Laird Hamilton

Posted By
A Laird Life Editor
April 2, 2010

LL: How was your winter on Kauai? Was it different than previous winters?
LH: This has been in about the last 10 years the most consistent amount of swells I personally have seen. I can’t remember the last winter that I spent this much time in the water. I can’t believe I’m saying this but there were a few days where I was tired.

LL: How has your intense fitness training affected your surfing?
LH: If I hadn’t trained as consistently and as rigorously as I did in off season I wouldn’t have been able to perform week after week on all these swells especially with a broken clavicle.

LL: What’s your next adventure?
LH: Conditions permitting, I’m trying to go to Alaska to go snowboarding the end of May. I’m going to be doing a cameo for a movie with George Clooney in the next couple of days, something that makes me more nervous than anything, but I’m excited.

LH: What’s your reaction to the stand up paddling craze?
LL: I can remember doing this by myself for 6 years and I thought to myself once people try it they are going to get to know how great it is. Now that the equipment is better, and it’s easier for people to get involved, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. The boards are so stable now and light enough for people to carry which makes it a lot more conducive for people to get involved. Paddle makers are now servicing to this market so paddles are light weight but strong and durable.

LH: What are your plans for the summer?
LL: We are headed back to Malibu soon for the summer where I will continue to paddle surf, train really hard with my boys in the gym, sand run, bike, all the things I don’t do while in season. Maybe make it down to Tahiti if there are any swells. Just try to continue to work hard and have as much fun as I can.

view photos of Laird surfing Hanalei winter 2010

A Laird Hamilton Update by,
Gabby Reece  2-23-2010

It was the middle of the day on Monday and Laird wanted to go get an “attitude adjustment” and spend time with the family.  This can be a precarious combination.  I myself try and be as chill as I can be before spending “quality” time with the entire family.  Laird had it figured out.  Forget me as the Mother go visit with Mother Nature to put you in line.  We headed down to Lumahi beach, ran the beach (everyone but the baby), and then Reece and Laird hit the H2O.  Laird and Reece played a game of dead man where you just sit with your back to the waves in the shore line and take it like a champ.  After a while Reece decided she felt better facing the ocean, but they rolled around none the less.

It is amazing how fresh air, the power of the ocean, and just playing together can turn your mood around.  After being with Laird all of these years I have come to really understand how he uses nature as therapy.  The combination of moving, taking some deep breaths and maybe just feeling small enough to gain perspective about your feelings seems to do the trick.  I see so much of Laird developing in Reece (Lord help us), and it is a wonderful thing to see someone who gets excited about being in nature.  So simple, and yet they know how to have so much fun doing it.  Neither one of them needs video games nor TV to keep them amused (even though Reece does seem to enjoy her sappy movies). All they need are just some good friends and a couple of sticks; a lesson I am continually trying to learn from my husband.  I can’t tell you how many times at the end of a day Laird has asked me if I had seen the stars?  Normally I grunt something about being busy with this or that, and that’s when he leads me by my hand to go take one long look.  The funny thing is each time I am amazed at what a miracle we all live in, and that most of the things I let get to me aren’t worth it.

Best, Gabby

A Laird Hamilton Update by,
Gabby Reece 1-10-2010

I woke up this morning with Laird telling me he was heading to Maui.  He was going back and forth about leaving on Saturday evening, but seemed to be in focus Sunday.  I always find it interesting to watch Laird gear up for something that takes so much energy that he isn’t quite sure is going to pan out.  He compares it to if one was a football player getting ready for a game that gets canceled.  I was secretly glad he decided to go since I think in the end he needs to at least be there if it is going to go off.

Similar to going to work Laird had to deal with the girls.  Brody insisted on going to the barn with Laird while he prepped and packed his boards.  Then Reece was giving him the pouty face and talking about how she doesn’t get to see him that much.  Funny since that kid never misses a good time with her friends it just was a lull in the action so she re directed her never ceasing energy towards him. Takes one to know one.  I could just see Laird’s face getting squeezed with domestic drama.  Nothing funnier then to watch the helplessness of a man at the hand of his daughters.

Laird wants to surf on Kaua’i, but Don Shearer (the helicopter pilot ) is on Maui and makes shooting so much easier, and he always grumbles something about what a truly special wave Pe’ahi (Jaws) is.  He flew over with Terry Chung and will hook up with Dave Kalama on Maui.  Dave is an amazing waterman, and I call him Laird’s ocean wife.

So let’s keep our fingers crossed that the swell shows up and the conditions are favorable.  I’ll let you know.  Best, Gabby

A Laird Hamilton Update by,
Gabby Reece 1-8-2010

This is getting funny!  Me giving all of you surf lovers my wife perspective on Laird and his day to day life.  I mean if you want to know about his equipment, or wave count on a particular swell I will work on my “surf specific” info.  However, for now I will give you whichever topic is jumping out at me.  First let’s talk about how Laird did such a great birthday for me.  He went into town that morning since our dishwasher melted (literally) and picked up a new one.  If you know anything about living on an island or small town you seldom order anything up on the phone that doesn’t take days or even weeks to arrive.  So with dishwasher in truck he met me at our house as I arrived home from a bike ride.  He did some B level acting about how his day was shot (it was noon by the way) because the wind had hit the surf and he missed some very good sized waves (10-12 ft Hawaiian) in the a.m.

OK so that was his set up.  Then he said something about going to Lumah’i beach to get blasted by some shore break waves to make himself feel better.  Did I want to come?  How could I pass that up.  Needless to say on our way there we took a detour to the other side of Hanalei Bay to a home owned by a very old family where one could only be so lucky to visit.  There on the land were several of my friends, all the children, Chef Leo who is a wonderful cook, and giant waves just 30 feet off shore.  Magical! We gathered, ate scrumptious food, laughed, watched kids catch fish with their nets inside the reef, and saw the waves of Yaikoko’s smashing right before our eyes.  PERFECT.  Laird managed to put something together that made me feel really special but somehow not jolt me into this next decade of my life.  After about 2 hours my knight in shiny surf shorts was off to go surfing.  He had done his husbandly duties and was going out.  He then proceeded to give me a drive by on a ski off shore before they went and towed until dark.

Today I was talking to my friend and neighbor Tiffany who loves to surf.  She was checking the surf when,  I kid you not as I was talking to her on the phone about kid stuff she started laughing and saying “oh my goodness”.  Apparently at that moment she was watching Laird, riding out at Hanalei Bay, take a wave, ride it up on a high line and then proceeds to get blasted.  She said you could see his board going one way and him getting launched in the air.  I then told Laird and he laughed and said “yeah you mean when I was half bird and half fish”?    The ocean was beautiful, with good conditions about 6-8 Hawaiian.  I’m going to go out on a limb, and say Laird may even be a tiny bit tired.  He will probably have a meal and find a way to create some more energy to go out again before dark.  After all the swell is coming up…
Best, Gabby

Original Article Appears in USA Weekend –
Wisdom of the Wave: Laird Hamilton shares 10 life lessons learned from surfing by Melanie D.G. Kaplan

Surfing legend Laird Hamilton says the ocean is one of the greatest teachers. “Simple laws and philosophies can be traced to the purity of the ocean,” says Hamilton, who created tow-in surfing, in which surfers are towed like water skiers into massive waves.

His documentary “Path of Purpose,” which raises awareness of autism, aired on the Sundance Channel. Hamilton says in every venture, every new experience, he applies these lessons he has learned on the water:

1.    KNOW THAT YOU ARE A SPECK ON THE WATER. “The ocean’s vastness reminds you of your insignificance. It’s like a grounder. The ocean has been around long before people got here and will be here long after. The humility you learn from being in the ocean is a constant reminder of your vulnerability.”
2.    GO BIG OR GO HOME. “You can’t kind of catch a wave. You either catch it or you don’t. It’s a commitment. That’s just like anything else — you either go or you don’t. He who hesitates is lost in the end.”
3.    LISTEN TO YOUR GUT. “You have a feeling about things. You think something doesn’t feel right, then you look and see a shark. As a species, humans are growing away from listening to their instinct. It’s a learned skill based on survival and then reacting. The more you listen to your instinct and then react to it, the more you awaken the spirit, and that helps you make good decisions, no matter where you are.”
4.    UNDERSTAND YOU’RE NOT IN CONTROL. “Being a human, you want to think you can control circumstances. It’s cold, so you turn on the heat; you’re hot, so you turn on the air conditioning. The ocean reminds you that you really don’t have any control: It’s in control when you’re in it. The sooner you embrace that, the easier it will be in other aspects of your life.”
5.    GET WET. “The ocean is a healer, big-time. We just don’t have any idea of the magnitude of what the ocean provides us. If you just go down to the beach, go out to surf and come right back in, you feel better about yourself. If you ride a wave, that’s just icing on the cake.”
6.    PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE. “People talk about their problems. Stuck in traffic? That’s not a problem. Don’t know how you’re going to pay your bills? Not a [life-or-death] problem. A problem is when you’re 80 miles offshore and have no way to get back.”
7.    KEEP LEARNING. “Surfing is probably one of the most difficult sports. There are no referees, no timeouts. [The waves don't] care about your bank account, your ancestry, your intelligence. It’s just you working the water. And the more I learn, the more I don’t know. That’s an ocean lesson.”
8.    BE DETERMINED. “With determination, most things will be quite easy. You go out and get hammered by a wave and then by another one and another one, and you think, ‘OK, I’m still here.’ And then you get a good wave, and you’ve made it. The one thing that’s great about surfing is that there’s no right or wrong way. ”
9.    DON’T GET STALE. “Ideas [about new surfing techniques and new sports] come out of boredom and my desire to be passionate. You have to figure out ways to make things exciting and interesting. When something I’ve been doing for a while becomes popular, I’m beyond it. So by default, I end up being different. It’s that whole desire to keep inspiring and keep renewing your passion.”
10.    DON’T JUDGE. “The ocean is non-judgmental. It doesn’t differentiate between you and the next guy. I want to be a little more like the ocean — not judging people who have an opinion. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that we’re all equal before a wave.”