Had a great of boogie boarding and body surfing at Makena and nearby Little Beach in Maui. Waves were OK, 1-3ft with an occasional 5-6ft face. There was a pretty good rip current especially when venturing out to catch the bigger waves.
Chatted with a nice couple who decided to try body surfing for their first time. They were getting knocked around pretty good until they started correctly diving under the breaking waves. Unfortunately, the current took them both out far beyond where they could touch bottom.
Pretty soon, they were struggling to get back to shore, but were not succeeding. They were tiring out, and started to cry out for help. I was around 15 yards away and noticed no one was heading out to help them. I was on my board, but was not wearing my fins which are a big help when you get swept out and want to make your way back in. I know, because on two other occasions, I was not wearing fins and had a real struggle getting back to safer waters.
Long story short, I paddled out, grabbed the lady who by now was in a complete panic. Her husband after asking me to bring her in, took off correctly swimming parallel to the beach until he got in shallower water. She wanted me to give her my board - I told her it would be better for her to hang on to me while I paddled us in. Took about 5 minutes (felt a LOT longer - we were both exhausted) to bring her over to where her husband was waiting. I got a nice hug and many thanks - and felt like a hero. Just glad that I was there to help and nothing worse happened.
Makena