Maui Surf Report
Josh and Alex and huge Hookipa
Oh, finally we move on.
Here’s a brief list of the stuff I'd like to post:
A - a video shot from the helmet cam of two epic sessions (saturday 2 9 and sunday 2 10… jesus, it's already more than a week ago!). I have to edit it and that takes time…
B - photos of great Hookipa wavesailing conditions on wednesday 2 13
C - my report of the kenalu.com huge Standup board test on friday 2 15 at Launiupoko
D - the description of six great wave sailing days
E - the description of a mystical wave on thursday 2 14 at uppers
F - the review of a Kevin Pritchard MFC wave fin
G - the review of a Goya 90l wave board
Any preference?
I got so much stuff and so little time. And, as usual, I'm late with my monthly article for the italian magazine Windnews…
By the way, for whom it may concern: from now on, you can find my weekly reports in italian on their website. Here's last week's one.
Tonight, I choose to post some photos from thursday 2 14.
When I drove by Hookipa and couldn't believe that two sailors were out. It was huge and closed out like… 99% of the time. When I entered the beach park, I saw the sailor all the way on the outside in position to catch a wave of a huge set… and I made a mistake. I should have pulled into the lookout over Pavillion and taken a photo from there.
Instead, I thought that I would have been able to take other photos afterward from the usual cliff… yeah, right.
By the time I got to the parking, the sailor had caught the wave and was riding it. It was the biggest wave I've ever seen anybody riding at Hookipa. More than two masts high. Clearly, after the huge close out the sailor had no other chance than to sail back to shore.
That sailor was good old Alex Aguera. He had been out with Josh Angulo for a little while and I got there just in time… to see them both coming out of the water…
I was a little disappointed by that. By that was nothing compared to what Alex felt when he found out that nobody took a picture of that wave… very understandable!
“Oh, come on Alex! Stop whining, go out again and catch another one!" I teased him.
He gave me a look that made me say:"hey, hey… I'm just kidding, ok?"
Anyway, we were chatting on the beach when Josh grabbed his board and yelled:"Da hell, Alex. Let's go out again!"
I don't know what he saw. I don't know what he felt. But he was able to sneak through the channel in the only little lull I saw that day. A sixth sense, I'd say. Or a huge lucky strike.
He caught a few waves. My pictures suck for multiple reasons:
- I have a cheap camera
- there's 12x optical zoom and 2x digital zoom (this last deteriorates the quality)
- the light was horrible
- the waves were breaking so far out that it's pretty misty
- I'm not a professional photographer
BUT… da hell, they're still better than nothing. And they're free!
The first one was the one at the top of this post.
Here’s an aerial.
Here’s another semi-hidden bottom turn.
And yet another one.
Signature one handed top turn on a mellow section.
In the meantime, the poor Alex tried too to go out again, but he wasn't as lucky and couldn't make it. Here he is swimming back. Oh, forgot to mention. The wind was pretty freaking light.
Nonetheless, for a few eye witnesses he will remain the guy who rode the biggest wave ever at Hookipa. And I'm lucky enough to be one of those.
Good job, Alex and Josh. [Link]
New proposed windsurfing limitation: let's act soon!
Third update: Saturday 2 16 08 5.15pm.
I just received and I'm happy to publish an email from David and Suzie Dorn of Action Sports Maui with a few more details about the hearing and I'm happy to publish it.
Hi GP,
Here is a recap of yesterday in Oahu.
We had missed the deadline to submit our testimony via e-mail or fax (the deadline was THURSDAY February 14th at 2:45) I think most people found out about this bill after 2:45 on Thursday. We found out we could submit our testimony in person so we had no choice but to fly to Oahu. David wrote a 13 page testimony regarding safety of kitesurfing and windsurfing on Maui, including photos. We phoned the Maui senators and found out there were no Maui based Senators on the land and water committee involved in SB2091. We were able to book the last 2 tickets for the 12:50 flight to Oahu. We received calls from frantic shop owners, windsurfers and kiters, that were panicking about the meeting, missing the deadline to submit their testimony and not being able to get to Oahu for the meeting. I told everyone to e-mail me their testimony and I would submit it in person. We arrived on Oahu at 1:40p.m. took a cab (no time to get a rental car) and rushed to the Senate building. We found the public information room at the Senate building where we were able to download and print all e-mail testimonies. We had to print 12 copies of each testimony. We had a giant stack of testimonies. We received e-mails from shop owners, professional sailors, a judge, international visitors, local kiters and windsurfers, and international and local associations. The meeting began a little before 3:00. Senator Clayton Hee began the meeting by stating that SB2091 was being deferred (delayed or put on hold). Senator Hee said he would not be hearing public testimony related to SB2091. David Dorn stated he wanted to testify. David Dorn's testimony stated that based on safety issues and the proven track record of co-existence with swimmers and surfers there was no need for this bill. David also stated this bill would affect hundreds of jobs, businesses and most importantly the entire community of windsurfing and kitesurfing on Maui. David told Senator Clayton Hee that we already have rules and local associations for the user groups and we all work together. David also was able to submit all testimonies that we received via e-mail.
SB2091 has only been deferred so it may come up again. Anyone who would like to have their testimony on file can send it to me at suziej@maui.net and I will submit it if SB2091 comes up again.
Thanks
David and Suzie Dorn
Thanks a lot to David and Suzie for getting on that plane and going to the hearing.
Ok, now that we all are a bit more relaxed, I think we should figure a way that things like these will not pass unobserved in the future. And to make this point a bit more dramatic, let me tell you the chronological sequence of the events that brought to this post, as I know it.
A Maui sailor owns a boat business and as such he's always checking all the new water related proposed regulations. One day (don't know when) he sees this proposed Bill and emails a friend of mine about it. This friend of mine is smart enough to forward it to me. I read his email at 6.45am on Thursday morning, sitting on the toilet during my morning ablutions (thank god for laptops and wireless routers). I had to be out of the door by 7am.
In 15 minutes, I go to the Senate website, realize the gravity of the proposed Bill, decide to make a post on this blog, email my testimony, start a thread on the Hot Sails Maui forum about it, send a few other emails to friends to call them to action, finish my ablutions (yes, I can multitask) and leave my house on time.
Around 11am I receive a call from Jeff (who was on the mainland), who had just read the post (because he saw the thread on the forum). I honestly had completely forgot about this, since I had been busy first and I was now getting ready to go sail.
We agree to call all the surf shops (I called a couple, he called the rest) in Kahului.
The two major surf shops I called knew nothing about it (at least the persons I spoke to) till my phone call.
And then I thought:"Wow… if I didn't take a poo this morning and checked my email in the meantime, all these people would have not known about this…"
I’m not trying to be credited with anything at all, just pointing but that what happened is pretty scary…
It should just not be possible that things like this almost get approved just because nobody knows about them!
So, windsurfing/kitesurfing business owners/employees or just simple wind/kitesurfers… let's all figure a way of being informed a bit earlier in the future. Do we only have to check that Senate webpage? Is there anything else to check? I don't know anything about how laws are proposed and approved in the States… is there anybody out there that can and want to take charge? Or just post a comment with the right procedure so that we can all be in the know?
Thanks again everybody for the help. And thanks iwindsurf.com for the nice present they sent me to thank me for the heads up they received from this blog.
Oh, I also wanted to add something else, but I forgot. Then I read Ward Churchill comment (number 37) and I remembered.
Every ocean user has the same right to enjoy their favorite activity. Unfortunately the room is limited, so we all have to share the same waves. Even though every spot is different there's a few general rules that apply everywhere: common sense and safety.
Here’s some info for some wind/kitesurfers (no, dear Ward… we're not all perfect… there's plenty dickheads between us too…) who may not know or may know and don't care and with their behavior they fuck up everything for everyone:
1) surfers ALWAYS have priority on a wave. No matter how early a kite/windsurfer catches a wave, it's always the surfer's right to eventually drop in that same wave. It's the kite/windsurfer obligation to watch what the eventual surfers are doing and if one of them drops in, the kite/windsurfer should just ride the white water and don't interfere with the surfer's ride (and safety).
Personally, I even often encourage the eventual surfer about to go on a wave that I'm already on… "GO, GO, GO FOR IT!!!", so that he knows that I saw him and that I won't mind if he drops in.
2) if there's surfers out, dear kite/windsurfers… don't bloddy jump/loop/blast three feet from them!!!
Thanks again Ward, that was really important…
Here’s a little clip from a recent session… how apropos!
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Second update: Friday 2 15 08 5.15pm.
The bill has been deferred. Cool… what does that mean? "Delayed, put off to later" says wordreference.com.
Too much opposition, too many opposing testimonies, too many good reasons not to approve it.
Thanks to everyone who sent emails, who made phone calls, who went to the public hearing. In the next hours I should have a few more details by somebody who went there. Stay tuned.
Let’s keep the guard up, because the bill has not been rejected, but only deferred.
PS1. In the meantime, today I took part to a HUGE standup paddle surfing showcase organized by my friend Bill Babcock, editor of kenalu.com.
In six hours I tried 20 boards out of… something like 50. Check their website for the results and this blog for my very own personal report in the next days.
My back has never been so sore and I'm drinking the tastiest beer of my life.
PS2. In the past six days I had four 5 stars wavesailing sessions and two 4 stars ones. I don't remember a week like this in my whole life. I should post a mini report of each single one, but I got an incredible amount of stuff to post (and other things to do). Now instead, is the start of a week of light or no wind and great waves to surf. And next weekend there's even a south swell… life is great!
———————————————-
First update: Thursday 3 15 08.
Ok, it's 2.45pm hawaiian time, so I guess it's too late to send testimonies via email (but if haven't done it yet, I would recommend to do it anyway!).
Thanks to all the people who sent emails and called other people to do that. Some of you also sent me the content of their emails (way more effective than mine… I wrote mine and this post at 6.50am and had to be out of the door at 7!!). Thanks for the comments too.
Let’s not forget that the hearing is tomorrow Friday 2 15 08 at 2.15 in Oahu.
If you can, just get on the plane, go there and speak out loud. The more, the better.
Thanks again!
PS. I just had an amazing sesh at the outer reef at uppers… no surfers, no swimmers, just a bunch of kitesurfers but I'm alright with those…
PPS. I also just saw Alex Aguera catch the biggest wave I've see a windsurfer on at Hookipa: over two masts high. Too bad I was driving and couldn't take a photo of it… Took a bunch of Josh Angulo, though. Stay tuned for that…
———————————————————————–
Just received an email from a friend (thanks!) that may REALLY mean disaster for the windsurfing industry/community in Maui.
Read this. For what I understand it's the Bill for an act (here details) that passed the first reading (here the history) and will have a public hearing on Friday at 2.45pm in Honolulu (Conference Room 414, State Capitol - 415 South Beretania Street).
According the first page I linked, there's the possibility to send tetimonies via email (testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov) or fax (586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659) at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. That's today Thursday 2 14 at 245pm.
If you read this in time, please send an email explaining that a law like this would mean a huge damage to the windsurfing related industry (shops, tourists), that in Maui is pretty big.
Please feel free to copy and paste the following text (that's what I'm going to email), if you feel like. Even better, explain your own reason for why you like or not the proposed bill.
For what I understand from the first page instruction, this MUST be the subject of the email:
Email subject:
Testimony to bill SB 2091 COMMITTEE ON WATER AND LAND hearing of Friday February 15, 2008 2.45pm
Email body:
A law like the proposed bill SB2091 would mean a huge damage to the windsurfing related industry (shops, tourists), that in Maui is pretty remarkable.
With a 200 feet limit, in fact, a single surfer on the break will virtually mean no sailboards on the break. And that'll be the end of wavesailing at Hookipa or Kanaha when there's waves and it's windy.
At Kanaha there's already the 11 o'clock rule (no windusrfing before 11am) that leaves plenty time to surfers to enjoy the less windy hours of the day.
At Hookipa there's already the 10 man rule (no windsurfing if more than 10 surfers in the water) that protects the surfers' safety.
A rule like the proposed bill SB2091 will not be fair towards windsurfers and kitesurfers.
Please, don't pass it. Thanks. [Link]
Great wavesailing
Ops, I forgot to link my friend Martino's photo page… check it out, he's a crazy white water kayaker and world traveller…
Just a few pics to show what kind of conditions this week are finally happening here in Maui.
The weekend was unreal and I was busy shooting video clips with the helmet cam. Makani got some footage of epic Hookipa on Sunday, check his website, he just posted a video of Kauli.
Monday, in the break between morning and evening sessions, I drove to Hoo and took a few pics, mostly of Kauli and Levi. Here's the latter with an aerial from high in the sky…
Here’s Kauli with his new JP painted board. Both fins are out of the water. The only thing that keeps the board there is the front rail.
There were only 5-6 sailors out when I stopped there. I was so tired, I took the photos from the car…
Here’s a unidentified sailor who chose a bad moment and place to wipe out… Ouch!
Here’s Levi with his newly Quatro painted board (at least there's a high chance that that one is shaped by Keith Taboul) in a stylish one hand aerial.
This is Kauli again.
And this is Levi again in a dynamic top turn. Is windsurfing a dynamic sport or what?
Sunday, my friend Martino was on the bluff and he took some photos. Here's Francisco Porcella. The whole sequence (together of more of the Levi-Kauli duet) in the slide below.
Last, but not least, here's the usual Laird show shot by Randy on Sunday morning, I believe. It's a bit heavy… open it in a new window (right click–> open in new window/tab) and let it load… it's worth it!
Huge swells on the horizon for the rest of the week, as this morning weather map clearly confirms.
Life is great! [Link]
What a day!
"I had the best wave of my life" (…oh, come on!)
“I had the best wave of the last five years" (…that's more credible.)
“I’m in awe"
“Un-fucking-believable”
That’s some of the comments I heard on the beach yesterday.
To be honest, I also heard mild complaints about the waves closing out too much, the wind being too strong and the water being too choppy, but overall I would definitely describe yesterday as a fantastic day of wavesailing and rank it a five star without a doubt.
I was shooting with the camera and got a lot of footage. I have no idea when I'll be able to edit it, since the forecast finally looks the way it should in winter time. Here's how Pat Caldwell summarizes it: "Normal winter surf, high."
This morning I only have time to post a shitty photo (taken by mistake… maybe I should take more photos instead of videos, whatcha think?). But it somehow shows the quality of this swell.
I’m on a wave (so is Gary initiating his sequence of bottom turns downwind of me). Please appreciate the distance with the previous wave: a football field!
It’s called wavelenght and together with the wave period (seconds between waves) is one of the parameters that affect the shoaling of the waves when they hit a shallow bottom.
Without getting too much in detail, the bigger the wavelenght (and period), the more the waves grow on the reef. Not only that. Longer distance between waves, makes it easier to go out (more opportunities to pump and get speed between waves), makes it easier to emergency water start when falling in the impact zone, makes it easier to spot other sailors in the impact zone, makes it easier to read the waves. In other word, it's higher quality wave sailing, compared to wind swell (which can still be a hell lot of fun, of course).
Also, try to follow the crest of that wave in front of us (click on the photo for that)… it's a whole freaking wall of moving water all the way to kite beach. That's because it was low tide in the morning (when I took this photo) and the biggest waves were closing out. That's not good… but it got a lot better in the afternoon with the high tide.
Let’s see what the Waimea buoy readings were for this swell.
Notice how the size went up from 6 to 9 feet, but also how the period increased and MOST IMPORTANTLY for Kanaha, the direction went from just over 300 degreess (that'll be NW) to just over 330 (NNW). The impact of this for Kanaha is huge.
Check the following map and try to understand (maybe using a small ruler on the screen) the shade provided by the West Maui Mountain for everything coming more west than 320…
This is the weather map of this morning, Sunday 2 10 and it's dedicated to those friends leaving Maui today to go ski/snowboard on the mainland (I got three of them). Congratulations, what a good week to do that you guys!!! 
Now, that's a serious storm and it's occluded, so it's gonna stay there for a while. The resulting NW swell will be in the extra-large category and will last pretty much all week. You thought the West Maui Mountain blockage was a bummer? Sometimes it is, but sometimes is a blessing! Without it it would be too big everywhere!
EVERYTHING in life has at least one bad aspect and one good one. Wonna have a happy life? Just focus on the positive one… it's THAT simple!
AND, as the satellite photo clearly shows, there's not a single cloud over Hawaii.
Since the first photo didn't really show that, here's how the sky looked like yesterday.
In other words, Maui is back to being the paradise it's known as.
And I'm conscious that I'm extraordinarily lucky to be able to experience this. If I was just a little less lucky I could have been born in Afghanistan and being a refugee right now… or somewhere in Africa and being starving…
This goes to anyone who woke up in Maui today and has even the smallest complaint about anything at all, like:
- my job sucks (…at least you have one)
- I don't like my partner anymore (…either keep her/him and shut up or leave her/him!)
- Kanaha is too crowded (…hey, there's waves!)
- I wish I earned more so that I could buy a bigger truck (…which half of the working world population do you belong to? The one that earns more or less than two dollars a day?)
- etc, etc, etc…
YOU GUYS ARE SO UNAWARE of what the lives of other human beings are in other parts of the world in this right moment! Stop bitching and start becoming aware of your luck… [Link]
Windsurfing in a rainy winter day
Despite what the title may suggest, it was a lot of fun.
This was last Sunday (ops, that was 2 3 08, not 2 4 08 I guess…). Superbowl was on and pretty much nobody was out. The plan was to film Glenn riding his AHD Seal. I had a few technical difficulties (it was a long time I didn't use the GoPro camera and I had forgotten a few things).
Plus, filming somebody going down the line with an helmet cam is a pretty hard task.
But we learned something and maybe next time we'll do better.
Here’s the goofy outcome… love that face!
Talking about the GoPro camera, Bill put it on his RC plane. Pretty interesting stuff…
And talking about the Seal, Glenn has a few for sale. 77 and 88l. See him at Hot Sails Maui or send me an email and I'll get you in touch with him. Here's the 88l he was using in the video.
Forecast.
That storm in the top left in the map below is generating a swell that will hit Thursday (from WNW) and Friday (from NW). As indicated from the red arrow, it's modelled to move NE. In other words it won't move towards Hawaii and it won't create what's called a captured fetch. That'll be a limiting factor. Still, there will be big waves (my definition of big is: anything above head high!).
The modelled charts 7.5 days out from today, show that another NW swell will hit around Wednesday next week. It will be bigger, because the storm will be closer. This seems to be confirmed also by Pat Caldwell's words:"models show a jet stream track much closer to Hawaii starting near Japan, a more normal February pattern."
It’s about time! [Link]
small ding fix + murky Hoo
Topic 1.
My board fixing carrer probably just reached its apex.
Before…
After…
Final touch: pad patchwork.
I can't believe it came out so good. Look at that rocker line! Well… that doesn't mean it's not gonna snap again on the first wave, but I'm stoked.
Ok, now I'd like to learn how to shape (and build) boards. Any shaper out there that needs help?
PS. Thanks to Amir of Ding King for the precious tips and to Keith Taboul for the sandwich foam.
Topic 2.
Huge amount of rain in last few days in Maui. Yesterday in particular (Saturday) it rained all day till around 3pm. Went to check Hookipa, Kuali and Nik Baker were out slogging through squalls in murky water. The waves were actually not too bad. Still shifty (is that an f or a t?) windswell, but when they got one right it looked like fun.
Here’s Kauli.
Here’s Nik.
Of the other three "normal" sailor that ventured out, one came in safe, one ended up at Lanes and one went on the rocks. That's because the wind was really up and down with the squalls until it finally died. In other words another quite bad day of a really bad winter so far. For the Maui standards, of course…
PS. Nice Irish story on the PWA site. [Link]
Jeff
A few weeks ago I read this Windsurfers to know post on James' blog, and one name immediately popped up in my mind.
He’s a good friend of mine and a great guy overall. He's also my only gear supporter, which makes him particularly smart…
But, other than that, here are the reasons why I think Hot Sails Maui founder Jeff Henderson is a person that really gave a lot to windsurfing.
1. Kids rigs
If Darby/Drake/Schweitzer invented the sport, Jeff recently gave it a future, being the first one to come up with super light COMPLETE rigs for kids. Previous kids sails attempts didn't work because they were rigged on heavy adult masts and booms.
That was a huge shift in the sport, since now kids can start as young as 5! The new generation of young guns has to thank Jeff for his kid's rigs.
2. Sailing longboards
After the sport was invented, all the development in board shapes went towards speed and planing hulls. There was an unfortunate shift towards faster and more manouvrable shortboards that almost killed windsurfing, making 16 knots the lower limit of wind to have fun. Planing on a shortboard was such a newer and much more fun sensation that almost all of us got rid of the good old longboards. Consequently the number of worldwide windsurfers went radically down. Why? Because 16 knots don't blow as often as 4…
In 1998 Jeff was having a tandem surfboard shaped for him and his wife and he told the shaper to throw a mast box in the middle… why not? He so discovered how much fun was to wave sail in light wind on a board not shaped to go fast and plane, but to perform well on a wave. He started spreading the stoke through interviews on magazines and websites, and now, thanks to the return of Standup Paddle surfing, sailing longboards are starting to appear back on the beaches. Again, a huge contribution to the sport, since you now don't need 16 knots to have fun anymore… 4 will do it again!
And in this case he doesn't even have a personal interest, since his company doesn't make boards! He did it (and still does it) just for the sport's sake.
You guys have probably seen this video already, but I never get tired to watch it again…
3. Superfreak
About 6 years ago, he had another "re/de-volutionary" idea. Sails in dacron, like the good old days. He just used newer technologies and designs to control the amount of stretch under pressure and came out with a full dacron sail (and pvc window) called Superfreak, that finally had the need for comfort (typical of 90% of the windsurfers) as its main focus rather than the one for immediate/unfiltered power (typical of the 10% of pro/high performance windsurfers).
I personally know a few sailors that were about to quit windsurfing because of too stiff sails that transmit the power too directly and were "saved" by a Superfreak.
I know others that had already quit windsurfing for the same reason and got back into it just becuase they had a go on a Superfreak.
I always use the Alberto Tomba example to describe this. Back in the 90s, when I was young and stupid (hey, I can say "was" because now I'm 45…), I bought the same exact ski boots as our national ski hero. The boots were fantastic, super responsive, but hard as marble and I couldn't ski in them for more than an hour. So I had to buy a pair of softer, recreational ski oriented boots and they felt like slippers in comparison… I could ski six hours straight!
AND, you can order a Superfreak either in one of some 500 already available color schemes or you can design your own. That brings windsurfing back to the colorful image it used to have, doesn't it?
This is Thomas enjoying super cold conditions in Denmark on his electric black Freak. Meeean looking sail…
There’s other things I could mention (for example this revolutionary boom design that greatly reduces arm fatigue) and I'm sure there's also others that I am not even aware of, but I'd like to finish this post, mentioning a skill of Jeff that probably not many know. And being italian, I take credit of being able to judge…
He cooks a mean pasta! Here he is (first one on the right) on the job in a recent party with some of his company staff/friends…
Jeff, thank you so much for all of the above!
PS. Better practice a little more before calling me back for that ping pong return match, though… [Link]
snow in Maui
No kidding!
This photo was taken this morning from Kula…
[Link]
Katia Seadi
I was tempted to just post the photos of Kauli's 22 year old sister, without any comment.
But:
1) I want to tell her muito obrigado to have let me take photos of her.
2) I want to add that her smile has the power of one of those perfumes that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (if you haven't done it yet, read the Perfume book or watch the movie) was able to create: it just makes you fell good, relaxed, in peace with the world and willing to love just about everyone.
I took three photos of her. Here they are all of them . And if I had taken thirty instead, I'd probably post them all too… Is she lovely or what?
Well, now I have to post some photos of her brother too, otherwise he'll get jelous…
Today’s sesh was a hell lot of fun for me. After a day of rainy, squally, cold, gusty conditions (that'll be yesterday, Wednesday), today it was sunny, unusually steady, perfect 4.7 wind. Mostly windswell, with some leftover ground swell sets in the head high range.
I sailed something like three hours and sat to take photos only around 4.30. So I don't have many good ones. Here's a (blurred) goiter.
The light was really good, though. This is Glenn.
The forecast is for strengthening trades and increasing windswell.
Whatevas… as long as there's some kind of waves, I'm happy!
Actually, this is the weather map of Friday morning.
It shows a nice, close fetch NE of the islands. That'll send a full of energy NE swell on Sunday. NE is an unusual swell direction for Maui. There's a couple surf spot that will work great and pretty much all windsurfing reefs will work ok too, since there'll be no shade from other islands and the right waves will peel nicely for down the line wave riding.
I anticipate "on the rocks" condition at Hookipa… so, I'd better sail somewhere else!
The storm on the right, instead, will send a NW swell on Tuesday. But, as the red arrow shows, it is modeled to move north, hence limiting the size and duration of the swell.
The 7 days model shows no more noticeable swell producing storms and a strong high pressure right north of Hawaii that will continue to generate unusually strong and consistent trade winds. [Link]
a sunny sunday at Hookipa
Two windsurfers dominating the scene (from my point of view) last Sunday at Hoo.
The new and the old school: Kauli Seadi and Robby Naish.
Different styles, lines, moves. Both absolutely lovely to watch… I really enjoyed my photo shooting session.
Here’s Kauli with a goiter.
Here’s Robby with a push loop (that looks like a huge goiter on port tack instead…).
How’s that as a windsurfer? And I don't even know her? Da hell is wrong with me?!?!
Pascal, name (and phone number) please!
Kauli was on a NP first. Then he saw Robby in the water and switched to his old Naish… Maybe he still has a few days on the contract and was afraid to get busted?!?
Here he is again, demolishing a lip. Too bad for that sail in front… oh well, at least it's a Fire!
Robby’s aerials are not too shabby either. What I like in this (overexposed) photo is the smile of my friend Pato (on the Ezzy) that knew that Robby was on the wave in front of him and was totally expecting to see him blast through the lip… he doesn't look disappointed, does he? (click on the photo to see better)
Trust me, even if you've lived in Maui for a long time, it's still a great pleasure to be right in the middle of this kind of action.
As promised, here's a photo of Kauli's beautiful sister. I know… you can't see her incredible eyes and smile, because she is shooting his brother. But I have a feeling that somebody will enjoy this photo anyway…
Ahhhh, brazilian girls…
Not done with the aerials yet. Here's Pascal… sweet, brah!
And here's Jason Prior with a brand new move. Gotta work on the landing.
Plenty more photos (Robby was in jumping mood) in this slide show.
And now I apologize for spoiling such a remarkable display of windsurfing and beauties, but I promised to publish a photo of me wearing a maui addicted t-shirt.
Not sure that'll help the sales, though…
[Link]
good start of the year
I'm loving this January so far.
Thank god that horrible la Nina trend of strong, gusty, offshore wind and no clean winter NW swell took a break and we had some really, really good and clean surfing or longboard sailing days. Looks like next week should be windier though…
Yes, I'm a windsurfer that doesn't like strong wind… guess why? The answer is so easy that the first reader that leaves a comment with the correct answer won't win anything…
Anyway, have a look at this last NW swell that hit yesterday. There were around 6 people at Hoo. Here they are pretty much all.
This is Michi Schweigher.
Here’s Kauli with NP sail, but still on a Quatro board.
Here’s Keith Taboul on a 09 Goya prototype sail.
French canadian Nick's aerial kick out.
Mark Angulo close up.
Jason Diffin.
More photos in this slide.
That was a really quick photo session… I wanted to go sail at Lowers… which I didn't 'cause the wind died, turned onshore (everybody left) and then died again leaving glassy head high waves to three of us. The sunset was unreal and I guess that Hookipa must have been bigger and really good too… But you can't beat three people out… But that's not what I wanted to say!
Where was I… oh yeah, that was a really quick photo session… When I went back to my car I saw Kauli parked a few cars next to mine and went to say hi (I hadn't seen him on the island yet this season).
“Hey Kauli, what's up!"
“Hey, what's up!"
“How you doing?"
“How you doing?"
“All good"
“All good"
…
“Kauli, is that your girlfriend in your truck?"
“No that's my sister"
“Your sister? I'll introduce myself real quick, if you don't mind…"
Oh .. My .. God …
One of the prettiest girls I've ever seen…
Hopefully next time I see her I'll be able to articulate some words (my jaw pretty much dropped lifeless while I was shaking hands) and ask her if I can take a photo of her.
Just for you, guys… just for you… [Link]
weekly reports poll
Looks like the italian websites that usually publish my weekly reports are slacking on their jobs this year.
I’m still writing them for a bunch a friend in the email distribution list. Here is an example of last week's one. It's in italian, so have fun trying to understand it…
*** lunedi 7-1-08: onde piccole e niente vento… mi diverto al tramonto a fare standup surfing con Jeff davanti a casa sua (upper Kanaha)
* martedi 8-1-08: ancora niente vento e onde piccole… ma stanno arrivando! Ne approfitto per salire per la prima volta su uno starboard serenity, ma il vento non e' sufficiente neanche a quello.
**** mercoledì 9-1-08: arrivano le onde e sono davvero belle e glassy. La mattina vado a Kanaha e mi sembra ancora piccino. Indi per cui, torno a Hookipa e esco a Lanes col 9 piedi, dove rimedio solo mazzate. Onda troppo difficile/grossa/ripida/pesante per le mie limitate capacita'… Poi mi metto a fare qualche foto a Keith e Lalo. Ne allego una di Keith su una bomba almeno tre volte piu' grande di lui… Per fortuna al tramonto rimedio all'errore mattutino e mi sparo una bellissima session a lowers, dove in un'ora e mezza becco 18 onde. Tutte belle/facili/lunghe/divertenti.
**** giovedi 10-1-08: ancora lowers la mattina, sempre col 9 piedi. Glassy fino alle 11… uno sballo. Al tramonto, scelgo lo standup perche' non gliela faccio a remare sdraiato, ma la swell e' cresciuta un po' troppo e fa spesso close out anche a Kanaha.
***** venerdi 11-1-08: grandissime condizioni per il longboard sailing a Kanaha. Le sinistre sono liscissime, ne prendo una quantita' industriale e mi diverto… ma no assai…. di piu'!
***** sabato 12-1-08: vabbe', e allora ditelo… migliore giornata di sempre sulla tavola da standup surf col remo. Giornata galattica con sole, onde e niente vento. La mattina a lowers ci saranno duemila surfisti e grazie alla mobilita' che lo standup offre, pagaio fino al reef di fronte a kite beach, dove becco inesplorate destre e sinistre in assoluta solitudine. Poi dopo una pausa per il pranzo, rientro in acqua con una bellissima tavola 10.6 prestatami da un'amica e, sempre in piedi col remo, faccio il panico a lowers. In acqua, 5 surfisti (avendo surfato tutto il giorno, gli altri si sono ritirati esausti), tutti amici. Ho preso destre lunghissime fatte tutte hanging five on the nose. Ho preso sinistre piazzandoci dei top turn proprio nel mezzo della bowl. Insomma, mai surfato cosi bene con lo standup… davvero una giornata che ricordero'.
*** domenica 13-1-08: oggi, invece, come da previsioni, c'e' vento da nord e una nuova swell molto grossa e incasinata. In queste condizioni, il north shore e' off limits e si va a Kahana, nel west side. Vento da 5 (anche se poi e' salito e ci voleva la 4.7) e onda a volta overhead, ma molto, molto choppata. Al solito, mi diverto.
7 su 7. Percentuale uscite dall'inizio dell'anno: 13 su 13: 100%.
Notice that Saturday's report is longer than usual because… for me it was the bloddy best SUP surfing day EVER!
Now that you have an idea, please express your desire or not of having them published on this blog on a weekly basis. Please vote only once, thanks.
AND, this time don't expect me to necessarily do what the poll result will be… I just need to have an idea if you guys would like them or not… you should know by now that I'm allergic to the word commitment!
Plus, the summer reports are way less exciting…
Finally!
Long awaited (at least by me) epic winter surf conditions finally hit the Hawaiian islands the last few days.
The NW swell started to really pump on the morning of the 9th, peaked on the 10th and slowly started to subside on the 11th. Three days of glassy beautiful hawaiian surf.
Here’s my birthday present from Mother Nature as registered at the Waimea buoy:
Here’s a little three days report.
Wednesday 1-9
I went to check Kanaha first, it looked a little too small and too much wait in between sets. I decided to surf up the coast instead and got in the water at Lanes.
Big mistake.
Lanes is such a difficult wave, specially with a longboard. It jacks up really quick and on low tide is sooo steep. I didn't catch much, but I got worked pretty well and got stuck on the inside a few times. Kanaha would have been so much better for me…
One of the qualities of a good surfer is to pick the spot that fits his ability. I failed on that matter, but Quatro owners Keith Taboul and Lalo Goya didn't, for they both are pretty good surfers.
Lalo:”Hi! How is it out there?"
Me:”Good… if you're good! And it's getting bigger…"
Lalo:”Cool!”
Here he is in a nice bottom turn at The point.
He caught a hell lot of waves (more in the slide below), but the bomb of the day was tamed by Keith. What's that, triple overhead?
This unknown kid instead surfed the shore break at the end of his session. I had the zoom set at the maximum (that'll be 12x optical + 2x digital) and I scored this lucky shot.
In the afternoon, as the buoy clearly shows, the swell picked up a lot and even though there was a light wind on it, this time I scored a nearly epic sesh at Lowers. Maybe because of the frustration of the morning, I was particularly inspired and caught 18 waves in 1.5 hours… each one of them was a deligth.
Wait, I know what it was… after having surfed (or tried to) Lanes, the left at Lowers felt like the easiest wave in the world…
So much fun and four stars for the day!
Thursday 1 10
I don't know where I found the strength, but I paddled out again in the morning at lowers. This time it was glassy till late. I shared a few with Michelle and caught another bunch for another FUNtastic session.
“Meesh, this is already four stars. If I get in the water again later, by definition it's a five stars day…"
Actually I did get in the water again at sunset on the standup (couldn't physically lay down paddle anymore). But the swell was peaking and most sets were closing out. I was out of my comfort zone, didn't want to hurt anyone and left the lineup without having added any fun… and any stars.
Not a problem, since the five star session was delayed of less than 24 hours…
Friday 1 11
Waves in decline, but still some really big sets.
Around 1.30 I stopped at Hookipa and saw two guys standup surfing. One was clearly Dave Kalama.
The other one looked like Laird, but as soon as he caught his first wave, I knew he wasn't him… This is a killer shot though!
The wind was picking up and the first windsurfer (and a few kiters) hit the water.
Later on, more windsurfers went out for what was a really good session (at least for Kevin Pritchard.. that's what he told me). But I had to leave… Lowers was calling.
Lighter wind at Kanaha, perfect for longboard sailing.
Those lefts… oh my god those lefts… glassy perfection.
I’m getting more and more into my 10 SUP sailing longboard. Specially going lefts, upwind, on the back of the sail, goofy stance… you can really try to make the sail neutral in the wind and pump the rail like if you were surfing…
Once on the face of the wave, it becomes 10% windsurfing and 90% surfing… with the difference that you don't have to paddle to catch the wave (which comes handy if you are surfed out after two days of intense surfing and you couldn't paddle anymore even if they pay you!), you can catch a whole lot more waves (sailing out again after a ride is way faster than paddling out) and you can also do a better wave selection (standing up you see them better) and be in the right spot faster (more mobility with the sail).
In other words, longboard wave sailing is a blast!
At one point we were: me, Luke and Carter on longboards, Jeff on his Seal and Glenn on his floaty shortboard… all on Hot Sails! Great to share the stoke with a few friends.
Forecast
The storm NW of Hawaii in this weather map of Jan 8th evidently generated another large swell that will hit Sunday.
At the same time, the wind will be NNE. Better make sure my tank is full of gas… I can see some driving in my future! [Link]
2007 QUOLI stats
QUOLI stands for QUolity Of Life Index.
It’s a measure of how good is my life AND how good is the place I chose as home. In fact, those days that I don't get in the water it's either because I'm too tired, I have no time or the conditions aren't worth it.
As anticipated, the 2007 QUOLI has been an astonishing 95% (last year was 89%). More precisely, 300 days in the water out of 317 possible ones (physically in Maui and not injured/sick).
I need to clarify that it would be QUITE EASY for me to get in the water every single day (hence achieving 100%), but that is not my goal. It would make the QUOLI meaningless and stupid.
Here’s a little legenda to better understand what's on the calendar. Btw, thanks to Windnews, the italian magazine I work for, for providing such a cool calendar in the first issue of every year.
In every cell there are three rows.
In the first row there's the activity:
W windsurfing (you can also ready it as wavesailing, since I don't do freestyle)
LS longboard sailing (wavesailing on waves in light wind on a longboard)
SL slalom sailing (free riding on "flat" water with slalom gear in relatively light wind)
SC speed challenge (new category: trying to go as fast as possible measuring the speed with a GPS)
S surfing (either shortboard or longboard)
SUP Standup Paddle surfing (on waves)
DSU downwind SUP (downwind runs on an SUP board)
DC downind runs on my one man outrigger canoe
T stands for Travel and I for injured/sick (these days are not counted).
In the second row there's the location (and the sail size in case the activity is w… for LS I always use a 5.5, for SL I mostly use a 6.0 and for SC I mostly use a 5.0):
K Kanaha
H Hookipa
KU Kuau
S Sprecks
plus a bunch of surf spots.
In the third row there's my ranking:
5* epic
4* a hell lot of fun
3* fun
2* not the best, but still kind of fun
1* sucked
You can click on the photo for a larger more readable version (right click "Open link in new tab/window" will open it in a new tab/window). I know, the girl on the background is distracting.
Here’s the rankings distribution:
5* : 17 (6 %)
4* : 73 (24 %)
3* : 159 (53%)
2* : 33 (11 %)
1* : 18 (6 %)
which is pretty similar to last year's one.
Here’s the totals per activity (the total number of session is bigger than the number of days, because once in a while I fancy multiple sessions of different activities in the same day…):
w… 180
ls… 37
s…. 59
sup.. 37
sl… 18
dc…. 1
dsu… 2
sc…. 6
tot. 340
These ones instead, denote a trend: way more windsurfing than surfing. This is due to two things:
1) it has been a abnormally windy year. While it was really fun to wavesail often over head high windswell at Hookipa (at least four episodes!) in summertime, the lack of the classic, long period, clean and glassy swells so far this winter is annoying. Thank god, starting this afternoon we should have a few days of good surf and no wind.
2) I'm getting older (45 in two days!) and lazier. Of all the above activities, regular surfing is by far the hardest on my body. Every time I surf, my lower back is sore, so I'm not extremely motivated to go surf often, even though I really love it.
It doesn't hurt when I windsurf, but somehow I feel that all that bouncing on the bumps makes it worse for surfing… I'll have it checked next time I'll go to Italy…
So.
In February 2001 I left Italy and my steady / high income job in HP, because I felt that working all day - 5 days a week didn't allow me to be truly happy doing the things I that really like.
7 years later, here I am logging a 95% QUOLI… How am I doing? [Link]
in the harness in three days…
…it's very difficult, but not impossible!
Ladies and gentlemen, here's the amazing Catherine on her THIRD day of windsurfing…
The board is a Starboard 12.6 that has proved to be a really good board for learning.
For some more radical action (well, in the harness on the third day… that's pretty rad too!), check this post on Kevin Pritchard's blog. [Link]
happy new year to those who care
I went to Hanamanou yesterday and surfed and took some pics.
Let’s start with my favorite one. The water was kind of cold, so I think we should really thank this surfer girl for not covering her beauty with some neoprene!
Jason Prior took two of his pets (a dog and a fish) for a walk on the rocks.
Here he is trying to get… barreled? It looks more like.. worked!
Flags… no matter what country the represent, I just can't stand them. For I look at them like as symbol of war.
Today my dad asked me on the phone how was my year. I said:"best year of my life!".
He said:"but you said that last year too!"
I said:"really? Ain't that great, dad?"
My 2007 QUOLI was 95%. Stay tuned for more detailed statistics…
Happy new year to all the animals on this planet, especially to the innocent ones who are about to face extinction because of human pollution.
Happy new year, polar bear with less ice where to live on!
Did you guys enjoy my blog in 2007? Ok, do me one favor in return. Read this article, please. And look at those satellite photos of the north pole.
And then ask yourself: was all the pollution you contributed to today really necessary?
Is any electric appliances on in your house that really needs to be on? How about those christmas lights?
Is using the drier every time you do your laundry really necessary?
Are all those cylinders of your truck/suv/car really necessary or could you live with a smaller engine?
Do you really need to introduce all those new plastic bags in the environment every time you go grocery shopping or could you maybe do the extreme sacrifice of buying a 1 dollar reusable bag and reuse it a thousand times?
Is there anyone out there who cares? Happy new year to them… [Link]
N2N
I had a blast today at Lowers.
The wind was the famous Maui's N2N (nuking to nothing). Thank God (a very particular god named Jeff Henderson), I had the best sail on the planet to handle those conditions: a 4.7 Superfreak.
It still goes in the lulls and it still generates enough power when I pump it (a 4.5 would not be quite enough). And you can still hang on it when it's blowing like stink (a 5.0 would be unconfortable).
I love my 4.7. It's the best sail I've ever had. Period.
Here it is in a photo at Hookipa a couple of months ago.
PS. Thanks to a reader that emailed me this link, I found out:
- that I'm not alone
- how to spell bah humbug. [Link]
bah humbug
Not much to post really… I just wanted to do a post on Dec 25 and don't call it "Merry Christmas"!
Here’s my take on Christmas: one of purest form of bullshit the human race has been able to come up with.
I’m not even going to get into the religious delirium of celebrating the birth of an man that allegedly died and resurrected three days later (!) a couple of thousands years ago…
But I'm about to rant against what Christmas is nowadays in the western world: an egotistic, selfish feast of eating and spending money on unnecessary (and most of the times polluting) presents.
How much did you spend on your presents?
Did you know that 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day?
Read a few facts here and here.
Don’t believe in donating online? Well, wherever you live, if you're reading this (which means you have a computer or you can afford a connection in an internet cafe) I'm sure there's poorer people around.
Tip for the Mauians: you'll find a bunch of homeless people camping just outside Kanaha…
Check out this house in Makawao:
What an unnecessary waste of polluting electric power! I'm sure the owners of that house do that to please the kids of the neighborhood, but… do the kids of the neighborhood really need that?
I think these kids look like they are more in need… and not of presents, of food!!!
Oh well, I could go on forever, but I'll cut it short. Just don't expect me to say Merry Christmas if you meet me at the beach…
Not much to brag about on the wind/wave side. Yesterday it was a fun day at lowers with a NW ground swell that brought waves from chest to overhead high. Today the swell was pretty much gone and I sailed Kuau with some small waves and light, offshore and gusty wind. There should be another swell on the rise tonight, but with the NW buoy out of service it's hard to predict the exact arrival time. Actually, I just checked that the Surfline readings of the Waimea buoy show 2 feet, 16 seconds at 6pm.
Into the long range, this la Nina winter is starting to mildly piss me off. The next 7 days will continue to see strong, offshore and gusty winds. Not a single decent ground swell being generated.
Wait a moment… reality check. It's late December and I'm sailing in warm water under a sunny sky. Sorry, forgot I could be an Afghani refugee instead of a lucky bastard… stoked, no complains! [Link]
Hookipa Dec 13
This was a really good day at Hookipa.
The last swell that deserved such a name hit in the afternoon last Thursday.
I hit it with perfect timing, going out at Hookipa from noon to 2 with not many people out.
Then it started to get a bit too big for my tastes (as usual, light wind on the inside) and I sat on the bluff to capture a few moments for you lucky bastards.
Three main page derservers, let's start with Levi.
How would you rank the level of difficulty of such a tweaked aerial off the lip? Pretty high, uh?
I don't know if he got a magic board or what, but the man is sailing like I've never seen him before. In particular, that day I saw him doing the most radical move I've ever witnessed… and sitting on that hill I watched a lot of crazy stuff!
Let’s see if I can describe it.
Imagine a tubular wave. An imaginary cylinder of water. And imagine a windsurfer inside the cylinder that goes all the way around the perimeter of the cylinder. That's pretty close to what he did.
The wave was mast high and the lip started to form a heavy barrel in front of him.
He bottom turned, went straight at the already falling heavy lip, destroyed it with the bottom of his board facing up (towards the sky) and continued the rotation for the fastest wave 360 you can imagine. He landed in full speed and carved another bottom turn right away… like if he was in a cylinder!
And I saw all this while sailing out 50 yards downwind of him… unreal.
Here he's doing an upwind Taka (or whatever that's called). Piece of cake compared to what I just described.
And here's an ordinary (for him) one hand aerial.
Then we got uncle Robby in the late phase of a pushloop.
And Robby again doing one of those jibes on the wave that he keeps riding backwinding… I love that move and I tried it a few times.
You know… I didn't do too bad… actually very close to making it a couple of times. I might even be able to do it one day! That day I'm going to be (particularly) happy, because I think it's really cool. Sorry, let me rephrase it… I FEEL it's really cool.
And this is a french guy, who always comes in winter vacation and he's a smiler who respects the priority… as such, I like him. Even if I don't know his name.
That’s a big wave.
More photos in this slide.
The day after the waves were smaller and after that it has been pretty much just windswell. Kind of fun, actually. For three days it has been head to logo at Hookipa with not too many people out… but nothing particularly clean or organized.
Today it was a lot smaller (at most head high) and this week is going to be pretty much the same… pretty bad for being winter.
Fortunately there's light at the end of the tunnel, since everybodys' favorite metereologist Pat Caldwell just posted that
models show the jet track returning to a more seasonal position of about 40°N latitude with a mostly zonal pattern. This should lead to a series of moderate to near high episodes from NW to NNW starting 12/23 with arrival spaced about 3 days apart. A well above average number of days of trades is expected relative to most years for the last half of December.
Sounds like wave sailing to me… awwright!
PS. Check out the new Hot Sails Maui blog!
Tom just posted a report from last Friday's speed challenge at Maalaea… [Link]
Superferry rally #1
Today was the first of the planned protests against the superferry.
For the first time in my life (in Italy we don't really have such a civil way of protesting), at age 44, I was on a sidewalk with a sign in my hands.
It was cool, I met a lot of nice people and it felt good to be out there trying to do something to change things. At least, that's what I thought at the beginning…
Here’s a couple of photos.
Ex Kuau Mart owner Liona had her hands full… She's one of the most fun people I know and even though I love her daughters too (who took over the shop) I greatly miss her behind the counter.
More photos on this savekahuluiharbor.com page (I can be spotted in the second photo from the top).
A second, bigger rally will be held this Saturday at 9am.
And now, a couple of thoughts.
The MAIN reason that made me go there was the new rule that you can't surf/paddle a canoe when the super ferry is in the harbor.
Not that I'm happy with the other problems that I believe will arise… more traffic, more drugs, more criminality. But those are problems related to every kind of development.
Every time I drive to Kihei, for example, there's new homes. And none of them look like it's going to be part of an affordable homes program…
As a result, there will be more cars on the island and more wealthy inhabitants that can afford to pay high rents/mortgages. And more poor people will become even poorer and eventually homeless. The only option for them will be criminality and part of that is making/selling drugs.
So it's the whole development that should be stopped, not only the super ferry.
But the development is driven by money, which is the only thing that rules this country (and many others). Who can stop the development?
Nobody. Nobody can. This is not Butan.
And what about the impact on the environment and the whales?
Well, we don't even know for sure how bad the ferry will be for them. Honestly it pisses me off more the fact that plastic bags are still not banned and every single day thousands and thousands of new plastic bags are introduced in the environment. And not by an easy to blame big corporation… they are introduced by us. Or better, by the 99% of us who don't care enough to use a reusable bag when going shopping.
So, it's ok to protest (even though probably useless, seen the amount of money already invested in the project and the strong support of the state government), but let's start doing something ourself.
PS. I got some good shots today at Hoo. Stay tuned for a more "conventional" windsurfing post… [Link]
A bit of Laird
Yet another good day of surfing Monday morning.
I surfed Lanes for an hour sitting very deep and dropped in quite a few bombs… fun.
Once done, I sat on the bluff and took a few videos of Laird on his standup paddle board.
For some reasons, I'm having trouble visualizing the videos (as well as the slides)on IE. They work with Firefox. Please let me know if it happens to you too. Just in case, here's the url of the Laird video.
In the afternoon a light trade picked up and I sailed lower Kanaha. First with my new 10 footer SUP (love it, but the quad fins don't work for sailing… got to plug a box for a fin in the middle) and then on my floaty custom SOS when the wind picked up a notch more.
5.5, sometimes slogging, sometimes planing… waves up to head high… very, very fun conditions. I love these conditions: sometimes I go upwind and ride the wave goofy stance backwinding, sometimes I go downwind, but still mostly on the face of the wave, more like surfing rather than windsurfing.
Two hours and a half before I got really tired and hungry.
Derigged everything, ate lunch, went to do a few errands, stopped by Kanaha Kai, drank a beer with Tom (who kindly fixed my 4.7), checked out all the new Starboard (longboards and shortboards) that they just received.
“Hey Juan, that Evo 90 looks pretty good doesn't it?"
“It’s in the rental fleet… you can try if you want!"
I just cannot say no to an opportunity of trying a new board… so, after two intense sessions and a beer, at 4.30 I was back in the water for another really fun sesh.
I liked the board, it turns really good to be that floaty, you just have to adapt your style and don't try to do super snappy turns like if you were on a smaller board…
Wonna try it? Rent it a Kanaha Kai. They have a bunch of Kombat and Tabou too…
What else… forecast.
What I wrote yesterday is unfortunately confirmed. The wind is going to be nuclear towards the end of the week… I really hate that, because not only wavesailing sucks (way too choppy), but also you can't even surf at sunrise when it's like that!
Mmm… maybe I'll go to Hana and surf the windswell at Koki beach… it's going to be pretty damn big.
Lastly, let's not forget that, as Pat Caldwell says, “long range estimates are subject to bodacious rebundling". Gotta love it… nice one Pat!
PS. The first sign of the new NW swell at the NW buoy were recorded at 1am of Tuesday. That means that in Maui it won't show up until very late in the afternoon… let's say at sunset time. [Link]
beautiful waves…
Sunny and glassy sunday morning surf.
Having a surfer paddling out right on your way is not the best thing in surfing, but it's part of the game and most of the times you can get around him/her… but how about five of them?! Where is she gonna go?
The trade winds are about to come back. After a couple of moderate NW swells on Tuesday and Thursday, it actually looks like it's going to be summer kind of weather with a strong high pressure ruling the north Pacific and strong/gusty easterly wind and mostly windswell for a while… SUCKS! [Link]
the most amazing rainbow
"What a huge pile of shit…"
That’s what I thought about my last post when I saw the waves on the north shore…
Messy and confused? Yeah right! Check the waves in the harbor…
Well, the harbor has a narrow entrance that acts like a point break, filtering the energy… Only the highest energy can make it through (or bend around a point).
But what really made the waves superclean was the offshore wind.
All surfers know what huge influence the wind has on the waves. A switch from 5 knots offshore to 5 knots onshore can make the conditions shift from paradise to junk. And viceversa.
Seen the beautiful waves, I jumped in the toilet (as Meesh defined it) and tried to catch a few with a 6.6… Man, do I suck on a shortboard or what?!
Unsatisfied by the sesh, I went home to get my sailing longboard. Lanes and Hookipa looked incredible. Big and clean thanks to the offshore wind again. Picked up the cell phone.
“Hey Jeff, I predict epic longboard sailing conditions at kanaha… shall we go?"
“I wish, but I got my daugther and two other kids to take care of… next time."
“Shoots, the park at Kanaha is closed (flooded) and after 4pm the lifeguards will be gone and nobody will be out… let me drive there anyway and see how it looks…"
I looked terrific and the wind looked probably strong enough for shortboard sailing.
Picked up the cell phone again.
“Hey Glenn, come check Kanaha, I think it might be epic"
“Really? I'm almost done working, I'll be there in 10 minutes."
We got in the water at 4.45 with floaty shortboards and 5.0s.
Completely alone.
The waves were coming in all sizes. Shoulder, head, overhead, logo… you pick what you want.
5 or 6 good waves each and then around 5.30 we decided to get back in so that we didn't have to swim in the super murky waters (the river at kite beach had been pumping tons of mud). But before that, we saw the most amazing rainbow.
Unreally bright and sharp with a second lighter outside ring and something like a tornado made of bright white light right in the middle all the way down to the ocean.
Never seen anything like that.
One of the best sessions ever.
Those incredibly smooth waves were out there and nobody was enjoying them. We put our few fiberglass pieces together and without engines, with the only help of the wind, we were able to get there and ride them.
Hoyle Schweitzer and Jim Drake, a big thank goes to you from the very deep of my heart.
Windsurfing. What a bloody fantastic sport! [Link]
Buoys
Rainy weather continues in Maui.
It rained hard all day yesterday and it looks like more of the same today.
Here’s a satellite pics that shows the front. It passed quickly over Kauai (where it's now sunny) and Oahu, but it got stuck over Maui and the Big Island…
As a consequence the wind is still blowing Kona and I might be missing out on some extreme wavesailing at Kanaha… Northwest of the front, in fact, the winds have been blowing strong from the north over an almost stationary fetch for quite a while and that created some huge surf again. The NW reported a reading of 28.5 feet at 15 seconds from the north yesterday. That's the biggest I've ever seen.
The surf won't be clean though. The short distance from the source, will mean that also the energy at lower periods (that usually dissipates when the swell come from the more remote NW storms south of the Kuril islands) will make it to our shores and the breakers will be rough, confused and with dangerous currents.
Anyway, that 28.5 is the Significant wave height and is calculated as the average of the highest one-third of all of the wave heights during the 20-minute sampling p