JUST WHEN I WAS BEGINNING to wonder if the whole thing would be a bust, we got the word that Slater was on his way from France. On Thursday at midnight, everybody piled into David's rented SUV and headed to the airport. It was a motley crew, including Joshua in his porkpie hat, shorts, and Chuck Taylors, tattooed with jaguar spots and snatches of text.

Kelly walked through the arrival gate with representatives of Sakal Sports, giving hugs to David and Joshua and waves to the rest of us. He seemed laid-back and happy to be here. As far as he knew, he was supposed to come for a day to join the concert and clinic. Sakal Sports already had him for the morning; they told us they'd arranged for some disabled children to show up after breakfast for a demonstration and some autographs.

What happened was a little more involved than that. Friday morning, in Tel Aviv's upscale, tony Herzliya neighborhood, on the beach behind the Hotel Dan Accadia, several hundred adult fans, paparazzi, disorganized kids, and bemused onlookers overwhelmed the pro surfers. While security guards watched from up on the beach, dozens of photographers waded into the water to shoot Kelly and Makua trying to catch one of the few decent waves and help get kids up on boards.

Jewish and Arab children flocked toward Kelly and, to a lesser degree, Makua, as Quiksilver signs fluttered across the event. Out in the surf, hyper kids and even more excited press photographers clambered to be as close as possible to Kelly.

"Just wait, everyone. Relax!" he yelled. "Everyone will have a chance to paddle out."

In the end, they did. The kids were pumped, including one little nine-year-old girl named Amna. "I'm very happy and excited," she told me, dripping wet but cloaked in a pinkish head covering and a long-sleeved shirt and pants. "I will surf again."

After more than an hour in the hot morning sun, Kelly made his way from the beach to a waiting black SUV. A dozen kids raced after him, asking for autographs. After signing a few and looking visibly overwhelmed, Kelly said, "That's it, everyone," and stepped into the car.