John E Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 This is only tangentially related to snowboarding. Last week, my wife & I were vacationing on Kauai. We were staying in Princeville - near Hanalei. We rented some boogie boards & were boogie boarding in some small waves in Hanalei Bay. I live in Colorado so I'm no expert boogie boarder. We see a group of surfers gather on the shore. It appears to be a class. They move out into the bay next to us. I keep looking a the instructor & he looks very familiar. After a bit I gather my nerve & ask him "are you Laird?". He relplies "Yup". We return to the beach & see a small group of people watching the class. I look and see that one of the spectators is Gabrielle (Reece). Evidently they live in Hanalei & are local celebrities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) I'm (pretty sure) I met Laird awhile back surfing Ocean Beach in SF (Sloat). I didn't recognize him at first, he was on what looked like a 7-8' egg (not on a SUP, which was unexpected) and was super cool - spreading the good vibes, cheering people on etc ... Couldn't really put my finger on who he was in the water but he was very familiar looking. When I got out of the water I walked by him in the lot where he was drying off. He greeted me as I walked by with the same kind of enthusiasm he had in the water, asking if I'd caught "that ride I was looking for today" I laughed and said "not really, but I caught one decent wave" and he said something like "one decent ride a day is all you really need, any more than that is just greedy" which I thought was funny. I kind of smiled and bade him a day, not realizing who he was until I reached my car and then it clicked "holy $h!t that was Laird Hamilton" and I had kind of a mini heart-attack. I'm only 99% sure since I didn't actually ask him, but I'm pretty damn sure. Super nice guy, with a very positive and friendly vibe. Totally made my week. Edited March 16, 2016 by queequeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I've heard that he is a genuinely nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 No surprise here, I surfed with his dad Billy many years ago, one of Surfings great stylist and a gentleman... Laird is an All Around Waterman in many disciplines and a class act...plus what a mentor for the youth this shot in Tahiti, that was a Surfer cover around 2000 says a lot about his commitment to excellence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 Gorgeous photo - yes that was my impression of him: overwhelmingly positive, and keen to share the stoke. I could have not known who he was and he still would have made my day :) No surprise here, I surfed with his dad Billy many years ago, one of Surfings great stylist and a gentleman... Laird is an All Around Waterman in many disciplines and a class act...plus what a mentor for the youth this shot in Tahiti, that was a Surfer cover around 2000 says a lot about his commitment to excellence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted March 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 I told this story to others & they asked if he was a surfing instructor in Hanalei. I told them that I doubted that. I doubt that he needs the money. I think he was just taking his time to teach some absolute beginner friends. This says a lot about anyone's character. I would have little patience teaching anyone how to snowboard. I don't know anything about Gabrielle. However, it is interesting that there are 2 people who are married to each other, were at the top of their respective sports, are exceedingly handsome (beautiful) and still friendly, down-to-earth people. Very much in contrast to other celebrities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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