WORLD'S BEST SURFERS STAND UP FOR THE "WEST SIDE

Mick Fanning and friend : photo courtesy Allen Mozo

Years in professional surfing's spotlight can lead one to think that the only way to a memorable day comes from bigger, better, more. Today, a handful of the world's best surfers discovered that sharing the stoke and going back to basics is where the fun is at. They also went home with the irreplaceable feeling that comes from giving back to a community in need.

World champion-elect Mick Fanning, former world champ Mark Occhilupo, Pancho Sullivan, Luke Egan, Myles Padaca, Rob Machado, Luke Stedman, Jake Paterson, Bonga Perkins, Duane Desoto and a bunch of good friends accepted a golden invitation from West Side waterman Brian Keaulana to enjoy a private day of surf at Makaha Beach on the original "beachboy" equipment of stand-up boards and outrigger canoes.

Away from the contest stage, crowds, media, bells, whistles and banners, these surfers enjoyed the hospitality of an old-school surfing community and an established group of Makaha beachboys and lifeguards that span generations of world class watermen.

In return, surfers and companies within the surf industry left the West Side a better place, donating more than $10,000 in surf product, school supplies and monetary gifts for the local community. The major benefactor was Makaha Elementary School.

Occy : photo courtesy Allen Mozo

Makaha Beach was as good as the Garden of Eden today. After over a week of onshore winds, torrential rain and muddied waters on the famous 7-mile strip of the North Shore, true paradise was found seven miles to the west, over the Waianae mountain range where torquoise, glassy water reflected a wide, blue sky on the "forgotten coast".

Keaulana and his stand-up surfing company C4 Waterman provided a warehouse-worth of equipment for surfers to pick from and play at their leisure. For a brief moment in time it was no longer about one-man-one-wave, scores and serious surfing; it was about sharing a few rides with friends, laughing hard, and going home with that sun- and salt-brushed, satisfied-tired feeling that only a surfer knows - the kind of feeling that first got you hooked as a kid.

A huge mahalo to Brian Keaulana, C4 Waterman, the legendary Makaha Beachboys, waterwomen and lifeguards, the West Side community and surfers who so graciously opened up the door and shared their ocean and aloha.

A huge mahalo also to surfing companies Quiksilver, O'Neill, Billabong, Vans, Reef, Roxy, Da Hui, Insight, Rip Curl, Blue Planet, and Boardworks for your enormous generosity in giving to the kids and bringing Christmas to the West Side early.

Makaha style : photo courtesy Allen Mozo

To the surfers: thank you so much for visiting the West Side and sharing what you had to give. Watching you play hard and have fun was a treat.Occy - we wish you well in your retirement, mate. It's been a pleasure watching you rip all these years. We knew we had to get you on a stand-up board to give the rest of us a chance! Mick Fanning - you're going to be the best world champion surfing and Australia could ask for at this time.

Pancho and Myles - thank you for stepping out of the North Shore comfort zone to give to the West Side; you are both a class act. Jake and LE - you're the best SUPing Aussies we've ever seen! Luke Stedman - seeing you AND your dad out giving it your all today was priceless; much aloha Shane and next time don't wait so long to come back. Rob - such a treat to see your style up close again.

Bonga and Duane - you know what aloha and true Hawaiian style are all about. To the rest of our friends who we shared the day with: aloha & mahalo nui loa. Video and more images available at c4waterman.com