The Kam Highway’s Most Nefarious Commuters.

The North Shore is a famous seven miles, but unless you harbour aspirations of being that dreadlocked hippy on the side of the road with your thumb out, you’re still going to need a form of transportation to get around. For blow-ins that means a stop at the newly renovated rental car centre at the Honolulu airport. Gorgeous. For the boys and girls that call the aina home, their rigs better suit their personas. JOB drives a Caddy. Kala rolls in a super diesel. Healey’s got a classic ’76 Ford 150 that’d give Burt Reynolds a stiffy. If Comedians In Cars works for Jerry Seinfeld, we figured surfers and their rides would make for some pretty interesting fodder as well. Perhaps looking to take a brief respite from getting pummeled in the impact zone at Pipe and Off The Wall, this winter the photog simply known as Laserwolf took up the assignment. He grabbed his camera and headed out onto the great Kam Highway to see who he could flag down. The Wolf diligently stalked our favourite surfers and came away with a very telling photo essay of what these men and women are all about when they’re not in the water or on the sand.

Alex Florence (Mom John) *featured above*
Ride: 1963 Buick Riviera
Miles: 127, 481
Ethos: Style is king, well, queen in this case.

Kohl Christensen lives almost completely off the grid. He’s got a solar panel, grows his own food, and more or less lives the most wholesome life ever. However, even on the rock a man needs wheels. Hitchhiking to Waimea with your 10’0 rhino chaser is testing of even the most accommodating of hosts.

Kohl Christensen 
Ride: 1985 Jeep CJ5
Miles: 87,464 
Ethos: Kohl has a killer piece of farming property in the Pupukea hills and the right wheels to get around.

Mark Healey has to be one of surfing’s most stand up guys. He always picks up his phone, he gave John John his first gun, he swims with sharks, goes left at Waimea, and’s always keen for a good time. Oh, and he drives a beat up old red truck. Perfect.

Mark Healey
Ride: 1976 Ford F100 Explorer 
Miles: 93,671
Ethos: When your average board length is 11 feet a long bed comes in handy.

Laser, who’s real name may or may not be Brandon, is one of the handiest connections in surfing. If anything happens on the North Shore, one text to Laser’s all you need. Within half an hour (max), images of whatever’s just happened will light up your inbox.

Laserwolf
Ride: 1965 Ford Falcon Wagon 
Miles: 155,837 
Ethos: Henceforth we shall call her Princess Fiona.

This here is the father of the scantily clad princess that you can see In our feature “Tough Love”. Thankfully Kala wasn’t wielding a spear when we went to pick up his daughter Mahina, but that didn’t make him any less intimidating. To break the ice we discussed Kelly Slater’s chocolate wave dream, and the health properties of Purps.

Kala Alexander
Ride: 2004 F250 Super Duty Turbo Diesel
Miles: 54,427
Ethos: Because you can’t tow a boat with a beach cruiser.

You can tell a lot about a man from his car. From the rides of the brave souls that you see on these here pages, what’s obvious is that there’s an eclectic mix that populates the rock. While the rest of the gang are playing my truck’s bigger than your truck, Ezra’s ridin dirty in a beemer. Gotta respect a man who keeps a clean set ‘o wheels.

Ezra Sitt
Ride: 2014 BMW M4
Miles: 7,147
Ethos: Maybe we should get into the jiu jitsu/dojo business?

If this car pulled up next to you at the biggest Pipe day of the season, you’d hardly think that the guy inside was going to get out there and tame the beast. But alas, this is the ride that Nathan Fletcher gets up and down the Kam highway in, and, it’s got all the room in the world for serious surfboards. Appearances – as they often say – can be deceiving.

Nate Fletcher
Ride: 2010 Ford Transit
Miles: 63,569
Ethos: Perfect fit for the family and boards of any size.

When your life depends on getting as many fresh blades under the feet of JJF (among others) as possible, you need a vessel that can carry the precious cargo. Here’s Jon Pyzel, truly function over fashion.

Jon Pyzel
Ride: 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser
Miles: 250,000
Ethos: The vehicle that has transported just about every piece of foam to ever grace the feet of J Florence.

Wyatt’s dad Mike is a full-time Sunset Beach lifeguard and part time props guy. We were in dire straits for props for a shoot, and his garden had literally everything we were looking for. One of the North Shore’s brightest talents, Wyatt’s in the perfect position to carve himself a career in the surf game.

Wyatt McHale
Ride: 1965 Plymouth Valiant
Miles: 86,569
Ethos: Wyatt has another year or so before he’s legally behind the wheel, but that doesn’t stop him from having a good time.

Tara aka Lady Slider, is one of the North Shore’s most elegant citizens (and owner of one of the chicest IG accounts @Ladyslider). She spends her days perfecting her cross-step, and providing an array of creative services to anyone who’s interested. The rock’s a fine place to carve out a little niche for yourself, if you’ve got the nous.

Tara Michie “LADY SLIDER”
Ride: 1972 Datsun Pickup
Miles: Odometer has rolled over too many times to get exact milage but currently reads 561.
Ethos: A cruiser for a North Shore nose rider and lifestyle photographer.

Gav Beschen might well be the most relaxed guy on the North Shore. You’ll see him cruising through Teds in the morning, happy as anything, and then next minute he’s creedling off the bottom of the wave of the day at Pipe, or pulling his signature alien steeze in the tube and making impossible closeouts at Off The Wall. Whatever the man’s doing, it’s working.

Gavin Beschen
Ride: Sector 9
Miles: Too many to count.
Ethos: Push don’t pollute.