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Makaha has a potential new Screamer hoping to join an elite group of regulars who ride big Point waves.
But before any introductions, let's delve into some history.
The Makaha Point Screamers, started about 25 years ago when Brian Keaulana, Mel Pu'u, Walter Faulkner, Dennis Gouveia, Kimo Kauihou, Ivan Trent, Keone Downing, Keoni Watson, Mel Kinney, Dave Parmenter and Rusty Keaulana started riding the Point.
This tight-knit group of riders dubbed themselves the Screamers, not for their vocal power or lung capacity, but for the speed they reached racing a 20-foot-plus, quarter-mile wall at Makaha, starting way back behind the point and making it through the bowl.
This screaming speed, however, does inspire a vocal response in kind.
Anyone in his or her right mind standing on shore watching the spectacle unfold would naturally scream. As well, for those sitting in the channel, especially our beloved Pua Mokuau, the grand finale of Makaha's wall, the massive Makaha bowl, would evoke shrieks of sheer wonder.
Although Pua was not among the Screamer elite,. she earned some bragging rights - not so much on a surfboard - but rather as a crewmember in Brian Keaulana's canoe. That's' right, outrigger canoe surfing at big Makaha Point. What a commitment! What a rush!
So now, meet our first wahine stand-up-paddle surfer on the threshold of Mahaka's big-wave-riding lore.
She's 24-year-old Tiare Mahina Na Pua Ku'ulani Lawrence of Lahaina, currently a homeowner in Makaha and hanai to the Keaulana family.
“I'm addicted to the adrenalin rush that big waves give me, “ said Tiare in a recent interview under the kamani tree at Makaha Surfing Beach.
At first look, no way a stranger would cast her as Makaha's new big wave rider. She stands about five feet tall and verges on dainty in street clothes.
But with a bathing suit on, from shoulders to toes, there's a dynamo of compactness. A body that can roll with Makaha's thrashing crush, of which she's had a few.
Her max so far has been dropping into a 15 foot bomb, according to her big-wave mentor Brian Keaulana..
Guys like Wally Akuna, sitting out a recent 10-foot-plus day, couldn't believe Tiare was out there. “No way. She shouldn't be out there,” said a concerned Wally.
Meanwhile, one of the guys who paddled out got this response from Tiare, “Sheesh. Where you been? I was getting lonely out here all by myself.”
To gain such confidence in the water is something that has come with time and meeting many challenges.
Her Hawaiian-Chinese mother, Haunani Yap-Teruya made sure that Tiare, her two younger brothers and sister cut their teeth in the ocean.
“I owe a lot of my love for the ocean to my mom,” Tiare said, “She always gave us water time. She loved to dive, and made sure we grew up on the Hawaiian side. She taught us never to face our backs to the water. We grew up fishing and picking limu and opihi from the rocks. I was blessed with all that early in life.”
Tiare got into surfing when her cousin would pick up her brother to go catch some waves.
“I was jealous. So I grabbed my boogie board and went along. My cousins were all boys, and they used to pick on me. But watching them made me want to do it even more.”
The challenge of learning was tempered by her strong will or in local terms “hard head.”
“Pretty soon, I was on a long board and then a short board,” she said. “We were so into surfing, that me and my cousins became known as the Lahaina harbor water rats.”
Times, however, turned hard in her family. Her father John passed away when she was in high school. But, as often is the case, good things have come out of adversity.
Tiare went to live with her uncle Archie Kalepa.
Archie, a Maui lifeguard and renown waterman, and his wife Alicia, a hula dancer, were a blessing for her interests.
“I got the best of both worlds,” she said. “Here, Uncle Archie was an inspiring waterman and Auntie Alicia was an inspiring hula dancer and so beautiful.”
As a result, Tiare took up canoe paddling and hula. For seven years , she paddled with Na Pili Canoe Club. For four more years she paddled with powerhouse Hawaiian Canoe Club. Two of those years she paddled Molokai Channel
Her dance experience was equally prolific. She started with kumu hula Akoni Akana and did a four year stint at Lahaina Luna dance club.
At age 14, she went to work professionally as a dancer in shows at the old Lahaina luau. Later, she was off to Tokyo Disneyland.
In 2002, she got her big break in show business, when she landed a part as the mo'o (lizard) in Ulalena in Lahaina, a show based on the Hawaiian creation myth.
“When I started with Ulalena, I always had a hunger for adrenalin. I got addicted to it in the show,” she said.Her part required that she climb on synthetic silk some 30 feet high.
“There is something about being able to do this on your own body strength,” she said.
Tiare paused as her hanai father, Buffalo Keaulana, sat down at the interview table.
“That's a great show,” he said.
“I was surprised to see a girl like this do all what the acrobats do,” Buffalo said, smiling with pride. “She looked like a spider going up and down a rope, hanging upside down. Ho, that was something nice.”
In order to perform her part, the show sent Tiare to circus school in Montreal, Canada.
“It was two months of blood, sweat and tears,” she said. “The training was so intense, I don't think I've ever felt so much pain. I mean literally there was blood.”
After such training and performance, Tiare had no fear of heights, a key to big wave riding, especially when hanging on to that last moment before the big drop.
More discipline and achievement followed. Tiare decided to return to Oahu and practice more traditional Hawaiian dance. Last year, her troupe, under the direction of kumu hula Kaleo Trinidad placed first in the Merrie Monarch's awana division and fourth in kahiko.
Tiare established a foothold in Makaha in her high school years at Lahaina Luna. Whenever there was school break, she flew to Makaha to stay with the Keaulanas.
“They treated me like I was one of their own,” she said of her hanai family, “Most of all it felt good to have people who cared about me, who showed me a lot of aloha and enjoyed me.”
She credits uncle Brian Keaulana and uncle Archie for being “my biggest inspirations.”
“They took me under their wing and guided me in the right direction, for safety and a healthy lifestyle. And they challenged me to do bigger things.”
One of those bigger things is stand-up paddling.
“Ever since Brian came back from Tahiti with a stand-up paddle a few years ago, I've been right there learning more and more,” she said. “It has opened up a whole new world in surfing.”
Stand-up-paddle surfing also was an extension of disciplines she had already mastered: her canoe paddling and surfing.
“All that canoe paddling and surfing blended together to fit perfect into what I've recently learned,” she said. “But I still have a long way to go.”
Brian agrees. “She's riding some big ones now, but she hasn't quite made it into the screamer division. She's approaching that.”
Other people she credits in the stand-up world are uncle Bruce DeSoto and Dave Parmenter.
On the wahine side, she talks of aunties Rell Sunn, Pua Mokuau and current tandem world champion Kathy Terada.
“They've taught me the importance of being healthy, running and working out. You can't go into big waves without being in good condition.
“Yes, I get scared, but it's the best thrill.,” she said. “Plus, I figure you're only young for so long. While I'm single, I want to embrace my youth and embrace every day I have in the water.”
When she's in the water, “I think about life and ask God to give me guidance to surf these waves. Sometimes I ask for forgiveness. It gets religious and feels like a total cleansing.”
Makaha also has been a welcome change for her.
“To tell you the truth, Maui has been invaded by development. It doesn't feel like home anymore. But at Makaha I can still be the local that I am. I'm with my people here.”
The girls of Makaha are like “sisters to me,” Tiare said. “There's so much raw talent here. So we push each other.”
One of those sisters is short-board phenom Melanie Bartels.
“Melanie has been a big inspiration for me,” Tiare said, “She has given me a lot of pointers on how to improve my surfing. I'm so grateful for this kind of aloha, where people share their knowledge.”
Kathy Terada joined the interview.
“You know, for someone only 24 years old, you've done a lot in your life,” said Kathy, adding with a laugh, “I think I'm a little envious.
“So when you wanna slowdown, just get a boyfriend,” Kathy said.
“Yea,” Tiare agreed, “That will do it”
Until then, look for Tiare when the waves are big. She's the only wahine out there doing her stand-up routine.
The other day I had the pleasure of running into Linda Sugihara down at the Town and Country office in Halawa.
That's when it dawned on me: Linda has a successor.
Way back, pre-Makaha Point Screamers, when Brian Keaulana was still in grade school, the Maili native Linda used to go out on the point and take some insane drops on her surfboard.
“You were the bomb,” I told Linda, “You'd be out there in over 10-foot sets, taking off.”
Savoring the memory, Linda's eyes grew big with excitement. “Really? Were those over 10 feet?” she asked.
“Yup, you ask anyone who was around at that time,” I said.
Then, I told her about Tiare, and that she should check out the January issue of Makai magazine.
“I'll go look at it right now,” she said.“It's nice to know that there's another girl as crazy as I was,” she said.
So the question remains: Is Tiare up for the Makaha Screamers' challenge of making a 20-foot point wave across to the channel?
“Yes, if the conditions are right, and there are people out there I trust, people who you feel safe putting your life in their hands,” Tiare said.“I think I'd go for it.”