: The Story of the Upside-Down Canoe tells the tragedy of the Hokule‘a on its unsuccessful voyage in 1978 from the perspective of marine life, based on her own experience as the only female aboard at the time of the capsize. 

Attack of the Mini Grom
By Kevin Whitton

Kaulana Apo
4/9/98
Ewa Beach, O‘ahu

Ewa Beach is known for being hot and it’s surf centrality to any shore on O‘ahu. Kaulana Apo has taken advantage of this and put it to good use. The year-round high temperatures means Kaulana is always in the water and the centrality provides world-class waves in any direction.

Dharma Bum
A commitment to help, understand and love

By Christen Vidanovic

Just like waves that are forever connected to the sea behind them, Angela Vernon Maki has found herself forever tethered to a love for the ocean and through it, a deeper connection with herself, nature and the rest of the people that share this planet with her.

Town and Country go head to head
By Kevin Whitton

When it rains, it pours. And on July 16, the final day of the holding period for the second Macy’s E-Series event at Ala Moana Bowls, it was raining three- to four-foot sets and the high scores were pouring in for the professional portion of the ASP 1-star WQS showdown. It was a full day of bests, and the conditions were setting the blistering pace. “This is the best day of competitive surfing I’ve seen this year,” touring professional ASP Judge Dave Shipley. “ The waves we’ve seen today and the level of surfing is as good as anything you could possibly witness in professional surfing.”

By Jeff Mull

Event: 11th Annual T&C Surf Grom Contest
Date: July 12–13, 2008
Location: Kuhio Beach, Queen’s
Conditions: 3-foot peaks


Below an open-ended blue sky and a scorchingly hot Waikiki sun, July 12 and 13 saw hundreds of towheaded groms take over the lineup at Queen’s and the surrounding beaches at Waikiki like a nomadic pigmy hunting party setting up camp. But for this camp and hunting party, there would be no kills (that I am aware of) and a sacrifice was not in order. The gods were clearly happy and smiled upon the groms with 3-foot peaks dotting the coast of Honolulu for the much anticipated T&C Gromfest. With the luck of being able to surf picture-perfect Queen’s with only a handful of friends, the weekend felt like a surf fantasy had just run head on into Christmas morning.